Part 29 (2/2)
Ethan looked at me for a moment, maybe deciding if he was willing to trust my judgment. He nodded.
”Do it.”
I volunteered to meet Jeff at the door of Cadogan House. I figured he'd appreciate the personal attention and be a little more comfortable in a House of vampires if he had his own personal guard and attendant.
At least, that's how I explained it to him.
I stood in the doorway, arms crossed, waiting for the RDI guards to clear Jeff onto the property. He walked up wearing khakis and a long-sleeved, b.u.t.ton-up s.h.i.+rt over his thin frame, the s.h.i.+rtsleeves rolled halfway to his elbows. His brown hair flopped as he bobbed up the sidewalk, hands in his pockets and a goofy grin on his face.
He hopped up the portico stairs and met me at the open door. There was a little more adoration in his eyes than I was comfortable with, but Jeff was doing us a big favor-particularly as a s.h.i.+fter, walking into a den of enemies-so I dealt.
”Hi, Merit.”
I smiled at him. ”It's about time you got here. Any news about the e-mail?”
”Yeah,” he said, casting a worried glance inside the House. ”But not here. Too many ears.”
His answer didn't bode well, but I took the hint. ”I appreciate your coming over here. And spending your evening sourcing an e-mail.”
”That's why they call me the Champ.”
I chuckled and moved aside to let him in the House. ”Since when do they call you the Champ?”
He paused in the foyer as I closed the door behind us, and gave me a grin. ”Remember how you and I are dating?”
”Right,” I solemnly said. ”How's that going, by the way?” I pointed the way toward Ethan's office and he fell in step beside me, surveying the House and the scattering of vampires.
”Well, they do call me the Champ. I mean, my work is suffering, though.”
”Is it now?”We reached the closed office door, and Jeff ran a hand through his hair. Nerves, I imagined, but he looked at me, laughed it off.
”Yeah, you tend to be a little . . . distracting. You know, with the hands. And always calling me, texting me.” He looked over at me, and while he smiled, fear tightened his eyes, marked the air with an astringent tang.
”When we go in there, I'm your Sentinel, too.”
This time he smiled, and I think a little of the tension went out of his shoulders.
”And you know what?” I asked him, clasping the doork.n.o.b.
He ran a hand through his hair again. ”What?”
”You're my most favorite s.h.i.+fter.”
Jeff rolled his eyes. ”Not that I'm denying my manly appeal, but I'm the only s.h.i.+fter you know.”
”Actually, Jeff, that's kind of our problem.” I opened the door, and in we went.
CHAPTER TWENTY.
THE RUNT OF THE LITTER.
Although the rest of the vamps were still seated around the conference table, Luc had moved closer to the door and was leaning against the back of a leather chair when we walked in. I appreciated the move.
This way, we could both escort Jeff to the table, give him protection from two sides. While Catcher had once a.s.sured me that Jeff could take care of himself, and having seen the depth of Nick's fury, I didn't doubt the s.h.i.+fter had it in him. But at twenty-one, he was younger, by far, than everyone else in the room, and the member of a group that wasn't high on the vamps' list of favorites right now. Even if there wasn't much of a risk that we'd have to break out the weaponry, this ensured that the Masters kept their manners.
”Thank you for agreeing to speak with us,” Ethan said, standing and extending a hand as we moved to the table. ”Especially on such short notice.”
”No problem,” Jeff lightly said, taking his hand. ”Glad I can help, I guess.” He sat down in an empty chair; I took the seat beside him.
Ethan smiled and turned back to the rest of the table. ”I believe you know everyone here, but we'll do the introductions for form.” He made the intros and the vampires responded graciously, probably because I gave everybody the evil eye, a warning against snarking back to our House guest.
Introductions complete, Jeff looked at Ethan, then me. ”So, what do you want to know?”
”As you know,” I began, ”we're looking into a threat against Jamie Breckenridge that was supposedly made by Cadogan vampires. But we haven't been able to find anyone-any vampires-with a grudge against Jamie.” I paused. ”We believe that the Breckenridges are s.h.i.+fters.”
”Oh,” Jeff said, surprise in his expression. ”Okay.”
”What we're trying to figure out,” I continued, ”is whether another s.h.i.+fter might have a grudge against the family.”
Jeff frowned. ”I'm not following.”
”Jamie's always been a little aimless, wouldn't you say, Merit?” Ethan asked.
I nodded. ”I think that's fair.”
”However, it seems the Breckenridge family is now circling around him. No one else, as far as I'm aware, knows that the Breckenridges are s.h.i.+fter in origin. The theory we're working from is that maybe they're circling for a reason. Maybe Jamie's weak, has some sort of magical problem. And maybe some members of the Pack want to do something about that.”
Jeff shook his head. ”I still don't-” Then he stopped, mouth falling open, shock and dismay and, worst of all, hurt, in his expression. He sat back in his chair, as if deflated by the question. ”Wow.”
The room went silent, gazes dropping guiltily to the table, the vamps unable to make eye contact.
A minute or two pa.s.sed in silence. I wanted to reach out a hand, to touch him, both to comfort him andto rea.s.sure myself, but the move seemed patronizing. Instead, I looked up, caught Ethan's eye, that line of worry between his brows.
”No offense, but this is why s.h.i.+fters don't like vampires,” Jeff quietly said, drawing our eyes back to him.
”The rumor, the speculation. That you would actually ask me that to my face-do you kill off members of your Pack? That's insulting.”
He looked at me. ”I know you're new and maybe you don't know better,” he said, then looked at Ethan and the rest of the vampires, ”but the rest of you have been around. Surely you do.”
None of them, to their credit, offered their ignorance as an excuse.
”Now,” Jeff continued, sitting forward in the chair and putting his elbows on the table, ”the fact that we don't exterminate members”-he gave us all a pointed look, suggesting he knew exactly which supernatural species did, and given the sword belted at my side, I thought he had a pretty good point-”doesn't mean we don't have intra-Pack struggles. Just because Jamie won't actually be taken out doesn't mean he wouldn't be bullied by stronger Pack members, that folks wouldn't use his weakness, whatever it is, against him or his family.”
”Blackmail?” I asked.
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