did. We were surrounded by rioters, and she knocked out a streetlight to distract them and give us time to get into the car."
"Clever," Ethan said.
"Very," I said, glancing over at the red leather door. "Gabe and Mallory are talking. I doubt he'll be thrilled."
"He's not opposed to the controlled use of magic," Ethan said. "Whether her use tonight qualifies will be up to him. At any rate, I'm glad you're okay."
"Me, too. The rioters were still out there when we left, but we saw a couple more CPD units heading in."
"Most reports say the riot's been contained to an area, but not entirely quelled. The fire at the distribution center's been extinguished."
"How bad's the damage?"
"I haven't yet heard, but Scott and Morgan are preparing for shortages."
Cadogan House was one of the few American Houses that actually allowed its vampires to drink from people or vampires. Most other Houses used bagged blood in the hopes that tamping down on their biting instincts would help them assimilate with humans. A shortage of bagged blood might change that analysis.
"Speaking of rioters," I said, "their mantra was 'Clean Chicago.' I don't know if that's the name of the group or just a slogan, but Luc might want to start the opp research."
Opposition research was one of our key tactics. If you couldn't beat 'em, at least learn as much about 'em as you could.
"I'll advise him. Is the Volvo drivable? Will you be able to get home before the sun rises?"
"It will be a cold ride, but yeah. I should be home shortly."
"Be careful, Sentinel."
"Promise," I said, and hung up the phone.
With Mallory and Gabriel still ensconced in the back, I headed over to the bar that lined one side of the room.
Berna leaned over the bar, reading a book, her chin propped on her hand.
"Off-season for shifters?" I wondered aloud, taking a seat.
"Is cold," she said in her thick eastern European accent, not looking up from her book. "Is hibernate."
"Shifters hibernate?" I asked. Gabriel certainly seemed awake, and I'd spoken with Jeff only a few nights ago.
"Not in cave. But we feel the cold." She made a fake shiver that set her impressive bosom swinging. "We stay home. We cook. We have oatmeal and bubbles baths. Thick socks for feet."
"Bubbles baths, eh? The Keenes don't seem much like the bubble-bath type." Although I could pretty easily imagine Gabriel soaking in a tub. Bare chested. Maybe a few damp curls. Truth be told, it wasn't a miserable image.
Berna narrowed her eyes at me, and for a moment I was afraid she'd caught the lascivious direction of my thoughts. Sure, I was taken, but that didn't mean I couldn't appreciate a fine - and happily married - shifter.
But that was not what she wondered. "You could be fatter."
Berna was a constant critic of my weight; she thought me too thin, which had less to do with what I ate, which was plenty, than with my vampiric metabolism, which was fast. Had I not been a vampire and a lover of all things chocolate dipped and baconated, she probably would have given me a complex.
"I eat plenty," I said. Although in this case, I hadn't eaten in hours, and dinner had been interrupted.
Berna pursed her lips in obvious suspicion and stared down at me with a motherly look Mallory had probably seen a time or two.
"Fine. I guess I wouldn't mind a bite before I hit the road again."
There was a gleam of victory in her eyes.
Berna disappeared into the back room, and before the door shut fully again, I caught a few of Gabriel's words.
"Think, Mallory," he was telling her.
His tone didn't sound complimentary.
I worried my lip for a moment and decided to do something I rarely did - except in emergencies. I dropped the barriers that usually separated my working mind from my supersharp vampire senses, and I eavesdropped.
". . . it was the right thing to do," Mallory was saying.
"You think this is unusual?" Gabriel asked. "You think there won't come another time when you're driven to the breaking point, when you know using magic is the right thing to do? That's exactly what you said to yourself last time, Mallory, and that's the entire fucking point of this exercise."
"It's different this time," Mallory said.
"Is what the addict always says," Gabriel said. "Look, I'm not your father. I'm not even your warden, not really. You've got power; you could use it. I know that. You're here because you want your life to