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attention of humans. And when she learned that
she wasn t the beloved of humankind, she acted
out again. Each time you seek her out, each time
you fight back, you give her a reason to come
back again.
You re saying we enable Celina?
He answered with nothing more than a
challenging look. The question in his eyes was
obvious Don t you?
Shaking my head, my arms crossed, I leaned
back against the closed door. That theory
assumes that if we ignored Celina, she wouldn t
act out. That s simply not true. Each time things
settle down in Chicago like when we get a
confession from her about the park murders and
send her away she pops up again. Believe me,
Charlie, she forces us to act.
This time, he shook his head. I m sorry,
Merit, but we have to disagree with you. I have
to disagree with you. He frowned, then looked
up at me. I don t like saying this, making this
accusation. Darius won t say it it s not his
position to do so but I think it bears
consideration.
What s that?
None of this started until after you joined
Cadogan House.
My heart beat like a timpani drum in my chest.
Excuse me?
He held up a hand. Hear me out. For better or
worse, Celina seems to have an obsession with
you. You move into the House, you elicit a
confession from her, and as a result she
apparently decides you, and perhaps Ethan, are
her new targets.
I forced myself to bite my tongue. Ethan
clearly hadn t told him that I d been Celina s
intended victim, that he d brought me into the
House because a Rogue she d hired hadn t done
his job completely. I wasn t sure why he d made
that call, but I wasn t going to be the one to
break the news to the GP. I had no objection to
the GP knowing as little about me as possible.
We re aware of the Breckenridge situation,
Charlie continued, of the fact that she attacked
you outside the House. Would you deny that you
appear to be one of her keenest targets?
No, I said. It would be impossible to deny
that. On the other hand, I m not the only target.
Cadogan House is a target. Chicago is a target.
He was saved a response by sudden,
high-pitched beeping. He lifted his wrist,
revealing a square calculator watch circa 1984.
After tapping its buttons, he smiled guiltily. I
was amazed by the technology when it was
revealed, and I haven t found anything that
compares since then. Simple, efficient.
Kudos, I said, trying to stuff the snark as far
down as possible.
Charlie stood up again and walked toward me,
heading for the door now that he d concluded his
lecture. I hope it doesn t seem that I m trying to
irritate you or blame you for her actions. Clearly,
she is a woman with free will and the ability to
make decisions for herself. But consider the
possibility that the actions you undertake as
Sentinel of your House, with all of its
appurtenant responsibilities bear upon her
actions, as well.
I stepped aside, giving him access to the door.
We do truly wish you the best with your
House. We want all the American Houses to
succeed, to flourish.
I will relay that sentiment to Ethan, I said
politely. Although my silent thoughts were much
less polite, as I guessed would be the case for
Ethan s, as well.
Excellent. Good evening, Merit.
Good evening, Charlie.
He walked out again, an efficient smile on his
face and a hop in his step. And in his wake . . .
insecurity.
Was he right? Had we prompted Celina s
antics by responding to them? Were vampires
drugged and humans dead because we d
encouraged her to act out, to rebel against
Cadogan House like an angsty adolescent?
It wasn t fair to lay the responsibility for
Celina s actions at our door. We d tried to do
right by Cadogan and Chicago, and ultimately
she was the one who d solicited the murders of
humans, who d blackmailed us, and who was
now probably behind selling drugs. Those
decisions were her own.
Still. Charlie s accusation gnawed at me. Even
if she d perpetrated the acts, it wasn t
unfathomable to think she d done it, at least in
part, because she was reacting to me and Ethan,
trying to rile us up, trying to score in the vampiric
chess game she d created.
I hated the idea of it, hated the thought that
the battles we fought on a daily basis were
somehow our fault, no matter how good our
intentions.
On the other hand, what else could we have
done? We couldn t exactly leave her to her own
devices, creating chaos across Chicago just to
fulfill her childish craving for attention. We
couldn t have ignored the blackmail attempt or
Tate s threats against us even if we wanted to. It
wasn t like Ethan and I were out and about
searching for something to rail against.
Of course we wanted peace and quiet. Of
course we wanted to wake in the evening and
spend our time training, researching, working to
ensure the success of the House instead of
playing defense against the marauders at the
gate.
Whatever the drama, whatever her
motivations, there was only one thing that was
going to solve the Celina problem. Getting her
out of Chicago, once and for all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
DEEP-FRIED PLAUSIBLE
DENIABILITY ON A STICK
I needed a break from vampires. I also hadn t
checked in on Mallory in a while, and that
definitely needed to be remedied. So when I
woke and dressed, I texted her for an update and
learned that she and Catcher were training at his
gym. Translation: I d get to watch Catcher
torture someone other than me, and I d get to see
Mallory work her magic.
Easy call. I left the House and headed to the
Near North Side, where Catcher s workout space
was tucked into another old warehouse.
(Converting former warehouses into playrooms
for vampires and other sups was apparently the
new trend in Chicago.)
I hardly needed to sneak out of the House.
Darius had pulled us off the V investigation, so
there wasn t going to be much need for me to
stick around. And my conversation with Ethan
last night had raised uncomfortable questions
about me and my hypocrisy that I wasn t keen to
face. I knew we d talk eventually; there was
likely no avoiding it. But it didn t have to be right
now.
But avoider though I might have been, I
wasn t so immature that I didn t take my beeper;
I also put my dagger and sword in the car. Even
if I was on investigatory hiatus, it wasn t
impossible Paulie had passed along my message
to Marie, who planned on paying me an
unscripted visit. On that front, better to be
prepared.
The drive was pretty quick by Chicago
standards a surprisingly speedy jaunt along
Lake Shore Drive but it did give me a few
minutes to reflect and gain a little perspective.
Not that I was going to find a lot of resolution in
a fifteen-minute drive or even a few hours away
from the House, but the space was necessary. I
needed to recharge around people who knew me
only as Merit . . . not as Sentinel.
I d apparently burned through my parking
luck; a new bar had opened across the street
from Catcher s gym, so the neighborhood was
full of long-legged girls and overcologned boys
ready to head into the bar for flirtations and
overpriced appletinis. I found a space three
blocks away and walked back to the gym, then
headed inside.
The interior of the building was shaped like a
giant T, and the gym the place where Catcher
had taught me to use a sword was down the
central hallway. I felt the electric sizzle in the air
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