House Rules (23 page)

“Thank you, Jonah. I’d do the same for you, you know.”

“I know you would. And that’s what scares me.”

He hung up the phone.

I turned on the car and turned up the heat, still sitting outside my parents’ house.
It probably wouldn’t be long before the neighbors were calling about the girl in the
junky car “watching” the house, but I didn’t want to go back inside while I waited
for a response. Maybe my father and I had had a breakthrough; maybe he was simply
feeling nostalgic. Either way, I knew when to quit.

The phone rang not even a minute later.

“Hello?”

“She’s agreed to a meeting, but that’s it.”

“That’s enough. Thank you.”

“There’s a Dirigible Donuts on State and Van Buren under the El. It’s near the library.”

“I know it,” I assured him. It was near Harold Washington Library; it was also near
the Dandridge Hotel, where the GP members were staying during their time in Chicago.

“Meet us there in one hour. And tell no one, Ethan or otherwise, about this. Consider
this your first RG assignment—preventing the destruction of Cadogan House.”

Instead of increasing the weight on my shoulders, which it should have done, it just
made me feel more determined.

“I’ll see you there,” I assured him, and put on my seat belt. My baserunning might
not have been pretty, but all that mattered was the final score.

* * *

It was late, and the Loop was relatively quiet. I parked on Van Buren, farther away
than I’d have liked, then followed the El tracks back to State Street and the Dirigible
Donuts location our reticent GP member had selected.

The chain’s silver logo shone through the darkness: a gleaming blimp with “Donuts”
in script across its side, the letters blinking in neon pink.

I opened the door and was hit by the scents of sugar and yeast. The restaurant was
small and empty except for the tired-looking teen behind the counter and Jonah, who
sat at a pink table in the corner, looking at his phone.

He looked up and nodded, then rose to meet me.

“She should be here any minute.”

I nodded, my palms suddenly sweaty with nerves. This woman could make or break Cadogan
House with a snap of her fingers—or perhaps the right words to Darius West.

Actually, by the look of her, she could make or break a lot of dreams.

Lakshmi Rao walked statuesquely through the front door. Like most other vampires (thanks
to their selection process), she was gorgeous. Tall and lithe, with long, straight
dark hair and caramel-colored skin. Her eyes were wide and hazel green, and she wore
a printed designer wrap dress and stiletto heels beneath a long cashmere coat.

I’d seen her at the House, in formation with the rest of the GP members, but there
she’d been one of many. Here she was a standout. She was obviously a vampire, and
obviously a strong one. Even with no obvious vampiric features—fangs and silvered
eyes hidden—she radiated magic in undulating waves. I had a natural immunity to glamour,
but I felt it slip across the room and just touch the boy at the counter, who dreamily
looked away and began counting aloud the donut holes in the bins behind him.

But most interesting? When Lakshmi caught sight of Jonah, she stared at him as if
he were the first glass of water she’d seen after months in the desert.

His expression, on the other hand, was utterly businesslike.

So Ms. Rao, a member of the GP from Darius’s home country, had feelings for Jonah,
the guard captain slash member of the secret organization assigned to keep an eye
on her. And he, by all appearances, wasn’t feeling it.

How very Lifetime.

She looked at me, giving me a brief appraisal. “You must be Merit.”

I had no idea of the etiquette. What was I supposed to call a member of the GP now?
Without a better answer, I opted for a simple “I am.”

She smiled gently. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry it’s under such unfortunate circumstances.”

“Were you followed?” Jonah asked.

“I seriously doubt it. And if I was, I’ll lose them on the way back to the hotel.
Unfortunately, I don’t have much time. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do to help.”

In a moment, my hopes were shattered. “Nothing? What do you mean, nothing? They’re
going to take away our House.”

“Inside voice,” Jonah murmured, casting a glance at the cashier, but he was still
counting away.

“I am only one member of the organization, Merit, and I am by no means in the majority.
Darius’s punishment is much too dire, but I do not have the power to challenge him.
I’m sorry.”

“He’s going to incite a war,” I said.

