Ethan whistled. “This keeps getting better. Riddle me this,” he said. “If the Circle’s so worried about King, why haven’t they made contact again with Navarre?”

“And why haven’t they skipped asking altogether and just taken the properties and investments they apparently have an interest in?” I asked.

“Both are excellent questions,” Ethan said, then glanced back at Malik. “And another one: Since when is Irina Second?”

“Since Nadia resigned two weeks ago. That’s all I know.”

“You were going to tell me about Irina,” I reminded him.

“She was one of Celina’s very close friends,” Malik said. “Many thought she’d be appointed Celina’s Second after Carlos. When Morgan got the job instead, there was dissention in the ranks. Those who supported Irina were vocal about their belief Morgan got the position because he and Celina were sleeping together.”

I’d suspected Celina’s and Morgan’s relationship had been intimate, but I hadn’t known his promotion to Second had been controversial.

“So that group was probably especially pissed when he got the House,” I guessed.

“They were,” Malik said. “The faction only strengthened—because now they had something specific to be pissed about, particularly when he appointed Nadia as his Second.”

“She didn’t have a position in the House before that,” Ethan explained. “She was Russian, had protected her sister during the revolution. She was fearless. She was not a bad pick for Second, but nor was she the most connected to the pro-Celina contingent.”

“So now he’s appointed Irina to keep that contingent happy,” I suggested, and paused to consider Morgan’s difficult history as Master. He’d had the Circle to contend with, and now I realized he had also been trying to prevent Celina’s supporters from revolting.

“What a mess,” I said.

“It is,” Malik agreed. “And given the faction’s love of Celina, I’d strongly suspect no one has any idea how bad things truly are. And we’re only through the surface layers.”

My stomach picked that moment to grumble, and I squinted with mild embarrassment.

“Let’s not delay the inevitable,” Ethan said. “We’ll get some food. Keep at it,” he said to Malik. “Don’t hesitate to call if any problems arise.”

“Let us hope it doesn’t,” Malik said.

For vampires, hope literally sprang eternal.

Chapter Fourteen

SHE BECKONS

We trekked back to the first floor, handed back our guest passes, and signed out again. The guards were no more enthused by our exit than they had been by our entrance.

“Glum dudes,” I said quietly as we pushed open the heavy door and walked outside.

“Would you want that job?”

“Excellent point, and no.”

The mood between us was lighter now, perhaps buoyed by the reminder that ours wasn’t the only House with troubles. I knew denial wasn’t going to improve my comfort level, not really, but for the moment—and with Ethan at my side—I was happy to pretend Balthasar was merely a memory from Ethan’s past.

“Did you have a place in mind for food?” I asked when we reached the sidewalk that ran in front of the House.

Ethan glanced left, right, at me. “Actually, I thought I’d let you follow your nose.”

“That’s very nearly insulting.”

“You don’t think you can sniff out the best restaurant in Gold Coast?”

I probably could, but that didn’t make the question any less insulting. “I’m not a bloodhound. But pizza sounds good.”

A corner of his mouth lifted. “And in this neighborhood?”

Tags: Chloe Neill Chicagoland Vampires Vampires
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