Drink Deep (Chicagoland Vampires 5)

"Make contact with your grandfather. Find out what he knows, then get downtown. Keep an eye on things, and do whatever you can to help the Ombud's office, preferably with as little public drama or political involvement as possible."

"What about you? The House? If I'm out, you're going to be even more shorthanded."

She shook her head. "There won't be a House if the mayor finds a reason to crucify us." Then her expression softened. "I didn't think to ask - wil you be okay doing this?

You haven't been out of the House much since . . . you know."

Since Ethan, she meant.

The last time I'd left the House on a real mission, two vampires had ended up dead, and only one had deserved it. I could admit I was gun-shy. The wound was stil raw, the fear that I'd screw up and someone else would end up dead stil sharp. The fact that I already had a demerit in my file for investigating Celina and pissing off the GP in the process also wasn't encouraging.

Luc had argued the point, reminding me that Ethan had been staked not because I was careless, but because he'd jumped in front of a drug-addled vampire - and a stake meant for me. Unfortunately, that reminder hadn't done much to assuage the guilt or to make me want to try again.

Kel ey had been patient, letting me work around the House instead of playing Sentinel outside it. That arrangement had suited Malik's plan to keep us under the radar for a while. We'd had more than enough drama lately, receiver included.

On the other hand . . . I glanced over at the nearly empty Ops Room. Other than me, Juliet and Lindsey were the only two arrows left in Kel ey's quiver. Someone needed to step up, and I was the only candidate left.

"I'l be fine," I agreed. "I'l give my grandfather a heads-up about the picture in case they don't already know, and I'l head out now."

There was clear relief in Kel ey's expression, but it didn't last long. "I hate to send you out alone, and I know you're used to working with Eth - with a partner. Unfortunately, we can't spare anyone right now. You'l have to take this one by yourself."

I'd anticipated that, and had a strategy in my back pocket.

"Actual y, I met Jonah, the Grey guard captain, the night of the Temple Bar fiasco." Long story short, drugged-out Cadogan vamps had caused a ruckus that created city-wide attention. Jonah had walked down from Grey House to check out the fight, our faux first meeting. "Since we're short-staffed, and this isn't a Cadogan-specific problem, I could see if he can spare a guard." Of course he'd spare a guard - himself.

"Oh," Kel ey said. "That's a good idea. I hadn't considered it, but it definitely has merit. No pun intended."

I smiled politely, but caught Lindsey's expression of uncensored curiosity. She'd definitely have questions about Jonah later.

"Do it," Kel ey said. "Get to the lake, and figure out what the hel is going on down there - and what we need to h d we needo about it."

I promised I would. Reticence notwithstanding, that's what Sentinels were for.

With a mission in mind, I hopped back upstairs to my second-floor room and changed into leather pants and jacket, a gray tank beneath, and then pul ed on boots and clipped on my beeper. I'd already been wearing my gold House medal - the official membership card of most American vampire Houses.

I unsheathed my katana, the official weapon of GP vampires, and checked its edge. It was sharp and stil immaculate from its last rice paper cleaning.

I opened the top drawer in my bureau, where a double-edged dagger lay nestled atop folded T-shirts too thin for autumn in Chicago. It wasn't exactly a glamorous place for a weapon, but it was an intimate one that seemed fitting under the circumstances. A dagger was traditional y presented to the House Sentinel by its Master; most American Houses hadn't had a Sentinel in a while, so Ethan's appointing me - and giving me the blade - was a revised tradition.

The blade gleamed like chrome; the handle was pearl and silky smooth to the touch. And on the end of the handle was a gold disk, a near match to my Cadogan medal, inscribed with my position.

I picked it up and ran my thumb across the ridges left by the engraved lettering. It was one of the few physical reminders I had of Ethan, along with the medal and a signed Cubs basebal he'd given me to replace one I'd lost.

It was such a strange thing - to be in a House surrounded by vampires he'd made and decor he'd chosen, to have vibrant dreams and memories of him, to have been on the verge of a relationship when he'd been kil ed - but to have so few mementos of our time together.

I might have been immortal, my life theoretical y eternal, but I had no more control over the passage of time than any mortal. I assumed my memories would eventual y fade, so I savored the tangible reminders of who he'd been.

Kel ey had given me time to grieve, but it was time to get back to work. I pressed my lips to the engraving, then slid the dagger inside its boot holster. I pul ed my hair into a high ponytail and grabbed my cel phone, dialing up Jonah's number.

"Lake Michigan?" he answered.

"Yep. Do you mind playing Sentinel sidekick this evening?"

Jonah made a sarcastic noise. "I'm the older, wiser vamp. That makes you the sidekick."

"I'm better with a katana."

"That remains to be seen. And I've got more degrees."

He was right; he had me beat on that one. My change to vampire had interrupted my own doctoral studies; Jonah had managed four graduate degrees even with fangs. I was woman enough to admit to some academic envy.

"Fine," I said, rol ing my eyes. "No one's the sidekick.

Equal rights, et cetera. Where should we meet?"

"I've got a friend with a boat, but it's already in dry dock for the season. Navy Pier. Half an hour. Oh - and Sentinel?"

"Yes?"

"If the gate's locked, don't forget you're strong enough to scale it."

Excel ent. I could now add "breaking and entering" to the skil s section of my resume.

Dagger in boot and in hand, I headed down the Houseded the Hous main staircase to the first floor - and a few feet closer to my chil y car.

I was in the lobby, keys in hand, when Luc and Lindsey came downstairs holding hands, both looking very much in love. Their blooming relationship didn't make my own grief any easier to bear, but if I was playing the dopey-eyed optimist, at least something good had come from Ethan's demise.

"Sentinel," Luc said. "You heading out to check out this water problem?"

"I am."

"First time on the streets in a while."

"First House-related mission in a while, certainly."