Drink Deep - Chloe Neill [86]
I felt my cheeks warm. “Not really,” I said, hoping Lindsey wasn’t going to spill the beans about the kiss. I was proud; she chewed her muffin with obvious deliberation, and kept quiet. “We’re just working together.”
“And what’s on your agenda for the day?” Katherine asked.
“I’m meeting with the mayor, actually. Well, the former mayor.”
“You think he turned the sky and river?” Margot wondered.
“I think information keeps pointing in his direction.”
“Have you talked to Cabot lately?” Lindsey asked.
I shook my head, my stomach grumbling sympathetically at the mention of his name. “Not since he sent us to talk to the fairies.”
“Probably figured fairy-cide was an easier way to get rid of you,” Katherine grumbled.
“Wouldn’t surprise me,” I agreed. “What’s he done now?”
“Now he’s got a wild hair about our skills. Strat, phys, psych. Says he’s reviewing our files to ensure we’ve been appropriately categorized.”
“He’s assessing whether or not we’re threats,” I muttered. “And it’s probably my fault. When we met, I told him I was a Strong Phys. He probably didn’t like the reminder that we’re actually competent out here in Cadogan House.”
“He is a piece of work,” Margot agreed. “And we want to escape him for a few hours.” She pointed at me with her fork. “What’s your schedule tonight? We’re thinking about an Evil Dead and Army of Darkness marathon.”
I blinked. “Like, the Bruce Campbell movies?”
The table went silent.
“Show a little respect, Merit,” Lindsey said with more than a little offense. “Have you ever been overtaken by a Candarian demon?”
I glanced among them all, trying to ferret out whether they were joking or I had stepped into some kind of Bruce Campbell cult. “Not in the last few hours.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not really funny, is it? With the crazy eyes and uncontrollable limbs.” She shivered, and I honestly couldn’t tell if she was serious.
“You’re joking, right?” I quietly asked. “I mean, I thought you were joking, but some pretty weird stuff goes on in Chicago, and I haven’t read the entire Canon yet, so maybe I just missed the Candarian demon chapter?”
She managed a good fifteen seconds more before she couldn’t hold in the snort. “Oh, my God, totally. But I almost didn’t make it. Seriously, though, I love the flicks. You in?”
I reached out and punched her a few times in the arm while the rest of the table chortled. “I’ll let you know,” I said.
“You do that. Oh,” she exclaimed, “I just felt a pretty solid hint of Cabot irritation.” She tapped her forehead again, which was apparently international code for “I’ve got empathic powers and I know how to use them.”
“In case he’s looking for an outlet for his obsessions,” she said, “you might want to take that breakfast to go. I hear he made three Novitiates cry yesterday.”
She didn’t have to tell me twice. I nodded and grabbed my drink box, then hopped up. “If he calls an assembly to announce he’s leaving Chicago, save me a seat.”
“You’ll be the first we call,” Lindsey promised, and I took her at her word.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MAYORAL PRIVILEGE
When I was dressed, fed, and katana’d, I walked back to the front of the House. I was on my way to Malik’s office—I thought I’d give him a direct report—when I heard shouting.
I didn’t like the idea of shouting in the vicinity of my Master, so I put a hand on my katana to keep it balanced and ran down the hall. I found Luc and Malik in his office. The door was open, and they stood in the middle of the room, both with arms crossed. Their expressions were blank as they listened to a news report from a very expensive stereo. Both looked over and offered a nod of acknowledgment.
“And this man,” said the woman on the radio, whom I guessed was the mayor, “this colleague of mine, was accosted by vampires on the street. And then he was questioned by the police as if he was to blame for it. What is this city coming to if these are the kinds of shenanigans playing out on our streets right now?”
McKetrick. I closed my eyes ruefully. Not just because he had been released