I opened my mouth. Closed it again. Amit was polite, but blunt.
“It won’t make me love him less. But if he doesn’t trust me . . .”
“Consider, Merit, that this has nothing to do with trust.” He glanced at me. “Have you told Ethan of every incident in your past? Every mistake? Every regret? And is your relationship worth less because of it? He is your lover, Merit, and he may very well be your partner for eternity. But he is not your father confessor, nor are you his.”
“That puts me in my place,” I admitted.
Amit patted my knee, that spark of magic jumping between us like the blue fire of static electricity.
“Each relationship is different,” he said. “Every couple must decide what works for them. For some, it is unmitigated honesty. For others, it is discretion. I think Ethan does not wish to speak too much about who he was before, for fear his past—and the desires that ruled him then—will be given power over him again. He fears those desires, that past, will destroy what you have built together.”
“You’re very wise.”
Amit smiled again, and this time there was sadness in it. “Not so wise. Just experienced. We’ve all made mistakes, Merit. I am no exception.” He looked at me, head tilted, as if puzzling me out. “I think you have changed him, just as he has changed you.”
“Yes, to both. For better and worse.”
This time, Amit laughed from the belly, fully and with gusto. “Truer words, Merit.” When he was done laughing, he wiped at his eyes. “Now that we’ve had our fun, I’ve a favor to ask you.”
I nodded. An enormous and endearing smile dawned on his face. “I am absolutely starving. Perhaps we could find something to eat?”
Finally, something I was actually good at.
I led Amit to the kitchen, introduced him to Margot, and, when I was assured they’d get along fine, headed back to the stairs to grab my Cadogan medal from our apartments.
I stopped short ten feet away. The door was cracked open, light streaming into the hallway.
I thought at first it was Ethan, that maybe he’d forgotten his medal, too. But the vibration of unfamiliar magic told me it wasn’t. I flipped the thumb guard on my katana and crept to the crack in the door, peered inside.
A man stood in front of the small desk where I’d had breakfast, rifling through an open drawer. He wore jeans, boots, and a fitted gray T-shirt. He was picking out papers, replacing them again, as he searched for something.
By the time he’d turned, I was through the door, the katana in my hand, its deadly point aimed at his heart.
He smiled back at me, his face handsome and expressive, his body muscular beneath the V-neck and jeans. It was enough to make me remember him, even without the crescent tattoo.
“The driver,” I said, remembering.
“And the Sentinel.” His smile was disarmingly charming, dimples at both corners of his mouth.
He didn’t look the least bit guilty at having been caught in our apartments.
And considering Nicole’s warnings, his purpose was easy to guess.
“Looking for something?”
He didn’t answer.
“Did losing the psych test make her feel a little desperate? Is she afraid she won’t be able to win on her own, so she has to dig for whatever dirt she might be able to find? I have to tell you, that’s not really engendering a lot of confidence in her leadership abilities.”
He shrugged. “She’s my Liege.”
I wasn’t sure if that meant he wouldn’t speak ill of her, or he automatically excused her bad deeds because of her position. “And you’re the one who does her dirty work. I can’t say that I respect a Master who’s afraid to get her hands dirty.”
“She’s not afraid,” he casually said. “It’s simply not her job to perform tasks like these. You should know—you stand Sentinel.”
“Protector of the House. Not secret operative.” Well, that wasn’t entirely true, but mostly because of my RG membership, not my status as Sentinel. At any rate, I generally didn’t break and enter—okay, also not true, but my behavior wasn’t at issue here.
“Potato, potato. But regardless, here we are.” He spread his hands wide. “What are we going to do about it?”
“You’re awfully relaxed for someone in your position—I didn’t get your name.”
“Iain. And you’re Merit.”
“All night long,” I agreed. And speaking of, the night was ticking away. I glanced at the clock behind him, watched the minute hand inch forward again. Nicole’s driver has broken into our apartments.
Iain must have sensed the delay, and he made his move. He darted toward the opposite wall and pulled a bokken from its mount, then spun the bokken in one hand, ready to dance.
“Then I guess that’s what we’ll do about it,” I said, and made my first strike.
He used the bokken to block my advance, then aimed it like a slugger staring down a fastball. I dropped and rolled, popping up again near the doorway that led to the bedroom.
“Not bad,” he said with a grin.
I resituated my fingers on the handle of my katana, kept my expression flat, although it was hard in light of his infectious smile. “I get a lot of practice.”
“I’ll bet.” This time he took the offensive, sweeping the bokken down to try to take me off my feet. I jumped and came down again with a slice from my left that had him skittering across the room.
He looked at me, then at the bokken in his hand, and flung it away so it clattered across the hardwood floor.
“Giving up?” I asked, grinning back at him.
“Not at all. Just in a bit of a hurry.”
My sword extended, I moved closer as he walked across the room, examining the objects on the side table. He glanced at the door, and I moved my body between him and it, preventing his exit.
But he was a creative thinker. He picked up an onyx horse from the side table, pitched it at the window.
Glass exploded into the darkness outside. Without looking back, he jumped to the window ledge and disappeared into the night.
“Son of a bitch,” I muttered, and added destruction of property to the list of Cadogan’s grievances against Heart House.
I sheathed my katana, ran to the window, and grabbed the edges as I pulled myself up. I caught a shard of glass, winced as it tore open my palm. But I ignored the pain, stepped through the window, and took flight.
The fall was exhilarating, the sensation more like taking a really large step than like falling three stories to the ground below. I hit the ground in a crouch, one hand extended for balance, and saw Iain running toward the fence.
His goal was easy enough to guess: He’d disappear into the night, and Nicole would fake shock that anyone in her House would attempt such a childish stunt, blah blah blah.
Best solution? Save the evidence. Namely, him.
