Midnight Marked (Chicagoland Vampires, #12)(65)

“Did Luc talk to you about inviting Morgan and Scott?” I asked Ethan.

“He did, and they’ll be here. He also suggested we invite Gabriel.”

Talk about fighting fire with fire. “And did you?”

“I put in a call,” Malik said. “It hasn’t yet been returned.”

So Gabriel was angry, too. Reed was turning the city’s supernaturals into a seething cauldron of frustration, Cadogan House included.

Malik’s phone beeped, and he checked the screen, smiled. “Excuse me. I need to grab this. It’s Aaliyah.”

That was Malik’s wife.

“Of course,” Ethan said.

As Malik walked away, lifting the phone to his ear, Ethan settled his gaze on me. “Good evening.”

“Good evening.”

We managed that much, then just looked at each other.

“Your father called,” Ethan said carefully. “He wanted to be sure you’d gotten home all right after the incident at the Garden. He also wanted to let us know that Reed asked Robert to submit a proposal to manage the Towerline building.”

So Reed would own the building, and Merit Properties would manage it. That could be a very lucrative contract, if it was really about the money. But it undoubtedly wasn’t. “He’s trying to suck them in again. Reed and my family.”

“To get to them, to you, and to me. Yes.” Ethan studied me. “Your father wants a chance at him, Merit. He knows he’s being used as a pawn, and he wants to help take Reed down.”

I stiffened. “He’s not equipped to go up against Reed. His best bet would be to tell Robert the truth.”

“Which, as you know, would only tip off Reed and possibly incite him further.”

“Damned if we do, damned if we don’t. What did you tell him?”

Ethan paused, looked at me. “Nothing. Yet.”

The most frustrating answer. It neither told me what he’d do nor agreed to keep my father out of it.

“You aren’t making this easy,” I said.

“War is never easy. A soldier knows that better than most.”

I looked up at him, surprised by the grimness in his voice. “Is that what this is? War?” I was asking about both of us—about us and Reed, me and Ethan.

“Reed believes it is, so we will treat it as such.”

And use the weapons at our disposal, I thought, whatever the consequences.

Luc walked toward us, and Ethan’s gaze went cool again. “I think we’re ready, or will be as soon as everyone arrives.” He looked at me, took in the leathers I’d paired with dark mascara and cherry red lipstick. “Sentinel, I like that color on you.” He winked. “Looking fierce.”

“She looks fierce,” Ethan said, “because she is.”

Luc looked back and forth between us. “I feel like I don’t want to know what’s happening right now, so I’m going to just walk away and let you handle it.” Luc did, backing up until he’d put enough distance between us.

“All right, Sentinel,” Ethan said, “let’s get to it.”

Until we were ready to talk, there was nothing more to do.

? ? ?

Chicago’s Supernatural Problem Solving Team was an assortment of humans, vampires, and shifters.

Malik and Paige had already taken seats at the conference table. My grandfather came in with Jeff, and Mallory and Catcher arrived behind them. My grandfather patted me on the back as he moved past, then stopped to help Jeff with another board of symbols.

Morgan Greer—broodingly handsome, with dark wavy hair that reached his shoulders and soulful dark blue eyes—came in, followed by Scott Grey. Scott was dark-haired and tall, with the build of an athlete and a soul patch beneath generous lips. Grey House had an athletic bent, signaled by his jeans and Grey House hockey-style jersey.

Surprisingly enough, he wasn’t alone.

He’d brought Jonah, whose auburn hair was swept back from his face, framing sharp cheekbones and canny blue eyes. He wore a gray V-neck T-shirt, jeans, and boots.

Jonah scanned the room, found me still standing beside Ethan, let his gaze linger there for a moment. And then the moment passed, and he was moving to the table to sit beside his Master.

Was I on good terms with any of my partners right now?

Ethan gestured toward the table, and I walked to it and joined Lindsey to stand at the end of the table.

“Thank you all for coming,” Ethan said. “The city has been presented with a magical threat that’s uncertain but potentially large, so we thought it best to have everyone in a room together. Since we’re all here, let’s get started.”

“One bit of news,” Jeff said, raising his hand, and all eyes turned to him. “Cyrius Lore is dead.”

Ethan’s eyes flashed to me, bright with anger, heavy with guilt. Cyrius had been an enemy only briefly, and by making the connection between him and Reed, we’d sent him to his death.

“His body was dragged from the river this morning,” my grandfather said. “He’d been killed by a vampire.”

“The same one that killed Caleb Franklin,” Catcher said, “based on the distance between the fangs.”

“I didn’t know that was a thing,” I said. “Measuring the distance between the fangs to identify a culprit.”