Part 37 (1/2)
”Quite a show.”
I looked up, found the RDI guards looking at me curiously. ”Pardon me?”
”Last night,” the one on the left offered. ”You wreaked a good bit of havoc.”
”Unintentionally,” I dryly said, s.h.i.+fting my gaze back to the House. Normally I'd have been thrilled to get conversation out of the usually silent guards, but not on this topic.
”Good luck,” said the one on the right.
I offered as appreciative a smile as I could muster, took a breath, and went for the door.
I could hear the sounds of the meeting as I climbed the stairs to the second-floor ballroom. The first floor had been quiet, but the echo of ambient vampire noise-conversations, coughing, shuffling-drifted down from the ballroom.
The doors were open when I reached it, a ma.s.s of Cadogan vampires inside. There were ninety-eight who resided in the House, and I guessed at least two-thirds of the group were here. Ethan, once again in his crisp black suit, stood alone on the short riser at the front of the room. Our gazes met and he held up a hand, silencing the vampires. Heads turned, eyes on me.
I swallowed, gripped the sword I still held in my hand, and walked inside. I couldn't bear to look at them, to see if their gazes were accusatory, insulted, fearful, so I kept my eyes on Ethan, the crowd parting around me as I walked through the room.
I didn't deny that, as Master, he needed to deal with me, to dole out punishment for what I'd done, for challenging him-for the second time-in his own House. But was the ceremony necessary? Was my humiliation in front of most of the vampires in the House necessary?
The final vampires separated, and I found consoling eyes in Lindsey, who offered a compa.s.sionate smile before turning to face Ethan. I walked to the riser, stood before him, and gazed up.
He looked back at me for a moment, expression carefully blank, before lifting his gaze to the crowd. He smiled at them, and I moved to the side so as not to block the view.
”Didn't we just do this?” he asked with a grin. The vampires laughed appreciatively. My cheeks blossomed with heat.
”I debated,” he told them, ”whether to offer a lengthy dissertation on why last night's events occurred.
The biological and psychological precursors. The fact that Merit defended me against an attack by one of our own. And speaking of which, I regret to inform you that Peter is no longer a member of Cadogan House.”
Vampires gasped, whispers trickling through the crowd.
”But most importantly,” he said, ”the attack by Celina Desaulniers that directly led to the incident here. I will preface my conclusions by advising you all to be aware of your surroundings. While it's possible that Celina has chosen a single target, she may have a vendetta against Cadogan vampires, Chicago vampires, Housed vampires in general. If you're away from the grounds, be careful. And if you hear anything with respect to her activities or her movement, contact me, Malik, or Luc immediately. I am not asking you to be spies. I am asking you to be careful, and not squander the immortality with which you've been gifted.”
A rumbling of dissonant ”Liege”s echoed through the room.
”And now to the matter at hand,” he said, gaze falling on me again. ”I am not sure what good it would do to tell you that I trust Merit. That despite the fact that she has challenged me twice, she has saved my life and provided invaluable services to this House.”
I had to work to keep the shock from my face, that being quite an announcement to make to a roomful of vampires who'd seen what I'd done.
”You will make up your own minds. She is your sibling, and you must make up your own minds, reach your own conclusions, just as you would for any other member of this House. That said, it can be difficult to make up your minds when you hardly have an opportunity to see her.”
Okay, I liked that first part, but I wasn't crazy about where this was going.
”It has been brought to my attention that it would be beneficial to host a House mixer of sorts, to allowyou to meet each other socially, to get to know each other outside the bonds of work or duty.”
Lindsey, I thought. The traitor. I gritted my teeth and slid a glance behind me to where she stood, grinning. She gave me a finger wave. I made a mental note to punk her as soon as I had the opportunity.
”Therefore,” Ethan said, drawing my gaze again, ”so that Merit can better appreciate the vampires she has sworn to protect, so that Merit can come to know you all as siblings, and you her, I have decided to name her Cadogan House . . . Social Chair.”
I closed my eyes. It was a ridiculously mild punishment, I knew. But it was also completely humiliating.
”Of course, Helen and Merit can work together to plan functions that will be enjoyable for all parties.”
Now that was just cruel. And he knew it, too, if the snarky cant of his words was any indication. I opened my eyes again, found him smiling with keen self-satisfaction, and bit back the curse that formed on my lips.
”Liege,” I said, bobbing my head with Grateful Condescension.
Ethan lifted a dubious brow, crossed his arms as he scanned the crowd again. ”I'm the first to admit it isn't the most . . . satisfying punishment.”
Vampires chuckled.
”And I'm not able, at this point, to reveal details that I believe would sway your opinions, lead you to the same conclusions I've reached. But there are few I would trust with the duty of serving this House as Sentinel. And she is the only one I've appointed to that task. She'll remain in that position, and she'll remain here, in Cadogan House.”
He grinned again, and this time gave them that look of wicked, boyish charm that probably incited adoration among his female subjects. ”And she'll do what she can to ensure that, as they say, 'There ain't no party like a Cadogan party.' ”
I couldn't help the dubious snort that escaped me, but the crowd, enamored as they were of their Master, hooted their agreement. When the loudest of the cheers had quieted, he announced that they were excused, and after a polite, unified ”Liege,” they filed from the room.
”The Const.i.tution bans cruel and unusual punishment,” I told him when he stepped down from the podium.
”What?” he innocently asked. ”Getting you out of the library? I believe it's due time, Sentinel.”
”Now that I'm a real, live vampire?”
”Something like that,” he absently said, frowning as he pulled a cell phone from his pocket. He flipped it open, and as he scanned whatever text was displayed there, his expression blanked.
”Let's go,” was all he said. I obediently followed.
Lindsey, a straggler at the back of the vampire crowd, winked at me as I pa.s.sed. ”You said you wanted a mixer,” she whispered. ”And I so told you he wanted you.”
”Oh, you'll get what's coming to you, Blondie,” I warned, index finger pointed in her direction, and followed Ethan out of the room.
He didn't speak, but tunneled through the vampires on the stairs to the first floor and then to the front door. Curious, katana still in hand, I followed him out to the portico.
A limousine was parked in front of the gate.
”Who is it?” I asked, standing just behind him.
”Gabriel,” he said. ”Gabriel Keene.”
Head of the North American Central Pack.
Jeff had once referred to him as the most alpha of the alphas. When the limousine door opened, and he stepped booted feet onto the sidewalk, I understood why.
Gabriel was tall, broad-shouldered, intensely masculine. Thick, sun-streaked blond-brown hair reached his shoulders. His confidence was obvious in the bearing of his shoulders, the swagger in his step. He wore snug jeans and biker boots and, even in the muggy spring night, a zipped-up leather driving jacket.
He was handsome, almost fiercely so, amber eyes s.h.i.+ning, almost drowsily powerful. This was a man who'd proven all he needed to prove and was now intent on action, on leading his people, protecting his people.
”There are more than three thousand s.h.i.+fters in the North American Central,” Ethan whispered, eyes onthe man, the s.h.i.+fter, before us. ”And he's the Apex, the alpha, among them. The American Packs are autonomous, so he is, for all intents and purposes, their king. He's the political equivalent of Darius.”
I nodded, kept my gaze on Gabriel.