I lit out after him, hurdling the expensive lawn furniture he’d turned over in my path and unsheathing my katana again. He turned and ran toward the pergola, edging toward the gap of light in the fence that probably looked, to him, like freedom.
But the pergola shadowed the yard—and the construction materials that still littered the grass. Iain caught something with a foot, lost his balance, and flew forward.
He hit the ground on his belly, tried to skitter forward and crawl back to his feet.
He was absolutely not getting away from us this time. I leaped, launching myself forward, and landed with a foot on his back that audibly knocked the air from his lungs. I flipped him over and pointed the katana at his carotid, pressing just enough to prove my point, not enough to draw blood.
Back lawn, I told Ethan. And you might want to hurry.
Iain sat in a chair in the cafeteria, which Luc had cleared of vampires, swiping at the fresh grass stains on his jeans, as if his only crime had been the ruination of what looked to be very expensive denim.
Nicole, Ethan, and Lakshmi stood in a semicircle around him. I stood a few feet away, napkins pressed to the healing cut on my palm, drinking the bottle of blood Ethan had pressed into my hand. As much as he’d enjoyed our interlude at dusk, apparently he didn’t want a midnight repeat.
“This is highly unusual,” Lakshmi said, glancing at Nicole, whose expression was blank except for a tightness around her eyes. She was a Master, and skilled at hiding her emotions.
“I’m as surprised as you are,” she said. “And very disappointed in my Novitiate.”
I seriously doubted that, but I’d already told them what I’d seen and what Iain had said. The rest of it was up to them.
“The circumstances are suspect,” Lakshmi said. “But without direct evidence that Iain was directed by Nicole to engage in his questionable behavior—”
“Felonious behavior,” I clarified. “Assault, battery, breaking and entering, destruction of property, etcetera.” And we hadn’t even told her about the attack on the Cadogan Dash or the threats of blackmail.
“Felonious behavior,” Lakshmi allowed, “we are at an impasse.” She looked at Ethan, long hair falling over one shoulder as she moved. “This is your House, and a violation of your privacy.” She checked a delicate gold watch. “And it is nearly time to begin the physical testing. You have the right to demand an inquiry—and that she be disqualified.”
Nicole stiffened.
She’d sent Iain to our apartments precisely to support her claim to the throne, and now she was faced with losing it altogether. She hadn’t thought he’d be caught—and if I hadn’t forgotten my medal, he wouldn’t have been.
He invaded our privacy, Ethan said. He’s threatened you twice now. But if she is disqualified now, for this—
You’ll never be rid of her, I finished. Even if you win, she’ll still be out there, waiting for an opportunity, because she’ll believe you robbed her of her chance.
He looked relieved that I’d realized it, that I could recognize an unwinnable play. If he let the testing move forward, the results—whatever they were—would be her own doing, not because he’d taken something away from her. And, if she was smart, she’d remember what he’d done and learn something from it: Winning at any cost wasn’t really a win.
“No,” he said. “I will not press for her disqualification. We move forward.”
Nicole blinked but recovered, nodded officiously. “That’s the most appropriate course of action.”
“Don’t push it,” Ethan murmured.
Lakshmi leveled Nicole with a look. “I presume we will not see any further mischief on the part of your House?”
“We will not.”
“In that case, the physical testing will proceed as indicated. Nicole, how do you propose to secure your Novitiate?”
Nicole glanced at Iain, her irritation obvious. “There’s a car outside, waiting to take him to the airport. He will go back to the House and remain until my return.”
Iain bowed his head obediently. Just as, I bet, he’d obediently bowed his head when Nicole told him to ransack our rooms.
Iain rose, and vampires shifted, preparing to get back to the task of preparing for the night’s testing.
But I had a bit of business first. It was time for me to have those five minutes I’d requested with Nicole, so I met Luc’s gaze, reminding him of our agreement.
He nodded slightly. “Ethan, why don’t we ensure Iain makes his way off the property?”
Lakshmi, who must have caught the look that passed between me and Luc and looked very satisfied by it, nodded.
“I’ll help ensure he’s settled and won’t cause any additional trouble,” she said. “Nicole, perhaps you’ll speak briefly with Merit, discuss any necessary repairs or reparations that your House will need to arrange?”
Yes, Lakshmi was definitely an ally.
Nicole watched them go before turning back to me, her expression unfailingly polite. “You appear to have bested my Novitiate.”
“Your Novitiate broke into my home, violated our privacy, and destroyed possessions.”
She circled me, her glamour rising, flowing. I nearly smiled. She wasn’t the first female Master to test me with glamour, and wouldn’t be the last.
“You don’t need to bother with the glamour. It doesn’t work on me.”
She didn’t comment, kept her expression mild except for the flash of irritation in her eyes. “I am a Master of my House.”
“And he is the Master of mine. You’ve threatened him, and used your vampires to threaten him, but you don’t have the honor to own up to it. You don’t even have the gall to do the dirty work yourself. If this is how you propose to rule, I’m not impressed.”
Her eyes lit with fire that made me smile wider than I probably should have, considering her obvious animus.
She leaned forward. “I am a Master.”
I held up a hand. “Let me go ahead and stop you right there. I’ve known several Masters in my short tenure as a vampire, and very few of them have impressed me. I’m not going to genuflect just because someone gave you a title.”
She glowered. “You may believe you have him wrapped around your precious little finger, but you are wrong. I doubt he’s told you of his lovers. You think you’ve tamed him? You’re a naive child. And I suspect he sees you the same way. He uses women, drinks their pleasure, and, when he’s done, discards them. His past is littered with his seductions, their tears. You’re only one of many. And if his history is any indication, you definitely won’t be the last.” Her eyes glimmered with excitement, with victory.
