the one thing that as a Navarre vamp Morgan couldn't do. But it was the perfect line, the perfect exit, and I couldn't resist.
I glanced back at him, silk swirling around my legs, and, single eyebrow raised, gave him the haughtiest look I could muster.
"Bite me," I said, and walked away.
Ethan was outside, waiting beside the car in the gravel drive. His face was tilted up, eyes on the full moon that cast shadows against the house. He lowered his gaze as I began to cross the gravel.
"Ready?" he asked.
I nodded and followed him to the car.
The mood during the ride back to Hyde Park was even more somber than it had been on the ride to my parents'. I stared silently out the car window, replaying events. That was three times tonight that I'd managed to alienate people. Mallory. Catcher. Morgan.
And for what? Or better yet, for whom? Was I pushing everyone else away in order to get closer to Ethan?
I glanced over at him, his gaze on the road, hands at ten and two on the steering wheel.
His hair was tucked behind his ears, brow furrowed in concentration as he drove. I'd given up my life as a human for this man; not willingly, of course, but still. Was I giving up everything else? The things I'd brought with me across the transition - my home in Wicker Park? My best friend?
I sighed and turned back toward the window. Those questions, I guessed, weren't going to be answered tonight. I was hardly two months into my life as a vampire - and I still had an eternity of Ethan to go.
When we reached the House, Ethan parked the car, and we walked up from the basement together.
"What can I do?" I asked when we reached the first floor, not that I hadn't done enough already on behalf of Cadogan and its Master.
He frowned, then shook his head. "Keep me up to date about Jeff's progress with the e-mail. The Masters are investigating on their ends; I'm going to make some calls on my own until they arrive. In the meantime - " He paused, as if he was debating my skills, then finished, "Try the library. See what you can find."
I arched my eyebrows. "The library? What am I looking for?"
"You're the researcher, Sentinel. Figure that out."
Experienced enough to know that a ball gown wasn't appropriate research attire, I returned to my room to change, trading the silk for jeans and a short-sleeved black top.
(A fusty suit wasn't, to my mind, research attire, either.) I was relieved, physically relieved, to hang the dress back in the closet, don jeans and pick up my katana. It felt right in my hand - comforting, as if I'd stepped out of a costume and back into my own skin. I stood in my room for a moment, left hand on the scabbard, right hand on the handle, just breathing.
When I was calmer and ready to face the world again, I grabbed a pen and a couple of notebooks, ready to begin my own brand of investigation.
The more I thought about it, the more I agreed with Ethan that Celina had a role in this.
We didn't have much in the way of evidence, but this was totally her style - to sow discord, put the players in motion, and let the battle proceed on its own. I wasn't sure where Kelley fit in, or if she fit in at all, and I didn't exactly have the skills of a private investigator.
But I could research, study, peruse the library for information that might give us a clue - about Celina's plans, her connections, her history. Whether it would help us in the long run remained to be seen, but it was something proactive, something I had the skills to do.
And more importantly, it was something I could sink into, something that would keep my mind off other things. Off Morgan, and what seemed the inevitable end of that relationship. Off Ethan, and the attraction that, however ill-advised, lingered between us.
Off Mallory.
I found the library quiet and empty - and this time, I double-checked - dropped my pens and notebooks on the table, and headed for the shelves.
Chapter Eighteen
IN THE STACKS
"ate, isn't it?" I blinked away black text and looked up, found Ethan walking toward my table. My immersion solution had worked - I hadn't even heard the library door open.
"Is it?" I flipped my wrist to check the time on my watch, but