Dark Debt (Chicagoland Vampires 11)

“Of course, Mr. Reed,” Jacobs said, glancing at us. “I understand your visitors are unwelcome.”

“What they are,” Reed said, “is harassing me. And I understand the CPD takes vampire harassment very seriously these days.”

“Of course they do.” Jacobs looked at us with disappointment in his eyes. “And my apologies for the delay. A transformer burst, so traffic and streetlights are out. It’s very dark out, and they’ve had to reroute traffic.”

Adrien made some vague sound, didn’t seem to care much about the CPD’s logistical concerns. But we understood it. That was our code phrase, the signal we’d worked out before visiting the Circle on Torrance Island. Jacobs wanted us to play along.

Jacobs took Ethan by the arm, and Ethan made a good show of shaking him off. “Get your damn hand off me!”

“You know I can’t do that, Mr. Sullivan. Not when you’ve come into someone’s home, threatened them.”

Ethan’s expression was perfectly superior. “I did no such thing. The housekeeper let us in!”

“Mmm-hmm. Your lawyers can discuss that with you at the station.” He smiled back at Mr. Reed. “Once again, sir, I’m very sorry for the interruption. Chuck Merit doesn’t appreciate his reputation being tarnished, and I’m sure he’ll have some choice words for his granddaughter.”

“I hope he does,” Reed said, not bothering to hide the gleam in his eyes as an officer led me to the door with a heavy grip on my arm. “They should learn to respect those who’ve earned their success.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Jacobs said. He glanced at the clock on the wall behind Reed’s desk. “I hate to inconvenience you further considering the hour. Perhaps I could call you tomorrow for your statement?”

“That would be acceptable,” Reed said, clearly pleased by Jacobs’s apparent deference.

o;And I’m not sure you understand real danger, Adrien. Celina made a bad business deal? That’s not my business. But you threaten vampires? You attempt to hurt my people? That makes it personal. And when it’s personal, it will be your house and mine. It will be you and me, and there will be no one to stand in front of you. No one else to fight your battles. That is the dangerous situation.”

But Reed knew how to play the game, just as Ethan did. His gaze shifted to me, and the chill in it lifted the hair on the back of my neck. There was nothing soft, nothing compassionate, barely anything human, about Adrien Reed.

“The personal matters to you, does it?” he asked, the implication obvious. If Ethan wished to battle Reed, Reed would simply target me.

Ethan’s magic seeped forward, a cold and sinking fog. “You’d be wise to keep your eyes on me and your men away from my people.”

“My ‘men’? Unless you’re interested in mergers and acquisitions, which I highly doubt, I can’t say I know what you’re talking about.”

“We’ve had several unpleasant run-ins with Jude Maguire. He’s one of yours.”

Reed frowned, pursed his lips, feigned confusion. “I’m not sure I know anyone named Maguire.”

“You might remember him as Thomas O’Malley,” I suggested pleasantly.

His smile widened. “Oh, I haven’t heard from Tom in years. I hope he’s doing well.”

This time, I let my smile bloom vampiric. “Actually, he’s nursing some fairly serious injuries at the moment. Accident with a throwing star.”

Ethan glanced at me, grimaced. “Oh, that sounds unfortunate.”

I nodded. “It was. And bloody. I’d like to get some of those stars.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Reed’s lip curled at the comment and the byplay, but only for an instant. However dangerous he might have been, he was very well schooled at masking his emotions, playing the businessman. It was an attribute a vampire could appreciate. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“In that case,” Ethan said, “how about Balthasar? Are you aware your companies are paying his way?”

“Don’t confuse me and my companies, Ethan. I don’t oversee every decision made in my expansive, shall we say, kingdom.”

“You may have money,” Ethan said, “and you may have friends in very high places. But you forget one thing: You are human, and we are not. We are strong, and we are immortal.”

Reed snapped out a laugh. There was no mirth in it, only insult. “You are two-bit celebrities with short memories and whose popularity shifts like the tide.”

Footsteps echoed down the hallway, drawing nearer.