Biting Bad (Chicagoland Vampires 8)

"He would," Catcher agreed. "I considered this one of those 'apologize later' rather than 'ask permission now' scenarios."

"I'll call Joshua," Ethan said. "Not to accept the offer, but perhaps to string him along just a little bit. Perhaps that will take the heat off your grandfather."

Catcher nodded. "I appreciate it. He's got enough on his plate playing secret Ombudsman without his son whining."

"More trouble with the nymphs?" I wondered.

"The River nymphs are calmer than usual this month," Catcher said. "The deeper the winter, the calmer they get. It's because of their connection to the water - it slows down, and they do, too." He shook his head. "No, in addition to the rest of the stuff he's working on, he's beginning to get calls from Detective Jacobs about supernatural issues."

"What kind of issues?" I asked. I knew my grandfather was smart and capable, but that didn't mean I wanted him in the middle of even more supernatural drama.

"It varies. Sometimes consultations. Odd one earlier this week - a body was found on the lakeshore on the south side, but Detective Jacobs had some questions about it. Something strange about it. I'm not sure of the details."

"Sounds like morbid work," Ethan said.

Catcher shrugged. "It's cop work. It's often morbid."

Mallory's face suddenly paled, and she reached out for Catcher's hand.

"Mal?" I asked.

She waved me off, her eyes closed and features squeezed together. "Prophecy. Coming up. Hold on. It's like a pre-sneeze - "

She stiffened, beads of sweat popping onto her forehead. Sorcerers had the discomforting ability to prophecy, although their prophecies were usually wrapped inside riddles and metaphors that required patience and imagination to figure out.

They were also hard work, requiring an outlay of energy that could weaken a sorceress pretty severely.

"Blood," she said, eyes closed, magic swirling in the room like an invisible twister and raising goose bumps on my arms. "The alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. The fount of life and harbinger of darkness."

She sucked in a breath, and a rush of words poured out in a string. "All is waiting. All is forever. All is before."

She stopped, clipping the end of the final word like the needle removed too quickly from a vinyl album.

But although the prophecy was done, her body hadn't yet released from the spell. She still stared blankly ahead, her expression utterly frozen.

"Mallory." Catcher called her name.

She didn't move.

"Mallory," Catcher said, more firmly this time, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

She shuddered, then shook her head. "Sorry. That one was heavy." She looked around the room. "What was it about?"

"Blood," Catcher said. "It was a treatise on how good it is."

Mallory brightened. "Oh, cool. Blood. Vampires. That makes sense. At least it was actually about the right species this time. I had an attack last week while talking to Gabriel and ended up spouting off about unicorns and narwhales."

"Because both have horns?" I asked.

"God only knows why, or what it had to do with shifters." She shrugged. "I don't write the news; I just report it."

Catcher stood up, then offered Mallory a hand. "Come on, kid. Let's get you back to the crib."

"Hey," I said, "can you ask Gabriel about my car? Not that I'm totally eager to have the orange monster back, but he's probably going to want the Mercedes."

"Sure," Mallory said. "I thought I heard him say the repairs were done, but maybe I missed it. I'll check."

We exchanged good-byes, and they left the office. When they were gone, Ethan took my hands and looked down at me.

"What?" I asked. "What are you fretting about?"

"Mallory," he said. "I want you to be careful. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt." I could hear the defensiveness in my voice, and I hated that.

"I'm not saying she's going to hurt you," he said. "But the possibility exists. She has made bad decisions before. Maybe she's on the road to recovery. Maybe this is her second chance at a good life. But in case it's not, I want you safe. I want you whole."

He dropped his forehead to mine. "I want both of us whole, Merit. I am trying to be patient, to realize that she was under the influence of something old and ancient and much larger and more powerful than she was, but she violated the sanctity of this House."

"I know."

"I do not love her the way that you do. She is your family, possibly more so than anyone else."

"Except you."

He tipped up my chin, his eyes wide with surprise. "Thank you for that."

"You're welcome. Somehow, you've become my family. But you're right. She's family, too, so she gets another chance."

"I want you happy," he said. "And I want you safe."

"I want to accelerate a few days and gorge myself on steak at Tuscan Terrace," I said with a smile. "Sometimes we don't always get what we want."

"And sometimes," he said, pressing a gentle kiss to my lips, "we get exactly what we want. Go get back to work."

"Dictator," I said, but felt the weight around my heart lighten, just a bit.

Chapter Fifteen

JEFF'S HOUSE OF FUN

Ethan addressed and the internal riot momentarily quelled, it was (past) time to get back to business. Taking the stairs to the basement, I rounded the corner to find Lindsey blocking the Ops Room door, her arms stretched out across the threshold like a human baby gate.

Her hair was pulled into a ponytail today, and it sat stylishly on one shoulder. But the look she gave me was definitely not pretty.

"Stop. Fighting," she said.

Ethan and I radiated magic when we fought, but this time we hadn't actually been the ones fighting.

"I wasn't fighting. Connor got into it with one of the Grey House vampires. And then Mallory had a prophecy."

Lindsey grimaced. "Apparently we missed out on a lot. Fight first, then prophecy."

"Too many vampires in one House," I explained. "Connor's embarrassed, and he's probably going to get the vampire version of KP duty for mixing it up with Grey House, but yeah, he'll live."

"That sucks."

I nodded. "And the prophecy was something about blood and the 'fount of life.'"

"Weird."

"You should have seen it in person."