"I take it you two aren't getting along?"
"She's driving me up the freaking wall."
"Berna's intense," I said, rubbing the sore spot on my arm. "Motherly, in her way, but intense."
"That's precisely the problem. It's been a long time since I've been mothered, and twenty-eight is too late to start."
Mallory's parents had been killed in a car accident years ago, and she didn't have any living relatives.
"I can see how that would be awkward."
"It is. But she means well, so I'm going to shake it off later with a hot bath and stack of gossip magazines."
I wondered whether she'd also shake it off by talking to Catcher Bell, her boyfriend - or at least, he'd been her boyfriend before her unfortunate magical incidents. I wasn't entirely sure where they stood, but since she didn't bring it up, I didn't either. Not that the curiosity wasn't killing me.
"Do the bath and magazines help?" I asked.
"Less than they should. But when you aren't supposed to use your magic, you do what you can. It's like the world's worst diet."
"Mishka!"
"I'm coming!" Mallory yelled, then smiled apologetically. "It's good seeing you, Merit."
"You, too."
She looked up at me a little shyly. "Hey, maybe we could do something sometime? If you're up to it?"
It killed me a little that I hesitated before responding. But I still needed time. "Um, yeah. Okay." I nodded. "Give me a call."
She smiled a little brighter, then jogged back to the truck to arrange food at Berna's command.
Say what you would about Mallory, but the girl was trying to claw her way back into her life. I had to respect that, and I truly hoped she could make it stick.
CHAPTER TWO
PAS DE DEUX
An hour later, the yard was full of vampires of the Rogue and Cadogan persuasions. They seemed to be mixing relatively well - which was the entire point of a mixer, really.
If the fashion was any indication, the crew here today was much more eccentric than the Rogues who'd previously visited the House. A few were outfitted in the black military-style duds we'd seen before. But the others wouldn't have passed a military inspection. They wore heavy biker leathers and tie-dyed shirts, classic Goth ensembles and cocktail dresses.
Some of them had been snubbed or excluded by the House system, and some of them had purposely chosen the Rogue life. None of them seemed the worse for it.
Ethan worked the crowd like a master diplomat, moving from cluster to cluster of vampires, shaking hands and listening attentively while they chatted.
Luc stepped beside me. "Not bad for a last-minute party."
"It was only a last-minute party because we've been focusing on the transition," I pointed out.
Ethan appeared at my side and gestured across the lawn to a broad-shouldered man who chatted with Kelley, who'd served as the captain of Cadogan's guards when Luc was promoted. I guess now she was a cocaptain, since Luc had essentially reassumed the position. Seriously, our leadership structure was a mess.
"Noah's just arrived," Ethan said. "Let's say hello."
I hadn't seen Noah since he'd offered me a spot in the Red Guard, a clandestine organization of vampires whose mission was to keep an eye on the Greenwich Presidium and the Houses' Masters to ensure vampires were treated fairly.
I'd accepted Noah's offer, and Jonah, the captain of the Grey House guards, had been appointed as my partner.
Ethan didn't know about the RG or Jonah, or that Noah was affiliated with the organization. Seeing Noah again made my stomach clutch with nerves. I wasn't much of a poker player, but I was going to have to bluff my way to nonchalance on this one.
I followed Ethan across wet grass and toward Noah. He stood in a clutch of black-clad vampires who looked like the type of Rogues I was familiar with. Noah looked up as we moved closer, giving both of us slight nods of recognition.
"Ethan, Merit," Noah said, then looked at his crew. "I'll find you later," he told them, and they disappeared into the crowd.
"Everything okay?" I wondered.
"Personal matters," he said without elaborating, then smiled. "You two look happy and healthy. I was glad to hear you successfully managed Mallory and the Tate twins."
Seth Tate, the former mayor of Chicago, was also an angel who'd been magically linked to his demonic twin brother, Dominic. He'd slain Dominic and left Chicago to seek redemption for the crimes they'd committed while sharing a psyche. We hadn't heard from Seth since.
"So were we," Ethan said, "although it was touch-and-go for a while."
"Well, you put an end to the crisis, and that means something." He took in the sweeping height of Cadogan House, our home in Hyde Park. The mansion was three stories tall, made of pale stone and iron ornamentation. It was built around Chicago's Gilded Age, when cattle and manufacturing made the wealthiest citizens flush and they built stately homes to prove it. Some of those homes were gone, and some had been split into apartments. A few still existed as single-family homes . . . but only one was home to a pride of vampires.
"Are you ready to say good-bye to the GP?" Noah asked, dropping his gaze to us again.
"Only time will tell what it's like on the other side," Ethan said. "Although given the venom the GP's been spewing in our direction lately, I don't anticipate a significant change. If they're going to hate us, they might as well do it without our tithe. You and yours have managed well enough."
"With care and technique," Noah said. "We keep our ears to the ground and our bodies out of the GP's line of sight."
"Is it that bad?" I wondered aloud. Ethan had told me the GP took an all-or-nothing approach to its membership - the vampires within its purview were members, or they were enemies. But I'd never seen the GP take aim against a Rogue vampire. They seemed more interested in harassing the Houses and punishing those within the system who didn't adhere to their standards of behavior.
"Most of our drama lately has been internal," Noah said. "Issues among Rogues, not Housed vampires. But there was a time when the GP kept the lines between the Houses and the Rogues clearly marked and enforced those lines at sword point."
"So many things in the world to worry about," I mused, "and they decide to create animosity for no particular reason."
"Oh, there's a reason," Ethan said. "If they convince the Houses that those outside the Houses are bad, the GP is good by default. They offer constructive criticism and protection from all that's bad."