Hard Bitten cv-4

by Хлоя Нейл

  We stood there quietly while he reached his verdict.

  “I assume that’s all you’re going to tell me?”

  “For your sake and mine. Two words, Sullivan: plausible deniability.”

  “I think I liked you better when you were a nerdy graduate student.”

  “You didn’t know me as a nerdy graduate student,” I reminded him. “Well, not while I was conscious, anyway.” Technically, he’d known me as an unconscious graduate student, since he’d nursed me for three days following my transition to vampire, but I didn’t remember it.

  “Anyway, if you’ve got a better idea, I’m all for it.”

  He looked at me for a moment, that line of worry between his eyes. “Unfortunately, I do not.”

  “Your confidence is inspiring, Sullivan.”

  He gave me a flat look. “You know better than that. I trust you, Merit—implicitly—even if you don’t tell me everything. I wouldn’t let you leave the House if I didn’t—there’s too much at stake.”

  “At stake. Ha-ha.” At his frown, I winced.

  “Sorry. I kid when I’m nervous.”

  “Are you nervous?”

  I sighed and crossed my arms. “We are talking about Celina. Am I stronger than before? Yes.

  But she’s still hundreds of years older than me, and I’ve barely seen what she’s capable of. Plus, we’ll be in public. Even if I can take care of myself, how am I going to take care of everyone else who’s there?”

  “We could give you a perimeter of guards around the festival,” Ethan suggested.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “That’s too risky for the House. If Darius finds out I was there, you can say I acted alone, went off on a whim. And I do have a plan in mind.”

  I’d called on Jonah before; if Cadogan House was barred from acting, maybe Noah would be willing to plant a few Red Guards into the crowd.

  “Anything you can share?”

  I glanced up at Ethan. There was curiosity in his eyes, but no rebuke. He wanted to know what I had in mind, but he’d leave the decision to me.

  “Plausible deniability,” I reminded him. “You master the House from here. Let me protect us out there.”

  Ethan sighed, then put a hand on my cheek. “I don’t tell you this enough, but I am incredibly proud of the vampire you’ve become. I want you to know that.”

  He leaned his forehead against mine. I closed my eyes and breathed in the cottony scent of his cologne. “Be careful.”

  “I will. I promise.” I pulled back and saw the flash of guilt in his eyes, but I shook my head.

  “You’re doing your job,” I assured him. “Now let me do mine.”

  I offered a little prayer that I had the chance to do it right this time.

  It was unrealistic to think I’d find parking near Street Fest, and I didn’t have time to wait for the El. While I gave Luc the five-minute précis, Lindsey called a cab and promised to move my car. They’d all heard about Darius’s ban on my activities; they’d all agreed to help me carry them out regardless. There were times when the work needed to be done, the consequences be damned. This was one of those times, and they were all on board.

  Once in the car, I messaged Noah and asked him for backup. Noah agreed almost instantaneously and told me the crew of guards would be recognizable by their clothing: they’d be wearing faux-retro MIDNIGHT HIGH SCHOOL T-shirts.

  Clever boy.

  I’d considered calling Jonah, but this was a public event. That risked outing his RG membership and putting him in the same position as me—bearing the wrath of Darius West. No, thank you.

  The cabdriver didn’t stop glancing back at me, his brown eyes popping up in the rearview mirror every few seconds as if he was waiting for me to breach the plastic wall between the seats and chomp on his neck.

  I’ll admit, the idea of taunting him occurred to me. But I wasn’t Celina. I had a conscience and a job to do, and fang-teasing the cabdriver wasn’t part of that job.

  “This is fine,” I told him, sliding cash into the small door in the plastic when he reached the southern edge of Grant Park. I slipped out of the cab, waving the driver off when he continued to stare at me through the window.

  “Humans,” I muttered, and set off toward the tents and crowds. This part of the park was empty, which gave me the chance to prepare . . . and get panicky.

