Biting Bad (Chicagoland Vampires 8)

Ethan made a vague sound. "You'll be careful."

"Always. And Jonah's no slouch."

"I know," he said. "And the irony of his spending the evening with you on Valentine's Day isn't lost on me."

"I didn't think it would be," I said with a wink. "You're very smart, for a vampire."

"You're very mouthy for a Novitiate."

"Your Novitiate," I said.

Ethan opened the door for me and gestured inside. "Go take care of Grey House, Sentinel."

I nodded. "Maybe, if you're very good, I'll bring back dinner."

Ethan smiled wickedly and pressed a hard kiss to my lips. "I'm rarely good, Merit. But I'm often spectacular."

He winked and shut the door, and disappeared back into the House.

It took a moment before I had the mental faculties to drive the car.

-

The housing might have been arranged on short notice, but the new temporary digs of the Grey House vampires were pretty nice.

They were in a building named the King George, and the decor involved lots of inlaid "G"s in the marble floors and gilded mirrors that lined the first-floor lobby.

I waited there a few minutes for Jonah, checking out the giant urns of tropical plants and the very expensive artwork. Whatever their other troubles, Grey House must have solid finances in order to afford a place this nice.

Jonah finally walked in, the breeze blowing his hair around like a model at a photo shoot, two paper cups in hand. He nodded at the security guard at the desk, then handed a cup to me.

"Martin," he said, gesturing toward the guard. "Rogue vampire."

I waved to Martin with my cup. "I guess he's on the night shift."

"Har-har," Jonah said, leading me to the bank of brass elevators. "Twentieth floor."

I sipped my drink, spicy hot chai, until the elevators dinged and we stepped inside. Even the elevator cars were fancy, with small televisions on each side above the buttons. One showed a news channel, the other commercials about Chicago and its nightlife. I guess the King George was selling not just condos, but a way of life.

"Did I mention this place was fancy?" I asked Jonah, as we waited for the car to complete its rise.

"It's what was available," Jonah said. "And unfortunately, we're paying for that fancy."

The doors opened, revealing a long hallway with thick, decadent carpet. A scroll "G" was centered in front of the elevator area, and flowers sat on a pedestal table nearby.

"The 'G' thing is fortuitous."

"Yeah, dumb luck there," Jonah said. I followed him down the hallway to the right, until he stopped in front of number 2005.

He fished a set of keys from his pocket, picked through them until he found the right one, and stuck it into the lock.

"And away we go," he said, loosing the lock and opening the door.

"Holy crap," I muttered, stepping past him into the condo. The condo was completely empty, but it was still pretty lush. Like the lobby, the floors were marble. The walls were painted in a pale, creamy yellow, with white wooden trim. There was a kitchen on one side of the giant living area, with marble countertops and dark wood cabinets. The opposite wall was lined with floor-to-ceiling windows.

"This place is gorgeous," I said, staring up at the coffered ceiling, which was painted three different tones of the same yellow color. "Very high end. Is this Scott's condo?"

Jonah chuckled. "Nope. This one's mine."

"Yours?" This place put my little Cadogan House dorm room to shame. "All this for one vampire?"

"You've seen my digs at Grey House," he reminded me. "Senior staff members get good rooms. That's part of the advantage of making your own House, instead of squeezing into an old building like Cadogan House." He gestured at the space. "You make your own home."

"I guess. Anyway, it's gorgeous. You could do some serious entertaining here. Hey, speaking of which, how was your date the other night?"

Jonah grimaced. "Not great."

"No chemistry?"

"No show," he said. "She stood me up."

"No way."

"Way. Haven't even gotten so much as a phone call since."

That couldn't have been good for the ego. I'd never been stood up, mostly because I'd rarely dated as a human. I supposed that wasn't much of a victory.

"That really sucks," I offered. "Sorry to hear it."

Jonah shrugged again. "It is what it is, you know."

"I do." I took one last gratifying look around the apartment, then gestured toward the door. "We should probably get ready."

Jonah nodded. "We should. Your earbud in?"

I popped it into place. "It is now. Can you hear me?"

"Yes, because we're standing in the same room."

"You're hilarious. Hey, I meant to ask: Did you recruit RG members to keep an eye out tonight?"

"I did. Four of them will be outside, but all in vehicles. Seemed safer that way. They stay warm, and no one gets suspicious if vampires are standing around outside, waiting for something to happen."

I nodded. "How would you like to work this?"

He pulled out his phone and pulled up an image of the grounds. The apartment building was a rectangle right in the middle.

"Two sets of doors," he said. "Front and back of the building. We've rented vans, and we'll be dropping off the vampires in the front. Furniture deliveries are coming through the back. We've got an RG car on each entrance."

He pointed to the front of the building. "Take point here. Keep an eye on cars passing by, the vampires coming in and out. Anything seems suspicious, don't hesitate to contact me. We'll stop at dawn, secure the building, start again at dusk if we don't finish." He glanced at me. "You good?"

"I'm good." I patted my scabbard. "I feel better when she's with me."

"I feel better when you're with me," Jonah said. "You've got a good head on your shoulders. Let's keep it that way, shall we?"

"I certainly intend to do so."

Chapter Sixteen

A LITTLE B AND E BETWEEN FRIENDS

The move went smoothly. So smoothly, in fact, that I was already making plans to return to the House. Rioters might have ruined Valentine's Day, but I wasn't completely giving up on the possibility of dinner with Ethan. I could get Tuscan Terrace to go, and I hadn't yet met a man who could resist the siren call of their penne with vodka sauce.

The vans moved like coordinated dancers. One van dropped vampires off at the apartment building about every twenty minutes, while the other made the trip back to Hyde Park.