Blood Games (Chicagoland Vampires 10)

“Nicole Heart is the woman who threatened you.”

He paused before answering. “Yes.”

“And?” I prompted.

He shifted his body but didn’t look at me. “And she’s my problem.”

He was baffling and utterly infuriating. I kept my voice low and steady, barely masking my rage.

“She’s coming here tonight, this woman who’s blackmailing you. She’s blackmailing you because she wants you to back down from seeking the GP spot, which you obviously haven’t done.”

“And?”

“And? And, what if she reveals the information she has on you?”

He was quiet for a moment. “She won’t. Not now.”

“Because?”

“Because, for better or worse, Darius just sanctioned the House and my challenge. She can’t make a play now, not with blackmail. Not when she knows I could just as easily reveal her ploy—her very dishonorable ploy—to Lakshmi and the other Houses. She may try other things,” he added, sounding very tired, “but it won’t be blackmail.”

“It doesn’t have to be blackmail to be torturous,” I pointed out.

Ethan lifted a shoulder, resigned.

Being a Master, I realized, was like playing an eternal and worldwide game of chess. I took a cautious step forward. “Let me help you with this. Let me take some of the burden.” Let me help us.

“I talked to Luc.”

I opted for honesty . . . and the vulnerability it brought with it. “I know. And I’m glad you talked to somebody, but honestly, Ethan, it’s a punch that you won’t talk to me.”

“It’s not a punch. It has nothing to do with you. And it’s better that way.”

Two excuses, both of them crap. “Better for me, or for you?”

I waited for an answer but got none. Just the stiff set of his shoulders and the obvious weight on his heart and soul. “This conversation is done.”

I walked closer to him. “You may think you’re protecting me. But keeping me in the dark doesn’t protect me. It hides the monsters, and it sets us back.”

It sets me back, I thought.

But Ethan just looked at the skyline again. “Get to the Ops Room and help Luc get ready.”

“Liege,” I bit out, then turned on my heel and stalked back into the House, muttering very unflattering things about its Master.

* * *

I found Luc and Lindsey in the foyer, heading for the basement stairs.

“Luc.”

He stopped and turned back, sent Lindsey on her way while he waited for me to catch up.

“We should talk about Nicole. I’ve already put most of it together,” I quietly said, recognizing the discomfort in his expression.

Luc looked around, drew me into an alcove behind the staircase. “I don’t know all the history. Just that they knew each other when Ethan became a vampire.”

“With Balthasar?”

He nodded.

“Were they lovers?”

“I don’t know.”

“Nicole’s the one who’s been threatening the House—and doing it because she wants to lead the GP. And now she’s coming here to face him outright. He doesn’t think she’ll go through with her . . . original . . . plan.” I skipped the word “blackmail” since I still wasn’t sure how much Luc knew. “But we know she’s conniving, so she may try something else. Will she hurt him? Or the House?”

“If she’s willing to blackmail Ethan to win a spot on the GP, I imagine her ethics are flexible.”

I guessed Ethan had told him the truth. “Tell me what you know about her.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just give me an order because you’re under some stress.”

“Sorry,” I murmured, since he had a point.

He nodded, acknowledging the apology. “Nicole’s smart, competent. Extra-strong strat. She was assimilated for a very long time before Heart House was founded. Went to college, law school, business school. Excelled at all three. Was married to another vampire for a while, but it didn’t last. Her doing, I understand. Staring down eternity made her less than thrilled about ‘settling.’ That type. Heart’s a fairly insular House. Good reputation, solid financial standing, but they don’t mix it up with the other Houses very often.”

“Is she supportive of the GP?”

“Very much so.” He crossed his arms. “Frankly, I’m a little surprised to learn she issued a challenge.”

So had Nicole bided her time—obeyed the rules—and waited for an opportunity to take over the throne? Had she been angry that Ethan had beaten her to the punch? That would explain why she wanted him out of the race, and why she was willing to resort to blackmail to do that.

“How much are you going to tell the others about her?”

Luc frowned, scratched an ear. “That she sent the driver. I can’t let her catch the guards—the House—unawares. But I don’t see any need to get into the specifics with Ethan. If he hasn’t told you . . .”

“Then he wouldn’t want the guards to know,” I finished for him.

“He’ll come around,” Luc quietly said, sympathy etched on his face.

He would or wouldn’t. Either way, she’d threatened me and mine, and we were going to have a chat about that. “I want five minutes alone with Nicole.”

He watched me for a moment. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

I let him see the pent-up anger, fear, frustration, in my eyes. “Not at all. Which makes me want to do it even more.”

Luc smiled, probably against his better judgment, and nodded. “What my Sentinel wants, my Sentinel gets.” He put a hand on his chest. “Just remember—keeping him safe is my life’s work. Let’s get downstairs and get ready for this thing.”

* * *

The atmosphere in the Ops Room was intense. Luc kept two temps on the security cameras, gathered the rest of us around the conference table while he took the chair at the end.

“Brody,” Luc prompted.

Brody tapped a tablet on the table in front of him. The projector screen on the opposite wall brightened and filled with a tidy black-and-white chart.

“This is the schedule Darius’s people just sent over,” he said. “Lakshmi is presently en route. Darius apparently got the message to her early.”

“How thoughtful,” Lindsey dryly said.

“No shit,” Luc muttered, then gestured to Brody to continue. “Continue, newbie.”