Blood Games (Chicagoland Vampires 10)

Luc leaned forward, a glimmer of interest in his eyes. “Because of the challenge? Or because of the response?”

“Victor didn’t know. He didn’t tell Victor either way.”

“If he’s here to take you on, to respond to the challenge, why would he make a pit stop in New York?”

“That, Sentinel, is part of the question. Darius only told Victor he had business in the city. That same business, reportedly, is what’s bringing him to Chicago.”

“When is he scheduled to arrive?” I asked.

“He’s already here.”

I blinked. “He’s here? And Victor just got around to telling you?”

“Like I said, they’re friends. I think he didn’t necessarily want to spill any pertinent details to Cadogan House, Darius’s self-professed enemy. But he also knows we get things done. Victor used his own channels to investigate, whatever those might be, and wasn’t satisfied by what he found. The only specific information was his plan to visit Chicago, and he only learned that because a member of the hotel staff overheard the muscle mentioning it.”

“Espionage,” Luc said, pointing at me, an I-told-you-so gesture.

“So Darius is in New York for reasons unknown,” I summarized. “He didn’t tell Victor Cabot, the resident Master and his buddy, that he was coming to town, barely spoke when Victor saw him on the street, didn’t mention the challenge at all, and then hightailed it to Chicago.”

Ethan nodded. “That appears to be the warp and weft of it.”

“It’s not necessarily surprising Darius didn’t detail how he intends to respond to Ethan’s challenge,” Malik put in. “Loose lips sink ships, and all that. But it is odd he didn’t mention the challenge at all. The GP is in a time of chaos—Darius’s reign is in a time of chaos. He’s facing a coup d’état, and in the home of an ally. You’d think he’d have at least broached the issue, griped about the challenge, leaned on Victor’s shoulder.”

“It is odd,” Ethan agreed.

I blew out a breath. “So what do we do? Batten down the hatches? Get the House ready for a fight?”

Ethan rose, paced to the window across the room, used a fingertip to push aside the silk curtain. I wondered what he thought as he looked outside, if he weighed the future as he surveyed his domain.

“If I’m to be head of this organization—and I aim to be head of this organization—I cannot lurk in shadows waiting for others to make their moves. We strategize, we act, we move forward.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, Sentinel, that if Darius will not respond to our challenge, we’ll take our challenge to him.”

* * *

We didn’t know how long Darius would be in town, so we took a chance, climbed into Lindsey’s SUV, and headed downtown. Luc drove, because he’d decided he was the only one who could “handle” the car in the event of “exigent circumstances.”

That explained the aviator glasses, considering it was full dark.

In reality, I think Luc was hoping for a car chase that would have him spinning and drifting the vehicle like he was a stuntman in an action movie.

Fortunately for my nerves and my stomach, that did not happen.

According to Victor, Darius intended to say at the Portman Grand, a hotel on Michigan Avenue across from Millennium Park that practically reeked of old money. It had been built in Chicago’s gilded age, a time when cattle and steel barons ruled the city. Lots of marble, gold accents, and dark fabrics.

We circled the block twice looking for a spot, lucked out the third time around, and grabbed a spot in front of a Chinese restaurant wedged between a Starbucks and a jewelry store.

“I presume no swords?” I said, thinking of the chichi hotel and the fact we’d be utterly conspicuous wearing them. We’d also present ourselves as an immediate threat to Darius.

“No swords,” Luc agreed, then popped open Lindsey’s glove box. Half a dozen holstered blades had been stuffed inside, a mini-armory in the comfort of an SUV. Vampires didn’t generally care for small blades, but these were exigent circumstances. Since I hadn’t noticed those the night before, he must have just loaded them.

“Do you have enough knives there, hon?” Lindsey asked, picking through the stack for a specimen she liked.

“Better safe than sorry.” He reached over, pulled out a pink camouflage holster. “You like?”

“I do not.” She patted one of the knee-high black boots she’d pulled over jeans. “Not my style, but I’m already prepped.”

He nodded, glanced into the backseat at me and Ethan.

“I’m good,” I said. Ethan had given me a sleek dagger that was, like Lindsey’s, tucked into my boot.

But Ethan held out a hand. “Do you have anything slightly less pink?”

Luc pulled out a holster covered in rhinestones.

“I really feel like you’ve missed your target audience,” Ethan said with amusement. “Or you’ve a feminine side we really haven’t explored.”

“I prefer you not explore my feminine side,” Luc said, stuffing the rejected knives back into the box and pulling out a third. This one was much more Cadogan style: a glossy, curvy handle with nubby grips on the finger notches, and a sleek, double-sided blade honed to a gleaming and lethal point.

“Now, that will work,” Ethan said, appreciation shining in his eyes. “And not a bit of glitter in sight.”

“Not on that one,” Luc said, closing the glove box again. “But I have others.”

We climbed out of the car, checked phones and weapons. “You might want to go with him next time he stops for weapons,” I whispered to Lindsey. “I understand Jonah uses FaireMakers.”

“As opposed to Victoria’s Scabbards?” Lindsey said, tugging the tops of her boots.

“My point exactly.”

“All right, kids,” Luc said. “We ready to undertake what will solely be an informational mission in which we go inside the hotel and gather information? Informationally.”

“Wait,” Lindsey said. “Wait. You’re saying we shouldn’t run in, arms waving, and yell that we’re here to kidnap Darius?”

Yes. Vampires also used sarcasm to combat pre-op nerves.

“I think we play it more subtly,” Luc said. “This is a public place, and a fancy one. Darius may have no love of humans, but he loathes bad press. He won’t cause trouble in the hotel, so we aren’t going to cause trouble in the hotel. We’re going to keep an eye out for Darius, feign coincidence that we’re in the same hotel, and make nice. Victor thinks something’s odd about his manner. We’ll give that theory a ride.”