“Only if Cadogan fights back, and we all know Ethan won’t allow that. Not if it would
bring harm to his vampires . . . or to you.”

I suppose word about my relationship with Ethan had traveled among the GP members.
“We cannot lose the House. It would be an insult to Peter Cadogan, to Ethan, to every
other House that’s tried to do its best since Celina forced us out of the closet.”

Lakshmi looked at Jonah, who nodded at her. “Merit,” she said, “please believe me . . .
I have asked questions—surreptitiously, of course—but there’s simply no way to steer
Darius from his present course.”

There was obvious regret in her eyes, which made me feel only minimally better.

“I’m sorry. But it’s impossible. I don’t have the power to override him.”

“What about the dragon’s egg?”

Lakshmi paused. “What about it?”

“I assume Darius hasn’t given it to the fairies yet and won’t until he’s sure they’ll
do what they’ve agreed to. Do you know where it is?”

She watched me carefully for a moment. “I do not know exactly.”

“I will give you a boon,” I said. “A promise, a favor, whatever you want. I will beg
you, if that’s what you want. Please, please don’t let him take my House, Lakshmi.
It is my home. For the first time in my life, it’s really my home.”

That thought—and the realization—brought tears to my eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said again. “I know only that it was hidden in a location of high
regard.”

I looked away, wiping back an errant tear that had slipped down my cheek. I didn’t
want to cry in front of my partner and the GP member. Maybe, like Darius said of Ethan,
I was also too human.

“I should go,” Lakshmi said. “And I wish you luck.” She cast a lingering look at Jonah.
“It was nice to see you again. I’m sorry it was under these circumstances.”

Then she disappeared out the door and into the darkness.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to sit down and weep or, better yet, bury my sorrows in
three or four dozen of the donut holes the cashier was so meticulously cataloguing.

“Let’s go outside,” Jonah said, gently steering me out the door. The cold air was
refreshing, as was the numbing rumble of the El train above us.

We walked to the corner of the street, not far from where I’d parked, and stood in
the darkness for a moment.

“She’s in love with you,” I said.

He cleared his throat nervously. “I know.”

“That’s why she agreed to the meeting, isn’t it?” I looked at him. “That’s how you
got her to show up?”

He nodded, just once.

“This is just a clusterfuck. I suppose it would be wrong of me to suggest you offer
to play Seven Minutes in Heaven with her so that she might give us the egg?”

He looked at me askance. “You want me to offer to make out with her so she’ll save
your House?”

I smiled a little. “Yeah, could you?”

“No. And you should get back. They’ll be wondering where you are.”

I wasn’t so sure about that.

* * *

Feeling utterly defeated, I drove home again. Ethan’s office door was open, so I took
a chance and peeked inside, assuming Michael Donovan was in the room and heavy brainstorming
and contract reading were under way.

But Michael was nowhere to be found; nor were Paige or the librarian.

Ethan and Lacey were alone, with a piano concerto on the radio and a bottle of wine
on the table. They sat beside each other on the couch in the sitting area. Ethan,
one leg crossed genteelly over the other, reviewed long documents on legal-sized paper.
Lacey sat next to him, her boots on the floor, her feet tucked beneath her, scanning
something on a tablet computer.

They looked utterly comfortable. Cozy, even, in a way that made my stomach drop and
brought every teenage insecurity in my possession right to the surface.

But those weren’t the only feelings in the chamber. I’d just begged a GP member to
save this House—
cried
in front of that GP member—and I returned to
this
? Ethan may have been angry, but so was I.

Perhaps sensing the magical tsunami that accompanied me into the room, Ethan looked
up.

“Yes?” he asked. His tone was flat; he was still angry.

That made two of us, since I’d walked in on a forthcoming chapter in Lacey’s diary
entitled, “The Cozy Night I Spent with Ethan Sullivan and a Bottle of Merlot
.
”

I truly,
truly
did not like her.

“Could I speak to you, please,
Liege
?”

Ethan watched me for a moment before putting down his paper. “Lacey, would you excuse
us?”

