Drink Deep (Chicagoland Vampires 5)

"Stil nothing," I told her.

"Maybe it's a show of respect or something. Trying to respect Ethan's memory by not interviewing you first?"

"I doubt our relationship would sway the GP's evaluation of the House. Maybe it's strategic - he's holding out so I anticipate the conversation, worry about it." I held up my dinner. "At least I have comfort food."

"And speaking of which, it's a good thing you brought that in."

"Why?"

"The third rule: Frank has banned convenience food in the kitchens."

Strike three for Frank. "What's his rationale for that one?"

"It's unhealthy, overly processed, and expensive, he says.

It's al apples and cabbage and granola in there right now."

Because I'm a vampire with an appetite, that almost hurt more than anything else Frank had done.

Juliet checked her watch. "Wel , I should get back to it.

You heading upstairs to eat?"

"Luc and Malik wanted to talk, and I promised I'd bring grub. What are you up to?"

She gestured toward the stairs that led to the House's basement level, where the Ops Room was located. "Just finished a shift on the monitors." She meant the closed-caption televisions that captured security footage from the House grounds.

"Anything newsworthy?"

She rol ed her eyes. "People hate us, blah blah blah, wish we'd go straight to hel , or maybe Wisconsin, since it's closer, blah blah blah."

"Same old, same old?"

"Pretty much. If Celina thought outing vampires was going to usher in a happy vampire fairy tale, she was sorely mistaken."

"Celina was mistaken on a number of fronts," I said.

"That is true," she softly said, and I caught the hint of pity in her voice. But pity was as exhausting to bear as grief, so I changed the subject.

"Any sign of McKetrick?" I asked. McKetrick, first name unknown, was a military type who'd decided vampires were the republic's new enemy. He had black gear, combat weapons, and a strong desire to clean us al out of the city.

He'd harangued Ethan and me one evening and promised we'd be seeing more of him. There'd been a couple of sightings since then, and I'd gotten a few more details about his military background from Catcher - think questionable tactics and chain of command issues - but if he had a master plan for vampirocide, he hadn't yet made it clear.

I wasn't sure if that made me feel better, or worse.

"Not even a ruffle." She tilted her head to the side. "What were you up to outside?"

"Out. Working out, I mean." I stumbled a little on the explanation, as I hadn't yet confessed to the guards that I'd been working with Jonah. Our time together had been triggered by our Red Guard connection, and that secret wasn't mine to tel , so I'd avoided the subject of Jonah altogether.

One more lie woven into the already tangled web.

"It's always good to stay in shape," Juliet said with a wink.

A wink that suggested I hadn't been so sneaky after al .

"Wel , it's been a long night," she said. "I'm going to head upstairs."

"Juliet," I cal ed out, before she'd gotten too far. "Have you ever jumped?"

"Jumped?" she asked with a frown. "Like in the air?"

"Like off a building."

"I have." Understanding dawned in her eyes. "Why, Sentinel - did you make your first landing tonight?"

"I did, yeah."

"Congratulations," she said. "Just be careful that you don't go too far or fal too fast."

Words to live by.

Frank had co-opted Malik's office - the office that had once belonged to Ethan. Malik had barely had two weeks in the room before Frank arrived and announced he needed the space to evaluate the House.

Malik - tal ,cocoa-skinned and green-eyed - was deliberative. He picked his battles careful y, so he'd deferred and moved back into his old office down the hal .

It wasn't large; the room was nearly fil ed by Malik's desk, shelves of books and personal mementos. But the smal size didn't keep us from meeting there regularly. Bound together by our grief, we were more likely to be crammed into the office in our spare time than anywhere else in the House.

Tonight, Malik and Luc sat on opposite sides of a chess set atop Malik's desk, and Lindsey sat cross-l le sat cregged on the floor a few feet away, magazine in hand.

Malik's wife, Aaliyah - petite, gorgeous, and as humble as they came - joined us on occasion, but she was absent tonight. Aaliyah was a writer who spent more time in their apartment than out of it. I could completely understand the urge to hunker down and avoid vampire drama.

Luc, now House Second and former captain of the Cadogan guards, was blond, tousle-haired, and laid back.

He'd been born and raised in the wild west, and I assumed he'd been made a vampire at the barrel of a gun. Luc had pined for Lindsey, my House BFF and a fel ow guard who'd apparently stolen some time away from the Ops Room tonight.

Their relationship had been stop and go for a long time, albeit more "stop" than "go." She'd been afraid a relationship would lead to a breakup, and a breakup would destroy their friendship. Despite her initial commitment-phobia, craving comfort after Ethan's death, she'd final y agreed to give Luc a chance.

I'd spent the first week after his death in a haze in my room, Mal ory at my side. When I'd final y emerged and Mal had gone home again, Lindsey showed up at my door in a total tizzy. She'd gone to Luc in her grief, and consolation had turned to affection - a supportive embrace to a passionate kiss that total y rocked her socks (or so she said). That kiss hadn't erased her doubts, but she'd belayed her fears enough to give him a chance.

Luc, of course, felt completely vindicated.

"Sentinel," Luc said, fingers hovering over one of the black knights, apparently debating his options. "I smel those burgers, and you'd better have brought enough for everyone."

Decision made, he plucked up the knight, set it down heavily in its new position, then raised his arms in the air triumphantly. "And so we advance!" he said, winging up his eyebrows at Malik. "You got a response to that?"

"I'm sure I'l figure something out," Malik said, his gaze now fixed on the board, scanning left to right as he calculated odds and evaluated his options. The chess game had become a weekly ritual, a way - or so I'd guessed - for Malik and Luc to exert some minimal control over their lives while the GP's talking head sat a few yards down the hal way, deciding their fate.

I put the bags of food onto the desk, pul ed out bacon-laced burgers for me and Lindsey, and took a seat beside her on the floor.