Biting Bad (Chicagoland Vampires 8)

"Why are you so dressed up?" I asked. "I don't think I've ever seen you without a Saul's shirt on."

"Granddaughter had a dance recital earlier tonight. 'Snowflake Revue' they called it. Lots of glitter and that white material that looks like window screen?"

"Tulle?"

Saul snapped his finger and pointed at me. "That's it. Tulle." He checked his watch. "I should get back. She's having a slumber party tonight, and her momma promised I'd stop by with a pizza and a kiss. I think I've gotten you all taken care of here."

"You did, Saul, and we're much obliged," Ethan said, extending a hand.

They shook on it. Saul picked up a couple of red insulated bags from the table, and Helen escorted him back into the hallway.

"Nice spread," Scott said, sidling up to us. He didn't have pizza in hand, and he looked exhausted. I'd seen Ethan in the same condition before. We might not have been human, but we weren't immune to human stresses. Fear, anger, and exhaustion ate away at us, too.

"It's all thanks to Saul's generosity," Ethan said, glancing at Scott. "How are your vampires faring?"

"The injured are nearly healed, but weak. There were pretty significant burns and internal damage there. The rest of us are feeling . . . displaced."

"Are repairs under way?" I asked.

"They are. Crew's already cleaning up the water and smoke. And glass, which there's a lot of. All the individual rooms have to be cleaned - the walls scrubbed, every sheet and pillow and piece of clothing aired out. Actually, it's the same company that cleaned up Bryant Industries," he said.

I supposed it was worth considering whether the rehab companies had any connection to the rioters - were the riots an attempt to get rehabbing work in a bad economy? But I quickly discarded the theory. After all, there was no guarantee the victims would actually hire the same rehab company.

"And the atrium?" Ethan asked.

"They're replacing and glazing the glass," he said. "Slow going considering the temperature - but it's in process. The mechanics are going to take longer. The water and heat did a number on the sensors."

"That's the trouble with technology," Ethan said. "Helluva lot easier to break."

"And so inconvenient when it does," Scott said.

"Have you found an interim place to stay?" I wondered aloud.

"So eager to kick us out, are you, Merit?"

"Just asking," I said. "Cots in the ballroom can't be all that comfortable."

"We make do," he said, sounding as much like a coach as a Master vampire. "We've got feelers out in the neighborhood, but we're getting a lot of 'no room at the inn' responses."

"No room for vampires?" Ethan asked.

"Precisely. We found an apartment building being remodeled; they're finishing up the interior work, and we offered a short-term lease for two of the floors. I think there's a possibility there, but the owners are going to have to get over their hesitancy about renting to vampires."

That hesitancy, I thought, might not be about the biology, but the risk of violence. We weren't exactly a good risk right now.

"Merit, your father's in real estate, isn't he?"

I gave Scott a faux smile, not looking forward to the question I knew was going to follow. Of course I wanted to help Grey House. But being indebted to my father was a bad idea; he always called in his debts. "Yeah, he is."

"Do you think he'd have any leads, or pull in terms of helping us nail down a location?"

I'll take this one, Sentinel, Ethan silently said.

"Joshua Merit can be a prickly sort," Ethan said. "And his prices are usually very, very high. We'll make inquiries as we can."

"I'd appreciate that," Scott said, gesturing toward the food. "I think I'm going to grab a bite. I'm starving."

"Do that," Ethan said with a smile, and we watched as Scott joined the rest of the vampires in line.

"I suppose I should have seen that coming."

"Me, too," Ethan said. "It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to make an inquiry. Although asking your father for a favor is only going to lead him back to his offer about the House."

"I hate to break it to you, but he's going to keep at it regardless of what you say to him in the meantime."

"I know," Ethan said. "Recall this isn't the first business arrangement he's proposed to me."

That was a chilling reminder of my father's last proposal - offering Ethan money to make me a vampire. Ethan declined, and that I'd become one anyway was a perfect bit of irony.

My phone beeped, so I pulled it out. An image of Luc's face flashed on my screen, his finger waggling. "Time to go outside!" it said. "Time to go outside!"

I tried to silence it, reduce the volume, and turn off the phone, but to no avail. Luc had definitely created a reminder for our outdoor guarding duties - and there was no way to turn it off.

I grimaced at the phone and showed it to Ethan. "We have a monster on our hands."

"I rue the day I authorized those study-at-night programming classes," Ethan said. "Perhaps you should get to it."

I nodded. "On my way," I said, leaving the vampires to their business.

-

I'd gone to college in California and done grad work in New York City. Both could have nasty weather, but neither city was as temperamental as Chicago.

It felt even colder outside now than it had a few hours ago. Cold enough to make fingers stiff and lungs tight and cramped.

I nodded at Kelley as she headed back into the House, arms crossed and teeth chattering. "Cold" was all she said.

Not exactly pleasant foreshadowing, but at least my phone stopped screaming when I reached the gate. Luc must have managed to tap into the phone's GPS. Which was just one more reason why his newfound programming skills were disturbing.

Two human guards stood at the gate, and others were posted every twenty feet along the perimeter. The guards at the gate were both men. Both broad-shouldered and tall, both with moustaches that cops and military men seemed to favor. Their clothes were head-to-toe black, thick, and quilted against the cold.

I'd brought out two extra travel mugs of hot chocolate and handed them over. "Thought you could use a drink."

"Appreciate it," said the one on the left, whose coveralls were stitched with "Angelo" in the top left-hand corner.

"Ditto," said the one on the right. He was apparently "Louie."

"Anything interesting out here tonight?"