She glanced up and gave me a snotty smile he didn’t see, then unfolded her legs and
rose gracefully from the couch. “Of course. I could use a bit of fresh air.” She walked
toward the door, leaving her boots beside the couch, a clear indication she meant
to return.

Of course she did.

“Time is ticking down, Sentinel. What did you want to talk about?”

I actually didn’t have anything specific to tell him; I’d just wanted her out of the
room, and perhaps a chance to clear the air.

But his tone was tight, and it took me a moment to gather words that weren’t snarky,
that didn’t challenge her very presence in his office and her obvious intent to get
her mitts on Ethan and not let go.

“Have you made any progress?” I asked.

“Not especially. The lawyers have prepared an emergency motion to halt the GP’s actions,
but, as we suspected, we’re having a difficult time convincing a judge they have jurisdiction
over this particular debate. None of the acquaintances from my very long life have
any material worth GP blackmail, and Michael has determined that Claudia’s tower is
particularly well fortified right now, so there’ll be no begging the fairies.” His
jaw was tight. He was obviously concerned, not that I could blame him.

“And you?” he asked.

“We’ve confirmed McKetrick didn’t kill Katya or Zoey. He’s alibied at a fund-raiser
with Mayor Kowalcyzk.”

“That doesn’t leave us with much.”

“It doesn’t leave us with a suspect at all, except that we know the girls were killed
by a Navarre vampire. Jeff’s checking into the House’s biometric system, and Luc is
going to check in with Will and see if he’s noticed any disturbed Navarre vampires
recently.”

“Hmm.” He picked at an invisible thread on the knee of his trousers, then looked up
at me. “Have you told Jonah about these latest developments?”

“Yes.”

“Of course you have. Because you two are close.” There was a dangerous edge of anger
in his voice; it might have been motivated by fear or jealousy, but the only thing
that mattered was that it was directed at me.

I had little doubt this change of attitude could be laid at the feet of the blond
vampire I’d sent scurrying from the room. She was planting seeds of doubt about our
relationship, and I’d bet money the more they spent time together, the bigger those
doubts were going to become.

“We aren’t close, not in the way you’re suggesting. Not in the way Lacey has been
suggesting to you. And that has nothing to do with this investigation.”

“And you’re willing to draw that line?”

“Are you willing to draw a line between you and Lacey? She looked quite comfy on the
couch.”

“That’s completely different.”

“Because Jonah knows that I’m committed to you, but she isn’t entirely sure?”

His jaw clenched. “Are you suggesting I’ve been unfaithful?”

“Are you suggesting
I’ve
been unfaithful?”

“Have you?”

I flinched at the comment. “How dare you ask me that.”

“There are rumors, Merit, about RG partners. That they work . . . closely . . . together.”

His tone had gone condescending, and I suddenly felt like a very small child standing
in front of my father, who was furious over something I’d done. Ethan was angry, and
I wished he didn’t feel my RG and Cadogan oaths—or my obligations to him—were in opposition.
But I knew Jonah, and I knew they weren’t. I still believed in the cause, and I was
going to apologize for only so much.

My eyes silvered, and my heart beat faster, blood humming in my veins as my anger
grew. “This is business. It is only business, and nothing else.”

He arched an arrogant eyebrow at me, which irritated me further. It might have been
his signature move, but it was a ludicrous response. A ridiculous response . . . to
a truly ridiculous argument. Were we really arguing about infidelity? God knew I loved
the man, but he was a stubborn, tight-assed control freak who really knew how to push
my buttons.

“Ethan, we are better than this,” I said. “I don’t know what she’s telling you, but
you know I wouldn’t be unfaithful. She is manipulating you, building a wall between
us, and not for the better of this House, but because she has feelings for you.”

“I’m not being manipulated,” he said. He didn’t sound entirely confident, but there
seemed little point in continuing to argue.

“Okay,” I said.

We stood there in horrible, awkward silence for a moment.

“I feel betrayed.”

I bit my lip against the sudden onslaught of tears. “I know. And I’m sorry.”

Ethan nodded, but said nothing.

“Okay, then,” I said. “I should get back to work.” Feeling dejected and angry, I walked
toward the door.