Midnight Marked (Chicagoland Vampires 12)

“And one more thought, Ethan.”

His eyebrows lifted. “Yes?”

“Gabriel knew about Reed and the Circle. He sent us into that neighborhood, had to know we’d find something. At least notice the geographical connection, maybe do some exploring.”

“What are you suggesting, Sentinel?”

“He may not have wanted to tell us about Reed. Maybe didn’t feel like he could. But he wanted us to know.”

With that, I left him to his call.

• • •

I waited until Ethan had cleared the stairs before opening the Ops Room door. And when I did, all eyes jumped to me.

Luc, Juliet, and Lindsey stood together in a huddle. They separated and walked toward me.

“He’s going upstairs,” I said.

“What was that about?” Luc asked when they reached me. “And who won?”

“It was a draw, as you probably figured out when you opened the door.”

Luc managed a blush.

I didn’t figure there was any point in hiding the truth of the rest of it. “We went to see Caleb Franklin’s house, found a secret hidey-hole and a safe-deposit box key.” I pulled out the envelope, set it on the table. “We met a necromancer in Longwood Cemetery. Then we took a little visit to Hellriver. Discovered La Douleur had moved there—”

“Wait, La Douleur is in Hellriver now?”

We all looked at sweet and innocent Juliet, who was grinning wickedly. “What? I like cosplay. And you can’t beat La Douleur for cosplay.”

So many things I’d learned tonight. So many things I didn’t need to know. And yet I was compelled to ask. “English club?”

She grinned. “Sexy anime.”

Luc flicked away a fake tear. “Our baby girl is growing up. And she’s growing up weird.”

I smiled, appreciating the levity. “Anyway, La Douleur is in Hellriver,” I confirmed. “Run by a guy named Cyrius Lore, who’s got the Circle ouroboros tattooed on his arm. The Circle owns La Douleur, and they own Hellriver. Cyrius sicced a vampire on us, a battle ensued, which we won, at the point of a gun, a dagger, and two katanas. He admitted Reed’s got something big planned, something the sorcerer is involved in, something that’s got the sorcerer under wraps working on it. But that’s all we got out of him.”

Luc whistled. “That’s enough for one night.”

“Oh, but that’s only half of it. We then went to Little Red to talk to Gabe about Caleb Franklin. Long story short, Caleb Franklin was an enforcer for the Pack. Changed his mind, went to work for the Circle and Adrien Reed. He’s also Gabe’s illegitimate half brother, so Gabe let him defect from the Pack.”

Luc’s anger fired. “Gabriel Keene’s half goddamn brother worked for Adrien Reed? And he knew Reed’s connected to the Circle?”

“And has done not one thing about it.”

“No wonder Sullivan’s pissed,” Juliet said, and Luc nodded.

“Do you know what we could have done with that information?”

“I do,” I said. “And for his side, there’s loyalty and guilt in there. Gabriel would say he made the best decision for the Pack by kicking Franklin out, staying out of Circle business. Said it was a strategic decision just like the kind Ethan often makes.”

Lindsey winced. “Unfortunately, I can sympathize with that argument.”

“Yeah,” I said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. “That’s what I thought, too. Ethan’s as strategic as they come, and he’d be perfectly fine keeping information from the Pack if it suited his interests.” Hell, he’d kept information from me because he thought he’d been protecting me.

“Damn,” Luc said, looking at the ceiling as he thought it through. “Where did they leave it?”