Wild Things (Chicagoland Vampires 9)

As fast as it had begun, the magic dissipated again.

“That’s a good girl,” Mallory said, standing to peer over the water.

“Did it work?” I asked, stepping carefully closer.

“It picked a spot,” Mallory said, wincing as she dipped her fingers into the edges of the dish.

“Hot, hot, hot,” she murmured, almost to herself, carefully lifting the map from the bottom of the dish.

The cork, still quivering, was neatly pinned to the near center of the map. Mallory let the rest of the water drain, then placed the map on the table.

Catcher stepped forward, peered over Mallory’s shoulder. “Portville, Indiana,” he said. “I guess that’s where you’ll find your man.”

Chapter Seventeen

THE BANKER

Portville, Indiana, was gritty, a hard-bitten industrial town on the southern tip of Lake Michigan, just across the Indiana border. Portville had a reputation as a crumbling, blue-collar city abandoned by industry, its remaining vacuum filled by gangs, poverty, and violence.

Seth Tate, a fallen angel with contrition on his mind, had taken up residence there. If he’d really been serious about making amends for his past bad acts, the location was entirely appropriate. It definitely seemed like a city that needed help. On the other hand, during his less angelic days, when he’d been under Dominic’s influence, he’d been a drug kingpin and a befouler of vampires. A dirty city was just the type of place for him to work some dirty magic.

Either way, I had nothing more than the town’s name, which the Internet told me had nearly one hundred thousand residents. Not an address, a workplace, a church, or a precinct—but a name. This was going to be a challenge.

This was a big task, and I was going to need a partner. Unfortunately, both my official partners were under wraps. Ethan was in custody, and Jonah was captain of a House whose Master had been called an enemy of Chicago. He was going to have his hands full keeping his people safe.

That meant I needed to look elsewhere. So when I was in the car again, I pulled out my phone and called Jeff.

“Hey, Merit.”

“Hey.” I got to the point, and quickly. “Can you get away for a little while?”

“You planning a trip?”

“I am, actually. What do you know about Portville, Indiana?”

“Not a thing. Should I?”

“It’s where Seth Tate’s currently living.”

“Ah,” he said. “Sulfur and smoke?”

“Actually, yeah. If she’s connected to the Messengers, he’s the best person to tell us how. I still have to check with Luc and Malik, but I think they’ll say yes.”

“And Ethan?”

“He won’t mind as much if you go with me.”

“I know when I’ve been beat. Where should I meet you?”

Since I was already on the south side, I gave him the address of the convenience store I’d pulled into to make my calls. “I’ve got to cover my bases. I’ll let you know as soon as it’s a go.”

“I’m leaving now,” he said, apparently convinced I’d get the okay.

I was glad Jeff was on my side. Now I had to make sure the rest of the pieces aligned.

That alignment took phone calls. Plural.

I called Luc, told him Mallory and Catcher had found Tate, and Jeff had agreed to go with me to see him.

Luc hung up, and while I blasted Moneypenny’s heat and sipped the soda I’d grabbed at the convenience store—heavy on the ice and cherry flavoring, ’cause I was in that kind of mood—I waited.

Ten minutes later, I got a call back. My stomach buzzed with nerves.

“It’s Malik,” said the temporary Master of the House.

“Liege,” I acknowledged, a word I’d gotten used to during Ethan’s demise.

“Visiting him is a risk.”

“It is. And so is waiting for Regan to strike again, risking the elves attacking, and pissing off the Keenes. I was in Dominic’s prison, Malik. I know what he was capable of. But Seth Tate is not Dominic. The man we saw after the split was a good man, an earnest man, and he meant to make amends for the things he’d done. He stayed at the House, for God’s sake.”

“Ethan authorized him to say at the House,” Malik quietly said, his tone making clear that he hadn’t agreed with that decision.

“I don’t know if he’ll live up to that in the long run. But who else can we ask?”

Although I wasn’t entirely sure talking to Tate was a great idea, I was willing to stand behind it—and take the fall if necessary. I tried to pour that confidence and bravado into my voice.

“The idea is not without risk,” I admitted. “But I’m happy to take that risk on. We don’t have a lot of good options right now, and we’re stalled on Regan. I think it’s time to use the alliances we’ve created. He’s within driving distance, and he owes us a pretty big favor. Let me and Jeff drive down there. One conversation with him, and we see how far we get.”

Silence, while I gnawed the edge of my thumb.

“You go down tonight, you come back in one piece,” Malik said. “If he seems even remotely unstable, you abort the plan. If the situation seems dangerous, you abort the plan. If anything happens to you, you’ll have Ethan and me on your ass, and you don’t want that, Sentinel.”

“No, Liege,” I agreed. “I definitely do not.”

I did a happy dance. Not because I was thrilled to see Tate, but because I was thrilled to be doing something. Standing around the House and watching more footage of Ethan in trouble wasn’t going to help me at all.

“We’ll keep looking for Regan and the carnival,” Malik said. “Find us a guardian angel.”

It was my primary goal.

At first, I waited for Jeff outside the car, leaning against it like I was the baddest vampire in the modern age. Or certainly the vampire with the sweetest ride.

But it was February—in Chicago—and I quickly rejected that idea, climbed inside, and turned up the heater.

Jeff arrived a few minutes later, parked his car at the edge of the parking lot, and climbed in. “This is a damn fine automobile,” he said.

“Tell me about it.” I gestured toward the forty-four-ounce Mountain Dew in the cup holder, and the sticks of beef jerky I’d wedged between his cup and mine.

“What’s this?”

“Provisions. And a thank-you gift. That’s what gamers use for fuel, right?”