House Rules - Chloe Neill Page 0,70

Done here? I mentally repeated. What had he meant by “done here”? Done with me? Done with us?

I raised the phone to my ear, and had to work to keep my hand from shaking.

“I know my timing’s bad,” Jonah said, and my first thought was that he’d somehow psychically ferreted out our argument. “And you have House issues to deal with. But we have a problem.”

“What happened?”

There was silence for a moment as Ethan stared me down. But even he could see the concern in my face, and his expression softened just a bit.

“Two of Morgan’s vampires are dead. Decapitated, just like Oliver and Eve. They found them at dusk. Their guard captain just called me. But, Merit, it’s worse. The murder was in the House.”

I felt the blood drain from my face, even as I wondered—and then answered—why Morgan hadn’t called us first. Because it was me, and it was Morgan, and the not-very-interesting history between us still made him weird that way.

“Okay,” I said. “Let me see what I can do.”

“I’m at Navarre now. Get here as soon as you can.”

I hung up the phone and put it back in my pocket. I could see the debate in Ethan’s face: Should I show her how angry and hurt I am by asking something snarky, or lose the attitude, given the expression on her face?

“What happened?” he finally asked, his voice carefully neutral.

“Two of Morgan’s vampires are dead. They found them in Navarre House at dusk.”

Ethan’s eyes widened. “The killer was inside the House?”

I nodded.

Ethan ran a hand absently through his hair. “You should tell your grandfather. They can assist with arrangements or the investigation . . . whatever’s necessary.”

I nodded again. “I’m sorry this is happening right now,” I said. “I know the timing is atrocious. I didn’t mean for you to find out—about the RG.”

For the second time tonight, that was exactly the wrong thing to say. I’d reminded him of what I’d done, and why he should be angry.

He snatched his suit jacket from the back of a chair.

“Where are you going?”

He slipped on the jacket, and slipped his phone into a pocket. “I think you’d know that, Sentinel. I’m going with you.”

“But the House?”

“We have hours yet, and the lawyers are on it. Perhaps, should the opportunity present itself, I will have words with your new partner.”

The expression on his face left little doubt about what those words would be.

* * *

Ethan gave Malik a heads-up that we were leaving. Malik was obviously surprised, but after scanning our faces for a moment, he wisely decided not to argue.

Ethan told him about the deaths at Navarre House and asked him to apprise Luc. I also stood by while he had a closed-door chat with Lacey, no doubt warning her to keep quiet about what she’d seen and dismissing her claim that I was having an affair.

I couldn’t imagine he’d tell her about the Red Guard, but I wisely decided not to ask.

Navarre House was in the Gold Coast, north of Hyde Park and near the lake, and I was still the default transportation mechanism.

We drove in total silence. Ethan didn’t mutter a word, too angry at me to speak. And I wasn’t especially interested in talking to him. I’d opted to put my ass on the line to keep Cadogan safe from the GP. In my position, he’d have done the same thing.

And you know what? If I was the type of girl who quit an obligation because my boyfriend told me to, Ethan wouldn’t have been interested in me in the first place.

So I concentrated on driving and not becoming any more furious than I already was.

When we reached Navarre House, an imposing white mansion with a turret at one corner, I parked in the first open spot I could find.

Ethan looked over at me, and his gaze was flat. “I presume, since Jonah called you, Scott knows about the murders.”

Scott Grey was the Master of Grey House, the third of Chicago’s three vampire Houses. “I would think so. I’m sure word has traveled from Noah.”

“Does he know about the RG?”

“No. Just Jonah. And me. And now you.”

“Is that why Jonah called you?”

“I doubt it. He knows we’ve been investigating the Rogues’ deaths. Ethan—”

I said his name, unsure how to begin but knowing we needed to talk. But he held up a hand. He’d hear nothing more from me, not right now.

“Let’s just get through this meeting,” he said.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

MADNESS

Ethan and I walked side by