Hard Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires 4)

Yes, Jonah was plenty handsome, even with the dour expression that marred his face when he looked up. He tucked the phone into a pocket and moved closer. I watched him look me over, taking in the leather and debating whether I'd be a help or a hindrance on this particular escapade.

"You're early," he said.

I reminded myself to pick my battles. "I prefer early to late. I thought we might want to talk strategy before we go in."

He gestured down Michigan toward the river.

"Let's walk and talk."

And so we started down Michigan Avenue, two tall and welldressed vampires, probably looking like we were on a date instead of planning to infiltrate a vampire blood orgy. And we looked normal enough, apparently, that no one made us out as vamps. Ah, the benefits of nightfall.

"How many vamps?" I asked him.

"I don't know. Raves are pretty intimate affairs, so if this is one, not many."

"If you found the phone with the invite at Benson's, are you thinking it belonged to a Grey House vamp?"

Jonah glowered. "I'm hoping, for the sake of the Grey House vamps, that it didn't. But as you said, the bar has an open-door policy, and we generally keep its House affiliation a secret. So it could have belonged to anyone."

I nodded. "Have you always been in Grey House?"

"I have not. I was born Rogue. Grew up in a rough part of Kansas City. Not the easiest place to come of age. I almost didn't make it out. And then along came Max."

"He's the one who made you a vampire?"

"He was. He helped me escape a bad scene.

Well, to the extent inheriting vampire politics and drama is an escape."

"I can relate."

"I figured. No offense, but Sullivan's as political as they come."

I laughed aloud. "Truer words have never been spoken. He's a good Master. Cares deeply about his House." But to the exclusion of all else, I silently added.

"And you two - ?"

I cut off the question. Most of the Cadogan vamps knew Ethan and I had shared a night together, so it didn't come as much of a surprise that Jonah, member of an espionage group, did, too. But while I appreciated that he was giving me the opportunity to clarify, it irked me that he assumed I'd be a liability, emotionally or otherwise. Starting off with a clean slate would have been nice.

"We are not an item," I assured him.

"Just checking. I like to get a line on any possible complications that might spill my way."

"None from this end," I assured him. Much to Ethan's disappointment.

We separated as a flock of teenagers bounded down Michigan. It was two in the morning, and the stores were long since closed, but it was also a summer night and school hadn't yet started. I

suppose wandering Michigan Avenue was a relatively safe activity if you were a teenager with too much time on your hands.

"Anyway, Max was a vampire with Masterworthy power, but no House. The GP considered him unstable and wouldn't give him an official title. They were right about the instability. My guess? Max was bipolar as a human, and becoming a vamp didn't help."

"Can't be a good idea to have him running around Kansas City without oversight."

"And that was exactly the problem. The GP didn't think he was sane enough for a House, but that just meant an ego-driven psychopath was running around making one vamp after another.

The creation of Murphy House was a way for the GP to rein in the Rogues and one-up Max. They gave Rich the House and grandfathered us in under some ancient Canon provision."

"How'd you end up in Chicago?"

"I transferred to Grey when Scott got his Masterdom. Each new House gets to steal a few Novitiates from the others to help fill it out.

They're able to initiate new vamps, as well, obviously, but the trade gives them a start."

"Are you worried someone at the party might recognize you? I mean, you've been around for a while, and if anyone there is from Grey House . . ."

"If anyone there is from Grey House, they'll think I'm there to find them, enforce House rules, and drag them back to rationality - right before I kick their asses. Grey House is not Navarre House. We may enjoy sports, but we respect authority. We're a team - a unit. There's a clear chain of authority, and we follow it."

"And Scott's the coach?"

"And the general," he agreed.

While that might be theoretically true, I thought, Jonah was still a member of an organization whose mission was to secretly police the Masters. That didn't exactly fit the Scottis-my-general analogy.

"Anyway, no worries on my end," Jonah concluded.

We passed a line of tourists burdened with restaurant leftovers and shopping bags. They looked exhausted, as if it was well past time for them to return to their hotel.

"I've never been to an actual rave before," I said after we passed them. I looked over at him.

"Have you?"

"Near one, didn't go in."

"I'm nervous," I confessed.

"I have no objection to nerves before an op," Jonah said. "They keep you sharp. On your toes.

As long as you won't freeze up - and from what I've heard about the attack on Cadogan, you aren't going to freeze up."

"I've been good so far."

"So far counts." He came to a stop at the light and pointed to the left. "We'll cross here, then a couple of blocks up."

When the light changed, we walked across the street and headed east, a couple of blocks off Michigan.

"This is it," Jonah said.

It was . . . definitely something. The building looked like a gleaming black spear thrust into the banks of the Chicago River - at least up to the top three or four floors. They were still under construction, their skeletal structures wrapped in hazy plastic.

A plywood sign announced the building was the future home of a finance company.

With vampires like these, I thought, who needs enemies?

"Today," Jonah said, "we're playing invited guests. Act like you belong." He pushed through the building's revolving door. As I followed, Jonah smiled at the man behind the security desk and sauntered over, looking exactly like he belonged in a penthouse vampire party.

"We're here for the, er, mixer," Jonah casually said.

"Security code?" the uniform asked.

Jonah smiled. "Temptress."

For a second, I thought he'd gotten it wrong.

The uniform looked at Jonah, then me, before apparently deciding we were in the building for legitimate reasons, and gesturing toward the elevator. "Top floor. Stay away from the edges.