Midnight Marked (Chicagoland Vampires 12)

“And has done not one thing about it.”

“No wonder Sullivan’s pissed,” Juliet said, and Luc nodded.

“Do you know what we could have done with that information?”

“I do,” I said. “And for his side, there’s loyalty and guilt in there. Gabriel would say he made the best decision for the Pack by kicking Franklin out, staying out of Circle business. Said it was a strategic decision just like the kind Ethan often makes.”

Lindsey winced. “Unfortunately, I can sympathize with that argument.”

“Yeah,” I said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. “That’s what I thought, too. Ethan’s as strategic as they come, and he’d be perfectly fine keeping information from the Pack if it suited his interests.” Hell, he’d kept information from me because he thought he’d been protecting me.

“Damn,” Luc said, looking at the ceiling as he thought it through. “Where did they leave it?”

“I don’t know. Ethan threw a chair, shifter threw open the door, Berna pretty much threw us out.”

Luc’s gaze dropped to me again. “No shit?”

“No shit. They left on bad terms, but nothing specific was said about the alliance or whatever. I don’t know if this is a lovers’ spat or a total fork in the road.”

Lindsey smiled sympathetically, rubbed my back. “You’re mixing metaphors, English major.”

“The night has fried my brain,” I said, crossing my arms. “Quite a damn situation.”

“Yeah,” Luc agreed. “And as much as it sucks, we’re going to have to wait to see how it resolves. Puts Jeff in a helluva spot.”

“It does,” I agreed. “Right between the Pack and the Ombuddies. He won’t want to disappoint Gabe or my grandfather.”

Luc scratched his cheek absently. “I wish there was a flowers-and-candy equivalent of fixing supernatural disputes.”

“Ethan took Gabe a bottle of Scotch. But that was before his confession.”

Luc nodded. “We’ll have to let that be for the time being. Let’s get back to Franklin, Reed, the Circle, the alchemy.” He gestured toward the conference table, and we took seats.

ran a hand through his hair, settling himself. “And why didn’t Malik deliver the message?”

“Because I lost the bet.”

Ethan held back a snicker, but something relaxed in his expression. If nothing else, he was home among friends. “I’ll be right up. Shut the door, please.”

“Nothing would please me more,” Luc assured him, and slipped out again, pulling the door closed behind him.

“Well,” Ethan said, glancing down at me, “I guess that brings this experiment to an end.”

“Temporarily,” I said. “Temporarily.”

His eyes gleamed with appreciation. Without a word, he pressed his mouth to mine, a promise of things to come. “I need to take the call.”

“Take it,” I said. “I believe my work here is done.”

Ethan snickered, picked up shirt and shoes. “Feeling cocky, are you, Sentinel?”

“Are you going to drive back to Little Red and challenge Gabriel to a duel?”

“Not in the next several minutes.”

“Then, like I said, my work here is done.” I picked up my own clothes, met him at the door. “Sometimes you just gotta dance it out.”

He smiled, and this time, he looked relaxed. “I guess, sometimes, you do.”