Drink Deep - Chloe Neill [103]
“I’m sure. What’s the occasion?”
There was enough snark in his voice that I couldn’t tell if he was trying to harass me, or was honestly clueless about events in Chicago.
“Surely you didn’t miss the bit about the lake turning black and the sky turning red?”
“That has nothing to do with us.”
Ah, so that was his game—willful ignorance. He knew the facts, but he was playing GP pet and pretending it had nothing to do with vampires.
“Just because vampires haven’t caused the problems doesn’t mean we don’t have a role in fixing them.”
“Why should we? Why shouldn’t we focus on our own Houses?”
Apparently proud of his answer, the girl at his side offered me a cocky eyebrow.
“Because if the city falls,” Jonah said, “the Houses fall with it.”
“Chicago isn’t going to fall,” Morgan said.
Jonah stepped forward. “Because the other Houses take up the slack.” The implication in his statement was clear—Navarre wasn’t doing its part.
Morgan’s cheeks flushed. “You have no idea what my House is or isn’t doing for this city.”
“That’s exactly my point,” Jonah said. “We have no idea, although there’s certainly nothing we can see right now.”
“Recall your place, vampire,” Morgan bit out. It was the same warning Ethan had offered to Morgan when Morgan got mouthy. Unlike Ethan, Morgan didn’t quite carry it off.
“With all due respect, Mr. Greer, I owe my allegiance to Scott and Grey House. If you have concerns about my obedience, you can take it up with him.”
Morgan was obviously fuming, sending plumes of irritated magic into the air. But beneath that irritation was something different. A strain of fear, maybe? That would bear a little investigating, but later. One crisis at a time.
Apparently done with the reunion, Morgan turned on his heel and walked away. His girlfriend stayed behind and gave me a none-too-flattering visual evaluation.
“In case there was any question,” she said, “you should keep your hands off him.”
“Off Morgan?”
She gave me a bitchy head-bop.
“Rest assured, Morgan’s not even on my radar. But good luck with him.” You’ll need it, I thought, the first time he has a bout of jealousy or starts pouting about some perceived slight.
It’s not that I thought Morgan was a bad guy, but the boy loved drama.
The date muttered something unflattering. Being the bigger person, I merely smiled back at her. But the fantasy reaction still played out in my mind—the one in which I put her on the floor with only a finger at one of her pressure points and held her there until she apologized for the slight.
Maybe Ethan had been right. Maybe being a vampire was going to wring the humanity right out of me.
After another few seconds of nasty looks, she turned and disappeared into the crowd. Jonah and I stood there for a moment staring after her. This time, instead of waiting for his strike, I played offense.
“We only dated for a few weeks.”
He smiled a little. “I know about the bargain,” he said. “Noah and Scott were in the crowd.”
I’d forgotten about that. Noah and Scott had both been present when Morgan had shown up at Cadogan House, frantic that a Cadogan vampire had threatened Celina. In my first real act as Sentinel, I’d stepped forward and calmed him down at the point of my sword. He’d submitted, but only on the agreement that I allowed him to court me.
I’d given in, and although Morgan could be incredibly charming, he was much too immature to be a contender.
“How is Noah these days?” I wondered. Noah was a guard himself, but I hadn’t heard from him since Jonah had become my primary contact. He was also the de facto leader of Chicago’s Rogue vampires, those who weren’t tied to a particular House.
“Busy. The Rogues always get nervous when the Houses are in trouble. They fear GP retaliation against them, or internment, if that’s the way it goes.”
“Reason number four to join the RG,” I muttered.
Amusement in his eyes, Jonah slid me a glance. “What were one through three?”
“Helping the Houses, having a reliable partner, and those ‘Midnight High School’ T-shirts. Do I get one of those?”
“Of course. You’ll just have