at the Commendation ceremony, and our beloved leader still covered for your skinny ass."
That made me smile sheepishly. "I got thrown down. Not exactly the same thing."
"Did you know that I've been in this House one hundred and fifteen years? In all that time, Ethan's only nominated one other Master."
I tore at a corner of my pastry, popped it into my mouth. "I'm not a Master."
"Yet," she said, pointing at me with her spoon. "But that's only an issue of time. Of course, you could have inherent magic, be able to work some of that Mallory Carmichael juju - she's going to be good, you know - and you still wouldn't measure up to the Golden Child."
"I know she's going to be good," I agreed. "It scares me on a daily basis. Who's the Golden Child?"
"Lacey Sheridan."
I'd heard that name but couldn't place it. "Who's Lacey Sheridan?"
"The Master Ethan nominated. Master of Sheridan House."
"Ah," I said, understanding dawning. I remembered seeing the House name in the Canon. There were twelve vampire Houses in the United States. Sheridan was the newest.
"Lacey was in Cadogan for twenty-five years before Ethan nominated her for Testing.
She passed, and Ethan Apprenticed her before she took the Rites. Then she moved to San Diego, opened Sheridan House. They were close, he and Lacey."
"Business partner close or...?"
"Touchy-feely close," Lindsey said. "And that was unfortunate."
I didn't disagree. Something twinged in my chest at the thought of Ethan being touchy-feely with anyone, and that was despite the fact that I'd been a firsthand witness to the act. Nevertheless, I asked, "Why unfortunate?"
Linds frowned, seemed to consider the question as she stirred her oatmeal.
"Because Lacey Sheridan was picture-perfect," she finally said. "Tall, thin, blond hair, blue eyes. Always respectful, always acquiescent. 'Yes, Liege,' 'No, Liege.' She always wore the right thing, looked like she'd stepped out of an Ann Taylor catalog. Always said the right thing. It was unnatural. She was probably barely human even when she was one."
"Ethan must have been crazy about her," I said, thinking she was the kind of woman he'd prefer to prefer. Elegant. Classy. And, I thought, as I nipped the end of a strip of bacon, acquiescent.
Lindsey nodded. " 'Crazy' is the word for it. He loved her, I think. In his way."
I looked up at her, bacon halfway toward its vampiric end. "You're serious?"
I couldn't imagine Ethan in love, Ethan letting his guard down. I wouldn't have figured him capable of trusting someone enough to let the man inside him peek through.
Well, except for those weird few moments with me, and he never seemed happy about those.
"Aspen-stake serious," Lindsey said. "When he realized how strong she was - she's rated a Very Strong Psych - he took her under his wing. After that, they were constantly together." She ate another spoonful of oatmeal. "They were like... arctic bookends, like some Nordic fairy couple. They were beautiful together, but" - Lindsey shook her head - "she was all wrong for him."
"Why's that?"
"Ethan needs someone different than that. He needs a girl who'll stand up to him, who'll challenge him. Someone to make him better, more. Not someone who'll kiss his ass twenty-four/seven and bow to every little suggestion he makes."
She eyed me speculatively.
I caught the glimmer in her eyes, shook my head. "Don't even think it. He hates me, I hate him, and acknowledging that's the only way we stand to work together."
Lindsey snorted and grabbed a strip of my bacon. "If you hate him, I'll eat my napkin.
And he may hate you, but that's only skin-deep. That's only the surface." She took a bite, shook her head, and waved at me with the rest of it. "No. There's more to him than meets the eye, Merit. I know it. There's heat beneath the chill. He just needs...reforming."
I made an impatient gesture. "So tell me more about Lacey."
"She had friends here, still does, but I thought she was cold. Arrogant. She's a Weak Physical, but a Very Strong Strat. She's political through and through. Maneuvering.
She always came off as vaguely friendly, but like she was a politician on a campaign stop, like she was going through the motions." Lindsey paused, looked contemplative, and her voice softened. "She wasn't kind, Merit. The guards hated her."
"Because of her attitude?"
"Well, yeah, in part. Look, Ethan rules the House, so he's kind of... separate from the rest of us. And honestly, I'd say the same thing about you. Folks are suspicious about how you made the Sentinel