Ethan walked into the room, relief on his face. He wore a suit, but the top of his shirt was unbuttoned and his tie was loose around his neck. He strode to the bed and handed me a cup of water from the nightstand.
I drank it greedily.
“How are you feeling?” Ethan asked.
He looked down at the bed but didn’t touch me. Even after the night we’d faced, he was keeping his distance.
“I feel miserable,” I said, and I didn’t just mean the Tate situation. “Like I haven’t slept in twenty-four hours.” I handed the empty glass back to him. “More, please.”
He refilled it. “Blood would also be a good idea. Keep drinking that, and I’ll get you some.”
I didn’t argue and kept drinking. I drank so much so quickly I nearly didn’t keep it all down. Nausea overwhelming me, my stomach suddenly swollen, I sat back and closed my eyes.
“Is Jonah all right?” I asked.
“He’s fine. He’s the one who called us. He waited here until just before the sun rose, then returned to Grey House. Catcher and Jeff looked for you for some hours. Apparently, you led them on quite a chase.”
“How’s that?”
“You don’t remember?”
I shook my head. “He touched me at the lockup and knocked me out somehow. I didn’t remember anything until I woke up in that room.” I looked up at Ethan. “I know what he is. His name is Dominic. He’s a fallen angel, just like the librarian said. He has great black wings, Ethan. Bat’s wings.”
“If he’s Dominic, what’s Seth?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. Dominic was the only one there. At least, I think he was. How did Paige stop him?”
“Magical flash bang,” he said. That explained the loud noise. “It disorients someone sensitive to magic, but the effect is only temporary.”
“I should thank her, too.”
“She’s out tonight. She said she needed to talk to Baumgartner. She said she had some things on her mind.”
I smiled. “Good for her. She seems like the type to take her magic seriously—unlike everyone else in the Order.”
I flipped back the covers. I was dressed in a slinky nightgown. I gave him a look. “Seriously?”
“That was Lindsey’s doing,” he said. “She said it was the first thing she found, and time was of the essence. We weren’t sure how badly you’d been burned, and we wanted you out of your clothes.” We both checked out my arms. They were still pink from the burns, but they were clearly healing.
“They may be tender for a bit,” he said, “but you’ll heal.” He paused. “I was afraid it was going to be too late.” True anguish crossed his features.
“They cut it close.”
“They found you,” he corrected, “and that’s what counts.”
“Morgan was the key. If we hadn’t been able to communicate…” I trailed off as tears threatened to breach my lashes again.
Ethan nodded. “He called after you were home to ensure you were okay.”
“He did good. Comforting, but with just enough push to make sure I stayed awake.”
We’d been concerned Morgan had been too immature to handle his position as House Master. Maybe he could grow into it. Maybe he already was growing into it.
“I need to thank him,” I said. It was the right thing to do and might help clear the air between us.
“You may do so in one hundred years when I let you leave the House again.”
“Ha.”
“I’m only slightly joking, Merit. I have a nearly irresistible urge to lock you away and keep you out of trouble.”
“Locking me away wouldn’t keep me safe or out of trouble. And if you locked me away, I couldn’t keep you safe.” Of course, there were some things from which I couldn’t protect him. “How did your interview with Darius go?”
He shook his head. “Let me navigate the political streams. I am the captain of this ship, after all.”
“Wow. You usually go for naughty. Tonight it’s nautical. It’s bad, isn’t it?”
“It’s not good.”
“What happened? Is he going to remove our accreditation?”
Ethan stood up and walked to the window and didn’t say a thing. My chest tightened uncomfortably.
“You aren’t going to tell me?”
“I’m not avoiding the conversation because I don’t trust you,” he said, glancing back at me, that line of worry between his eyes. “But because there’s nothing to tell. The shofet ruled; you know that. Darius will decide what he decides. He hasn’t verbalized that decision, and until he does so, we have to wait.”
With that enigmatic statement, he went silent on the issue. I decided he’d been