"As wel you should."
"What, exactly, are we going to do if we find Malory?"
"When we find her," he corrected. "She wants the Maleficium, and it's in Nebraska. There's little doubt our paths wil cross. As for the what…I'm not entirely sure. Do you think she'd be amenable to bribery?"
"I'm aware of only one thing she wants," I said. "And she has a head start, which means she'l probably get there before we do."
"Assuming she manages to evade the Order," Ethan said.
"Which seems pretty likely."
The Order was the union of sorcerers that had been overseeing Malory in rehab and was responsible for keeping the Maleficium safe. Al around, they'd done an embarrassingly bad job of both.
"That's funny, Sulivan. Especialy for someone who's been alive for barely twenty-four hours."
"Don't let my youthful good looks confuse you. I now have two lifetimes of experience."
I made a sarcastic sound but said a silent thank-you. I'd grieved for Ethan, and it was glorious—al the more for being so unexpected—to have him back again.
Unfortunately, my gratitude was matched by the icy gnawing in my stomach. He was here, but Malory was out there, inviting an ancient leviathan back into our world.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I can't shake the Malory funk. I'm furious with her, mad at myself for missing the fact that she was the one trying to destroy Chicago, and irritated that instead of celebrating your return, we have to play supernatural babysitters for a woman who should know better."
I rued the day Malory had learned she had magic; things had gone downhil for her—and by extension, her friends and family —since then. But she'd been my friend for a long time. She'd jumped to my defense the first day we'd met, when a thug tried to snatch my backpack on the El, and it was her shoulder I'd cried on when Ethan made me a vampire. I couldn't abandon her now, even as much as I might have wanted to.
"We're on our way to find her. I'm not sure what else we can do. And I agree that you should be basking in my glory…especialy since I took a stake through the heart to save your life."
I couldn't help but grin. "And it didn't even take you twenty-four hours to remind me."
"One uses the tools at one's disposal, Sentinel."
There was a twinkle in his eye, even as the teltale line of worry appeared between his eyebrows.
"Do you have any idea where we're actualy supposed to go when we get to Nebraska? Where the silo is? It's a big state."
"I don't," he said. "I'd planned to give Catcher time to get his bearings and then ask for details."
Catcher was Malory's boyfriend. He'd been employed by my grandfather, Chicago's supernatural Ombudsman until Diane Kowalcyzk, the city's new mayor, stripped him of the title. Like Malory, Catcher was a sorcerer, but he'd been on the outs with the Order much longer than she had.
My cel phone rang, a herald of news, good or bad.
Ethan glanced at it, then propped it up on the dashboard between us. "I guess he's ready to talk."
"Ethan, Merit," Catcher said in greeting. His voice was gravely, his tone even lower than usual. He wasn't one for displays of emotion, but Malory's disappearance had to be wearing on him.
"How are you doing?" I asked.
"The woman I'd planned to spend the rest of my life with is trying her best to open Pandora's box, and damn the consequences. I have had better days. And weeks."
I winced sympatheticaly. "So fil us in. What do we know?"
"She was staying at a facility not far from O'Hare," Catcher
said. "There were armed guards to keep an eye on her and medical staff to make sure she was stable."
"I thought the Order didn't have operations in Chicago?"
Ethan asked.