  I was well trained enough to put on a brave front to Ethan, Luc, and Malik. But let’s face it—I was scared. Celina was more powerful than me, and I’d agreed to meet her in a place and at a time she’d selected. This was her game, and there was a good possibility that I wasn’t going to win .

  . . or make it out in one piece.

  I walked through the trees, dagger in my boot, my stomach churning with nerves, even as the smells of food drew nearer.

  I reached an orange vinyl fence that surrounded the festival. I hopped it, then mingled into a group of drunken bachelorette partygoers as they made their way toward the main thoroughfare. That gave me my first view of the battleground. Columbus Drive was lined with white tents. People walked in the wide lane between them, food and drinks in hand. The air was thick with the smells of batter and beer and people and sweat and trash, and the sound of a thousand conversations and sizzling food and the country band on the make-do stage was nearly enough to overwhelm my senses.

  I maneuvered out of the lane of traffic and stopped beside a booth, closing my eyes until the world settled back down to a dull roar.

  “Coupons?”

  I opened one eye.

  A woman balancing a wailing, pink-cheeked toddler on one hip held out a stack of food coupons. “We have extra, and it’s getting late, and Kyle is just freaking out, so we need to go.”

  She smiled sheepishly. “Would you want to buy them by any chance? They’re still good.”

  “Sorry,” I kindly said. “I don’t need anything.”

  Obviously disappointed, she sighed heavily and lumbered awkwardly away, the baby now beginning to squall.

  “Good luck,” I called out, but she was already looking for someone else to tempt.

  I didn’t always get to play the hero.

  I walked around the tent and back into the flow of people, and I was nearly overdone again.

  My stomach growled at the smells; there was only so much blocking that a vampire could do. I silently promised myself a deep-fried candy bar and a paper tray of bacon-wrapped Tater Tots if I made it through the night unscathed. Not a good nutritional combo, but I figured the odds were low anyway.

  I walked to a sign that identified the tents’ locations, found the Town booth, and checked my watch. It was about ten minutes until eleven.

  Ten minutes until showtime.

  A hand suddenly gripped my arm. I jerked, expecting to see Celina. For better or worse, I got a different kind of surprise.

  “Hello, there,” said the man at my side.

  It was McKetrick, having traded in his fatigues for jeans and a snug black T-shirt. The better to blend in with the humans, I assumed. He smiled grandly at me. He might have been handsome, but the effect was still creepy.

  I pulled back my arm. “If you’re smart, you’ll walk away right now and go about your business.”

  “Merit, you are my business. You’re a vampire, and I’d be willing to bet you’re carrying a weapon here in this public place. It would be irresponsible of me to let you go on about your merry way, don’t you think?”

  It would save me a lot of trouble, I thought, because there was no way I could explain why I needed him to leave me alone. He’d go ballistic if he knew I was here to entertain Celina. And speaking of, time was ticking down, and I needed to get to the Town tent.

  “If you’re smart,” I told him, “you’ll be on your own merry way.”

  He tilted his head. “You seem a little preoccupied. You aren’t planning to start trouble, are you? That would be most unfortunate.”

  “I never start trouble,” I assured him. It just usually seemed
to pop up in my vicinity. Case in point: “Since I was minding my own business before you grabbed me, you’re the one causing trouble.”

  “If you minded your own business,” McKetrick retorted, “you’d be home among your own kind.”

  I was saved the trouble of responding to his prejudiced idiocy by the sound of an argument moving toward us. I looked up. A man and woman bickered as they walked, each clearly irritated by the other.

  “Really, Bob? Really?” asked the woman.

  “You think the best course of action is to spend an entire week’s salary on food tickets? That’s what you think? Because you want to eat gyros and fried cheesecake for the rest of the week?

  Not that I should be surprised. It’s just the kind of harebrained thing you’d do.”

  “Oh, yeah, Sharon. Lay it on. Lay it on thick.

  Right here in public where everybody can see!”

  The man, who was only a couple of feet from me, lifted his arms and moved in a circle. “Did anyone not hear my lovely wife berating me?

