Blood Games (Chicagoland Vampires 10)

I stopped short ten feet away. The door was cracked open, light streaming into the hallway.

I thought at first it was Ethan, that maybe he’d forgotten his medal, too. But the vibration of unfamiliar magic told me it wasn’t. I flipped the thumb guard on my katana and crept to the crack in the door, peered inside.

A man stood in front of the small desk where I’d had breakfast, rifling through an open drawer. He wore jeans, boots, and a fitted gray T-shirt. He was picking out papers, replacing them again, as he searched for something.

By the time he’d turned, I was through the door, the katana in my hand, its deadly point aimed at his heart.

He smiled back at me, his face handsome and expressive, his body muscular beneath the V-neck and jeans. It was enough to make me remember him, even without the crescent tattoo.

“The driver,” I said, remembering.

“And the Sentinel.” His smile was disarmingly charming, dimples at both corners of his mouth.

He didn’t look the least bit guilty at having been caught in our apartments.

And considering Nicole’s warnings, his purpose was easy to guess.

“Looking for something?”

He didn’t answer.

“Did losing the psych test make her feel a little desperate? Is she afraid she won’t be able to win on her own, so she has to dig for whatever dirt she might be able to find? I have to tell you, that’s not really engendering a lot of confidence in her leadership abilities.”

He shrugged. “She’s my Liege.”

I wasn’t sure if that meant he wouldn’t speak ill of her, or he automatically excused her bad deeds because of her position. “And you’re the one who does her dirty work. I can’t say that I respect a Master who’s afraid to get her hands dirty.”

“She’s not afraid,” he casually said. “It’s simply not her job to perform tasks like these. You should know—you stand Sentinel.”

“Protector of the House. Not secret operative.” Well, that wasn’t entirely true, but mostly because of my RG membership, not my status as Sentinel. At any rate, I generally didn’t break and enter—okay, also not true, but my behavior wasn’t at issue here.

“Potato, potato. But regardless, here we are.” He spread his hands wide. “What are we going to do about it?”

“You’re awfully relaxed for someone in your position—I didn’t get your name.”

“Iain. And you’re Merit.”

“All night long,” I agreed. And speaking of, the night was ticking away. I glanced at the clock behind him, watched the minute hand inch forward again. Nicole’s driver has broken into our apartments.

Iain must have sensed the delay, and he made his move. He darted toward the opposite wall and pulled a bokken from its mount, then spun the bokken in one hand, ready to dance.

“Then I guess that’s what we’ll do about it,” I said, and made my first strike.

He used the bokken to block my advance, then aimed it like a slugger staring down a fastball. I dropped and rolled, popping up again near the doorway that led to the bedroom.

“Not bad,” he said with a grin.

I resituated my fingers on the handle of my katana, kept my expression flat, although it was hard in light of his infectious smile. “I get a lot of practice.”

“I’ll bet.” This time he took the offensive, sweeping the bokken down to try to take me off my feet. I jumped and came down again with a slice from my left that had him skittering across the room.

He looked at me, then at the bokken in his hand, and flung it away so it clattered across the hardwood floor.

“Giving up?” I asked, grinning back at him.

“Not at all. Just in a bit of a hurry.”

My sword extended, I moved closer as he walked across the room, examining the objects on the side table. He glanced at the door, and I moved my body between him and it, preventing his exit.

But he was a creative thinker. He picked up an onyx horse from the side table, pitched it at the window.

Glass exploded into the darkness outside. Without looking back, he jumped to the window ledge and disappeared into the night.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered, and added destruction of property to the list of Cadogan’s grievances against Heart House.

I sheathed my katana, ran to the window, and grabbed the edges as I pulled myself up. I caught a shard of glass, winced as it tore open my palm. But I ignored the pain, stepped through the window, and took flight.

The fall was exhilarating, the sensation more like taking a really large step than like falling three stories to the ground below. I hit the ground in a crouch, one hand extended for balance, and saw Iain running toward the fence.

His goal was easy enough to guess: He’d disappear into the night, and Nicole would fake shock that anyone in her House would attempt such a childish stunt, blah blah blah.

Best solution? Save the evidence. Namely, him.

I lit out after him, hurdling the expensive lawn furniture he’d turned over in my path and unsheathing my katana again. He turned and ran toward the pergola, edging toward the gap of light in the fence that probably looked, to him, like freedom.

But the pergola shadowed the yard—and the construction materials that still littered the grass. Iain caught something with a foot, lost his balance, and flew forward.

He hit the ground on his belly, tried to skitter forward and crawl back to his feet.

He was absolutely not getting away from us this time. I leaped, launching myself forward, and landed with a foot on his back that audibly knocked the air from his lungs. I flipped him over and pointed the katana at his carotid, pressing just enough to prove my point, not enough to draw blood.

Back lawn, I told Ethan. And you might want to hurry.

* * *

Iain sat in a chair in the cafeteria, which Luc had cleared of vampires, swiping at the fresh grass stains on his jeans, as if his only crime had been the ruination of what looked to be very expensive denim.

Nicole, Ethan, and Lakshmi stood in a semicircle around him. I stood a few feet away, napkins pressed to the healing cut on my palm, drinking the bottle of blood Ethan had pressed into my hand. As much as he’d enjoyed our interlude at dusk, apparently he didn’t want a midnight repeat.

“This is highly unusual,” Lakshmi said, glancing at Nicole, whose expression was blank except for a tightness around her eyes. She was a Master, and skilled at hiding her emotions.

“I’m as surprised as you are,” she said. “And very disappointed in my Novitiate.”