Biting Bad (Chicagoland Vampires 8)

Kiss-ass, I mentally accused.

How dare you think the sentiment is anything less than genuine?

The sentiment was intended to woo my family. So much for thinking him not sycophantic.

Ah, Sentinel. So suspicious. He picked up my hand and pressed it to his lips in full sight of the rest of the table, leading to even more sighs and puppy dog expressions.

For a pretentious Master vampire, Darth Sullivan was pretty dreamy.

-

An hour later, we finished the evening in the sitting room, a warm and pliable Olivia asleep in my arms.

"It's amazing how limp she goes, isn't it?" Charlotte remarked.

"It really is," I said, wincing a little as I tried to gently shift my arms, which were stiffening from the sack of potatoes in my lap. And a beautiful sack of potatoes at that.

Olivia was as pretty as her parents; she'd leave any number of broken hearts in her wake. Teenage boys who dreamed of her from afar; frat boys too cool to approach her.

Not that her appearance would define her. She was the granddaughter of one of the most powerful men in Chicago, the daughter of a heart surgeon and a philanthropist. Ivy League schools would vie for her attention. That would be a pretty fun battle to watch.

But as I smiled down at her, I couldn't help but feel saddened by my own limitations. Vampires couldn't have children. I wouldn't be a mother, and Ethan wouldn't be a father. And despite Gabriel's once-upon-a-time prediction, it wasn't possible that a child with eyes as green as Ethan's could be in our future.

Suddenly struck by melancholy, I felt my eyes fill with tears, and I stared down at Olivia until I was sure I'd blinked them back, and they wouldn't spill across my face like etchings of grief.

After a moment, I glanced up at Ethan and found sadness in his eyes. We hadn't spoken, but he'd watched me hold a sleeping child - and mourn for a future we couldn't have.

Olivia woke, her eyes suddenly wide and staring up at a person who wasn't her mother. She began to cry, and Charlotte rose and lifted her from my arms, leaving behind wrinkled silk and a bit of sadness.

"Stranger danger," Elizabeth said.

"No kidding," Charlotte said, hoisting Olivia onto her hip. She wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and plunked her head down, her eyes drifting shut almost immediately.

"I think that's our cue to get home," she said.

"We should probably be going as well," Ethan said. "We've some matters at the House to attend to."

My mother nodded and rose. "I'll get your coats."

My father stood and reached out to shake Ethan's hand again. "Nice seeing you again. And do remember our conversation."

Ethan nodded tightly and escorted me back to the door, where my mother had readied our outerwear. We slipped on our coats, and I pulled on my galoshes. The mood was suddenly somber, having shifted from awe of vampire longevity to sadness about our other physical shortcomings.

"It's lovely seeing you so happy," my mother said, embracing me, apparently oblivious to the change in mood.

"Thanks, Mom. You, too."

We exchanged hugs and promises to do dinner again soon, then Ethan and I walked down the sidewalk, our hands linked together.

I picked carefully across the ice to the car's passenger side and climbed in. Ethan started the Ferrari with a tantalizing purr, and his phone began to ring almost immediately.

"It's Luc," he said, then put the phone on speaker.

"Ethan and Merit," he answered.

"You're on speakerphone in the Ops Room."

Luc's voice was tight, which put my nerves on edge. He wouldn't have called unless it was important, but Luc's brand of important was rarely good news.

"What's wrong?" Ethan asked.

"The CPD is done with Robin Pope. They've released her."

"Released her?" I repeated, panic rising in my voice. "Why?"

"Because she's alibied for both riots," Jonah said. "She wasn't at either."

"But her complaint against Bryant Industries?" I asked. "Her relationship with the Grey House vamp? Those couldn't have been coincidence."

"They were," Luc said. "She hasn't so much as sent an e-mail to anybody arrested in the riots, surfed a Web page, anything. I realize it's not much of an update, but I wanted to let you know as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Luc. We'll be back to the House shortly."

Ethan hung up the phone and glanced at me. "Ideas?"

"Not a single damn one. I was certain she was involved, and now we're back at square one."

"We will deal with this just as we've dealt with everything else. The solution is there, waiting for us to find it."

I nodded. "We have to go back to the start. Visit Bryant Industries and see if there's anything to be learned. See what we missed."

"We spend enough money on their products that they could probably afford to give us a factory tour."

"It's late," I said. "Will they still be around? At least without a riot to attend to?"

Ethan nodded. "Bryant Industries works with us, so Charla tends to keep vampire hours. I'll send her a message and see if it can be arranged."

He did so, then updated Luc and pulled into the road and then into traffic. When we'd gotten some distance from my parents' house, I voiced the question I'd been pondering since Ethan had emerged from my father's study.

"Out of curiosity, what did you and my father talk about?"

For a moment, Ethan didn't answer, and I wasn't sure if he'd heard me.

"Your father wants to become an investor in Cadogan House."

"He what?" I boggled at the request. I presumed my father had wanted to discuss Ethan's putting in a good word about Merit Properties with other Houses. This was in an entirely different orbit.

"He has money and connections. He wants to offer us a rather considerable amount of money to join the House's board of directors."

I frowned. "We don't have a board of directors."

"No, we do not. Which is one of the smaller of many, many problems with his proposal."

"He wants to pay us to let him control the House?"

Ethan nodded. "Your father has demonstrated very questionable decision making in the past. Which means that power might be used in questionable ways."

I nodded. "We'd be trading one GP for another."

"I'm glad to hear you think so." There was relief in his voice that I didn't find flattering.

"You can't think I'd have supported the idea? Giving my father the key to your kingdom?"

"Your father is a powerful man, and with power comes protection. I wasn't afraid you'd support the idea, but I wondered if you'd find it attractive."