  Anyone?”

  The people around us chuckled nervously, not sure whether they should step in and put an end to the dramatics, or ignore them.

  I had the same question—until the man made the full turn and I could see the red T-shirt beneath his thin jacket. MIDNIGHT HIGH SCHOOL was written in faded white letters across the front. These were my RG helpers.

  The guy winked at me, then stepped directly between me and McKetrick. “I mean, really, sir, is this the kind of behavior you’d expect from your wife? What happened to ‘for better or worse’ and all that?”

  The woman stepped up and poked a finger into the guy’s chest. “Oh, just another thing for you to criticize me about, huh, Bob? I’m shocked.

  Really shocked. I should have listened to my mother, you know!”

  “Oh, yeah, Sharon. Bring your mother into this. Your poor, woebegone mother!”

  A crowd began to gather around the couple, creating a thicker human barrier that put more space between McKetrick and me. Two security guards also ambled over, adding two more humans—and two more weapons—to the fray.

  I got while the getting was good.

  I found the Town booth and camped beside it, but fifteen minutes, and then half an hour, passed with no action. I cursed McKetrick, positive that he’d scared Celina away.

  For the twentieth time, I stood on tiptoes to get a better look at the grounds, nearly falling over when a dark-haired woman nudged past me.

  Absently, I watched her dark ponytail bob as she walked, but it wasn’t until she was nearly gone that I felt the tingle of magic in the air. I hadn’t recognized her—and wouldn’t have, but for the power that lingered behind her. My heart began to thud with anticipation.

  Before she could escape, I grabbed her wrist.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS

  Celina slowly turned to face me. She wore a one-piece, royal blue jumper with ankle boots, her hair in a ponytail. Her eyes widened in apparent shock.

  Okay, now I was confused. Why did she look surprised to see me?

  Her arm still in my hand, she moved a step closer. “If you’re smart, child, you’ll let go of my hand while you still have yours to use.”

  “I was told you wanted to meet me,” I informed her. “By a mutual friend.”

  Almost instantaneously, her expression changed. Her eyes narrowed, her nostrils flared, and her magic rose in an angry, peppery cloud.

  The humans still moved past with fair food and plastic cups of beer in hand, completely oblivious to the magical reactor who was throwing off enough power to light the Loop.

  “That little shit,” she muttered, followed by a few choice curses.

  I assumed she meant Paulie, but if she hadn’t been expecting me . . .

  “Who did you think you were meeting?”

  Her expression went haughty. “As you are well aware, and as the GP has reminded you, my life is none of your concern.”

  “Chicago is my concern. Cadogan House is my concern.”

  She scoffed. “You’re a vampire in a fourth-rate House. And sleeping with its Master isn’t exactly a coup.”

  I resisted the urge to do the nail raking and hair pulling I’d complained about only a few days ago. Instead, I gave back the same pretentious look she gave me. It wasn’t that I was naïve about Celina or her power—or the damage she could do to me. But I was tired of being afraid.

  And if the GP was going to act like she wasn’t a threat, then I was, too.

  “My life is none of your concern, either,” I countered. “And I don’t care how well you’ve managed to convince the GP you’re a good citizen and have nothing to do with the havoc in this city right now. I know it’s bullshit, and I am not afraid of you. Not anymore. I’m also not afraid of the GP, so I’m going to give you one chance to answer this question.” I pressed my nails into the flesh of her arm. “Did you put V on the streets?”

  Celina looked around, seemed to realize that the people around us were beginning to stare.

  And of all the reactions I might have imagined, the one she handed back wasn’t even on the list.

  “Maybe I did,” she said, loud enough for all to hear. “Maybe I helped put V on the streets. So what?”

  My mouth opened in shock. Celina had just announced to a few thousand humans that she’d helped put V on the street. It was a coup for me, but there was no way she’d make that kind of announcement if she didn’t think she had an out.

  What was her game?

