Blade Bound (Chicagoland Vampires 13)

“Put that on a T-shirt,” Ethan said.

;  I bit back a smile. Malik was normally the strong and silent type, which made his strong defense of Ethan that much more enjoyable. And the tension around Ethan’s eyes seemed to soften, just a little.

“I’ll work with Malik,” Luc said. “We’ll talk about new procedures for supplicants.” He lifted his gaze to mine, and it was heavy with guilt.

It took me a moment to understand. He was afraid the vampire might have seriously hurt me—or taken me out altogether—the night before the wedding. That he’d have taken out the bride of his Master, the man to whom he’d pledged an oath. The wedding was doing a number on all of us.

“You’re not thinking,” I said, and fire lit in Luc’s eyes at my harsh tone. Good. He could use the fire.

“Excuse me?” he asked, not used to my questioning him—at least not when he was in guard-captain mode.

“I’m stronger than him, and better trained. He’d been on the street for who knows how long, and having some sort of psychotic breakdown to boot. My handling it was inevitable. And more importantly, I was in the best position to handle it. Better me than Helen or Margot or anyone else who isn’t trained for combat.”

Luc’s jaw worked as he mulled over my thoughts.

Ethan reached out, squeezed my hand. “You did train her well,” he pointed out.

“Damn right I did. Don’t entirely like having it thrown back in my face, especially when I fuck up.”

“And none of that, either,” I said. “This wasn’t your fault.”

He looked up at me. “It was,” he said. “House security is my responsibility.”

“Yours and mine,” I corrected. “I stand Sentinel. It’s my job, at least in part, to protect the House. We both had that responsibility, so if there’s any blame to pass, it’s mine, too.” I looked at Ethan, hated the uncomfortable clutch in my belly, the fact that I’d only just now taken responsibility for the breach. It shouldn’t have taken me that long to acknowledge my contribution, or apologize for it. “I’m sorry for that.”

Fire blazed in Ethan’s eyes, and I hoped it was pride, not anger.

“She’s right,” Ethan said, looking at both of us. “We’ve identified a gap in our security—one we hadn’t known existed. We know now, and we’ll adjust our processes. We’ll correct and move forward. That’s what we do. That’s what we always do. And speaking of moving forward,” he said, glancing at me, “now that we’ve all donned our particular hair shirts, we should probably prepare for the evening.”

“I think that’s our cue to go,” Malik said with a smile, rising and patting Luc’s shoulder as he passed, a sign of solidarity.

“Sentinel.”

I looked back at Luc.

“I just want you to know—your taking responsibility tonight shows . . . that I trained you really well.”

I mostly bit back a smile. “That’s what you’re going with?”

He smiled. “Yeah. I think, tonight, we probably need it.”

They disappeared, and I’d only managed to move a step closer to Ethan when another figure stepped into the doorway.

The man had tan skin, dark hair, and dreamily wide brown eyes. He wore jeans and a cotton tunic of deep saffron on his tall and lean frame, and a cheeky grin on his face. “Isn’t it bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other before the wedding?”

The smile traveled through the crisp accent that edged his warm voice.

He and Ethan walked toward each other, met in the middle, and shared a manly, back-slapping hug. “It’s good to see you, Amit.”

Amit put a hand on Ethan’s shoulder, squeezed it. “And you as well, my friend.”

The most powerful vampire in the world—and Ethan’s best man—glanced at me and held out his hands, a silver ring glinting on his right thumb. I walked to him, offered my hands. He raised them to his lips, pressed kisses as a frisson of magic passed between us.

“Amit. It’s so good to see you!”

He grinned. “Have you changed your mind about marrying this reprobate yet?”

“I have not,” I said, glancing at Ethan. “And I don’t think I will.”