House Rules - Chloe Neill Page 0,65
me, but were I in the same place, I’d likely make the same decision.” He looked around the table. “What else?”
“Extortion?” Paige suggested. “I don’t know much about these vampires, but do we have anything on any of them we could use to change their minds?”
Ethan and I exchanged a glance. We knew Harold Monmonth had murdered at Celina’s behest, but there was no way Darius or any of the other GP members would care. The GP generally thought human lives were beneath their concern. A centuries-old death wouldn’t inspire much interest.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Ethan said.
“We can’t buy them off,” Malik said. “We’re out of money.”
“What about the egg?” Gabriel asked.
Everyone looked at Gabriel. “What about it?” Ethan asked.
“It’s the key to the entire thing. The fairies want it; Darius has it. I assume he hasn’t given it to them yet and won’t—not until they follow through on their promise to attack. If you can get it back . . .”
“Then we hold the trophy,” Ethan said, “and the fairies won’t care what the GP wants them to do.” He sat back, then looked at Michael. “Thoughts?”
“It’s an idea,” Michael said, nodding at me. “Satiating the fairies would solve the immediate problem of keeping the House, but not the long-term issue. Darius isn’t just making a one-time play here. If he wants the House, he’ll try again to get it.”
“A fair point,” Ethan said. “But perhaps, for now, we play the hand we’ve been dealt. Where might the egg be?”
“Darius and the rest of the GP members are staying at the Dandridge,” Malik said. “He might take it there.”
“Eh, I’m not sure about that,” Luc said. “They’re gambling here, and he has to know we’re having this conversation. That spot seems too obvious.”
“Too obvious, and too hard to breach in any event,” I said. “Celebrities and senators stay at the Dandridge. I’m not even sure we could get through security to check the rooms.”
“I think it’s safe to assume it’s in the metro area,” Michael said. “They can’t take it too far away; there wouldn’t be time to get it back into the fairies’ hands again.”
I bet he was right. Unfortunately, Chicago was a big city.
“We have to look,” Ethan said. “The search begins now.” He looked at Malik. “Start with the other Houses’ Seconds. Find out what they know, if they have any information about where it might be.”
“They may not want to help,” Luc said. “This is precisely the kind of anti-GP behavior Darius wants to punish.”
“Perhaps,” Ethan said. “Convince them anyway. Someone knows how to fix this, and I want an answer tonight.”
* * *
Unfortunately, he didn’t get it. Two hours later, even after sharing the snack Gabriel had brought, we were no closer to a solution. Other than guessing it might be at the Dandridge, no one from the other Houses had any idea where the egg might be; nor were they forthcoming with even that unhelpful suggestion. Not that their mum’s-the-word attitudes were surprising; neither Navarre nor Grey wanted to involve their Houses any more than necessary. That was how they’d stayed off the GP’s radar before, and Darius’s nuclear threat only reinforced the lesson.
Ethan rubbed a hand over his face. “Dawn is coming. We will reconvene at dusk.” He looked at Gabriel. “I appreciate your time.”
Gabriel smiled wolfishly. “Devil you know versus the devil you don’t. I’d much rather have you in this House than a bunch of GP assholes.”
We couldn’t argue with that.
* * *
With minutes to spare before dawn, Ethan came to me with exhaustion, and sought solace in my arms. Fear hung over me: Lacey’s knowledge of my meeting with Jonah. The unknown killer outside our gate. The threats against our House and home.
We lay together in the dark, bodies intertwined, as the sun rose outside. As the minutes and hours of our remaining sanctuary in Cadogan House slipped away, one by one.
“I cannot lose this House,” he drowsily murmured, as the sun wandered into the sky again. “I cannot . . . disappoint them.”
I ached for him, and swore to help him keep the House, but not even love could stop the rising of the sun.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE FIRST RULE OF FRIGHT CLUB
I woke slowly after dreaming that I’d had to reapply for my position as Sentinel, and Ethan had found me utterly lacking for the job. It wasn’t difficult to imagine the origin of that fear—namely, that I was being blackmailed by a woman in love with my