No—not the possibility of change. Change was inevitable. But the nature of that change. Whether involving ourselves with the GP again would be good or would bring more pain and drama.
Figures appeared in the ballroom doorway. Helen, a man and two women behind her. Nicole Heart and her retinue.
She was striking, with dark hair and skin and a lean, curvy figure. Her hair reached her shoulders and was curled into soft waves that reminded me of Marilyn Monroe. She wore a long-sleeved ivory top and long, straight pants in silk that flowed around her body like water. Her eyes were tipped with dark lashes, her mouth generous and accented with shimmery peach gloss, her cheeks two rosy apples.
The effect was impressive. She had a movie star’s bearing and a princess’s grace.
The next question—was she a contender?—was more of a mystery. She looked physically fit, with strong shoulders and a trim figure. And there was little doubt about the intelligent gleam in her eyes. (There was also calculation and assessment in her eyes, but that just made her a vampire.)
I suppose having the wherewithal to frighten Ethan into holding things back from me was telling enough. Emotionally or otherwise, she wouldn’t be easy to best.
Behind her stood a man and a woman—the man was shorter, with dark skin, short hair, and a black suit. The woman was about my height, with a sleek bob of angled blond hair against vampirically pale skin. She wore an ensemble of black leather, and a cross-body holster for the katana sheath strapped to her back. She was me, but blond.
Weird.
“Bennett and Sarah,” Nicole said, gesturing to the man and woman behind her. “My Second and Sentinel.”
Another Sentinel—the first I’d met. Ethan had resurrected the position by Commending me into it. I guess he’d started a trend.
Sarah looked at me, lips pursed haughtily. I wasn’t interested in playing Dueling Sentinels—not with so many things on my mind—but she looked entirely up for the challenge.
All right, I was a little interested in it. But this wasn’t the time or place. Unfortunately. I gazed back at her beneath my lashes and long bangs, a hint of a smile across my face, just enough attitude to let her know I was a player.
She gave me the same sly smile back, tapped a thumb against the end of her katana’s pommel, as if daring and impatience battled for control.
The Sentinel Games? A definite possibility.
“Malik,” Ethan said, “my Second. Luc, captain of my guards. Merit, my Sentinel.”
Nicole glanced at each of us, nodding quickly and dismissively. She was a Master, and we, quite simply, weren’t.
“And, of course, you know Lakshmi,” Ethan said.
Nicole bowed her head deferentially. “Madam.”
“Your travel was pleasant?” Lakshmi asked.
“It was. Thank you for asking. And yours?”
“Fine, thank you.”
Vampire drama had apparently ruined me for pleasant small talk, as I had to work not to roll my eyes irritably at the exchange. Or maybe it was just jealousy. We never had pleasant chitchat with the GP.
“Perhaps we should get the business out of the way,” Lakshmi said. “Then I’ll review the premises and you can talk, if you’d like.”
Nicole and Ethan nodded.
“The psych testing will take place at five o’clock in the training room. I will proctor the exam.”
“The testers?” Bennett asked.
“I won’t reveal their Houses, so as not to provide an unfair advantage.” Or an opportunity for the Heart and Cadogan minions to research the hell out of them before the test.
“They were selected by a random lottery and agreed to participate. Both are very strong psychs. Both are quite well equipped. I will monitor psychically and physically. No areas of inquiry are off-limits. That will complete the test. The physical test will be held tomorrow at midnight at a location to be announced by me. Each test will be scored, and the scores will be gathered.”
“And then the Houses will vote?”
Lakshmi nodded at Ethan, smiling as if pleased he’d gotten the right answer. “I will return to London with the scores, and I’ll receive the scores from the European candidates. The top three candidates will be placed on the slate, and the Houses will vote. Well,” she added, a footnote, “the Houses without candidates will vote.
“The tests will not be easy,” Lakshmi said, glancing between them. “They are not intended to be. They are intended to test your strength, your focus, your ability to lead vampires through challenges. The immortality of the GP’s vampires lies in the hands of the man or woman chosen to lead them. It is no little responsibility, and they will be no little trials.”
That didn’t make me feel any better about what would be happening here today—or the fact that Ethan and I weren’t on the same ground.
“Any questions?”
Nicole and Ethan shook their heads.
“In that case, perhaps you should relax for a few moments while I review the preparations with your Seconds.”
“Nicole and I will wait in the anteroom,” Ethan said, gesturing to a door at the side of the ballroom.
Lakshmi nodded. “Training room at five o’clock.” Wordlessly, Malik guided Lakshmi back to the door, Bennett behind them.
Ethan and Nicole looked at each other. Whatever emotions they’d been hiding for the sake of their vampires, or for Lakshmi’s sake, bubbled to the surface. Their eyes darkened, and for a moment they both looked like the vampires they truly were—and the darkness that lived inside both of them.
* * *
The anteroom was small but pleasantly furnished. There were a couple of oversized white couches, and along one wall a series of mirrors with bare bulbs overhead where—once upon a time—I’d waited as an Initiate to be Commended into Cadogan House.
Nicole walked around the room before settling on a couch. She sat down on one end, crossed her legs, linked her hands on the arm.
Ethan took a seat across from her. Sarah and I stayed on our feet.
“Your House is lovely,” Nicole said. “The photographs don’t do it justice.”
“If that’s your opening salvo, Nicole, it’s not impressive.”
“You think we’re rivals, Ethan, but we aren’t.”
Ethan looked only mildly interested. “Aren’t we?”
“We are vampires who want to improve the lot of our own kind. Make them full and integrated members of the society into which they’ve been flung. I’d say that makes us allies.”