Dark Debt (Chicagoland Vampires 11)

“A vampire comes back into Ethan’s life,” I began, “centuries after his supposed death, and tells a story about where he’d been the entire time. But he doesn’t know one of the most important parts of that story. We also find out he’s being funded by an organization that’s out to control all the vampire Houses in Chicago.”

My heart thudded, but I asked the question anyway. “What if the story he told wasn’t actually about him?” I looked at Luc, then Lindsey. “What if he isn’t the real Balthasar?”

The Ops Room went deathly silent.

I wasn’t sure which possibility was worse—that the vampire who made Ethan was psychopathic and misogynistic enough to forget the name of his most important victim, or that he was a magical imposter who’d gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to play that psychopath.

“Even if you’re right,” Luc said quietly, as if speaking the words more softly would minimize their power, “even if there’s some way he could have gotten the information, made himself look like Balthasar, there would be easier ways to get to Ethan.”

“Easier, but not with more legitimacy. Not with a tie to Ethan. Not like this. He’s got the Circle behind him, Luc. They are strong, and they are wily. They’ve already got Navarre under their thumb. What’s the best way to stake a claim on Cadogan?”

“Jesus Christ,” Luc murmured, staring at the timeline.

I nodded, walked toward the door.

“Where are you going?” Luc asked.

“I want to talk to Ethan about Persephone, about that night.”

And if this vampire, this man who’d thrown our lives into chaos was nothing more than a very powerful grifter running a long con, he was going to answer to me.

*   *   *

My palms began to sweat on the trip upstairs to Ethan’s office. I wasn’t looking forward to making him focus on Balthasar again, and certainly not to suggest that Ethan had been wrong from the beginning.

His office door was open a few inches. I put a hand on the door, nearly pushed it open, until I recognized Jonah’s voice in the room.

I froze, shifted so I could see them through the crack in the door. They stood in the middle of Ethan’s office. Ethan had a glass in hand. Jonah had his hands in his pockets, and he looked profoundly uncomfortable.

“She is sad, Jonah,” Ethan was saying. “She feels you’re underestimating her. As you are.”

My eyes widened in surprise, just as Jonah’s did.

“She told you?”

“Not the details. She didn’t have to.” Ethan turned back, looked at him. “Her relationship with me, my involvement in the AAM. Of course you’d see that as a potential asset.” He paused. “I know you have feelings for her.”

“Had.”

“That’s debatable. If your emotions weren’t coloring your analysis of this situation, you’d see it differently. That’s what makes it disappointing.”

“And how, exactly, would I see it differently?”

“If I were you, instead of seeing her relationship with us as a liability, I’d see it as a bonus.” He put a hand on his chest. “I’d consider the information she’ll be privy to, the access she’ll have. I’d wager her situation is unique in the United States, and I’d be grateful for that situation. I wouldn’t hold it against her. And I wouldn’t use it as an excuse to question her loyalty. And if you have any doubt that she would put power and gain above the welfare of her friends, her colleagues, her family, then she’s the one who needs a new partner.”

“She made an oath.”

“To the RG, and to me, and to her House. And she made an oath to you, of a kind, and you to her. She isn’t the one breaking that oath now.”

“Balthasar could—”

“Balthasar is irrelevant, as you well know. He is trouble, yes, and we are dealing with him. But he has no bearing on my rule of this House, or her.

“Look,” Ethan continued. “Either you earnestly, and wrongly, believe that she’ll be suddenly blind to my incompetence, or my succumbing to Balthasar—or someone else in the RG believes it, and you won’t stand up for her. Neither option is particularly flattering for you.”

He finished his drink, set it aside. “You should get back to your House, keep an eye on your Master, just as you suggest Merit keep an eye on hers. Although Balthasar has no bearing on my leadership, he’s still dangerous. Until we get him squared away, I recommend you stay close to Scott.”

Jonah nodded. “Thanks.”