  The humans around us stopped, now staring full out. A couple of them popped out phones and were taping the scene.

  “What’s your connection to Paulie Cermak? I know you talked to him at Navarre House.”

  She barked out a laugh. “Paulie Cermak is a little worm. He’s got a warehouse in Greektown that houses the V, and he’s been handling the distribution from there. That’s why there wasn’t any V in his house.” She gave me an appraising gaze. “What’s more interesting is how you learned about it. Morgan told you, no?” She looked me up and down. “Did you offer yourself for a little information?”

  In addition to feeling disgusted by the suggestion, I felt a little sympathy for Morgan.

  Celina’s craziness didn’t excuse the fact that Morgan wasn’t reliable, but it sure did explain why he wasn’t trustworthy. If he’d learned to be a Master by following in Celina’s footsteps, there’d probably been no hope for him.

  “And the raves?”

  “The raves were the linchpin,” she said. “The key to the entire system. They were means to get V—and humans—into the hands of vampires.”

  Celina looked around, realized she had a captive audience of humans who’d recognized who she was—and the fact that she was supposed to be locked away in England, not standing in the middle of Street Fest confessing to crimes against the citizens of Chicago.

  If I’d been in her position, I would have balked. I’d have lowered my head and ducked through the crowd, seeking escape. But Celina wasn’t your average vampire. With nothing close to regret or fear in her eyes—and while I stared at her, shocked at her audacity—she began to address the crowd.

  “For too long, I bought into the notion that humans and vampires could simply coexist. That being vampire meant tamping down certain urges, working in communion with humans, leading humans.”

  She began to turn in a circle, offering her sermon to the crowd. “I was wrong. Vampires should be vampires. Truly, completely vampires.

  We are the next evolution of humans. V reminds us who we are. And you, too—all of you—could have our strength. Our powers. Our immortality!”

  “You killed humans!” shouted one of the humans. “You deserve to die.”

  Celina’s smile faltered. She’d changed positions in a second attempt to ingratiate herself with humans, and it still hadn’t worked. She opened her mouth to counter the assertion, but the next words weren’t hers.

  Four uniformed CP
D officers stepped around her. Three pointed weapons; the fourth grabbed her wrists and cuffed them behind her back.

  “Celina Desaulniers,” he said, “you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say could be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand the rights I’ve read to you?”

  Celina struggled once, and she was strong enough that the man who’d cuffed and restrained her had to fight to keep her on the ground. But after a moment she stopped, her expression going pleasantly blank.

  That wasn’t a good sign.

  “She’ll try to glamour you,” I warned. “Stay focused, and fight through it. She can’t make you do anything; she’ll just try to lower your inhibitions. You might want to have the Ombudsman meet you at the station. He’s got staff who can help you.”

  Three of the cops ignored me, but the fourth nodded with appreciation. It couldn’t have been easy to get a lecture from a skinny vamp with a ponytail.

  “There’s no need to glamour them,” Celina said, her blue-eyed gaze on me. “I’ll be out before you can warn your lover that you found me here. Oh, and enjoy your conversation with Darius. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to find out about this.”

  She went willingly. After a moment, the crowd completely dissipated, leaving no evidence of Celina’s recapture or the proselytizing speech she’d just given.

  That gave me a minute to focus on the bigger question: What the hell had just happened?

  I stood there for a moment, still trying to wrap my mind around Celina’s confession and arrest.

  Long story short: I had to be missing something. The entire thing was way too easy and felt like a giant setup. Celina clearly didn’t know she was going to meet me, but she’d nevertheless confessed to the entire crowd that she’d been helping Paulie distribute drugs and arrange the raves. And then she tried to convince them to join the vampire bandwagon.

  How did that make sense?

  It simply didn’t. While I wasn’t unhappy Celina was off the streets and back in the hands of the CPD, I couldn’t figure out her angle. She had to have one. There was no way a woman as egotistical as Celina makes a confession without thinking she’ll get something out of it. Maybe that was it. Did she think she could get out of it?