But while I thought the idea was corny, I didn’t voice the objection. When Ethan had been Master, before they’d needed me back in the guard corps, I’d spent most of my time on special assignments with him. Now that he was gone, Kelley was my boss and my primary point of contact for the House.
She was my boss, so she’d get no name tag arguments from me. Besides, now was the time for solidarity, name tags or not. We’d had enough upheaval lately.
Surprisingly, the Ops Room was meeting-free when I arrived, post-shower and clothed in my Cadogan uniform—a black, slim-fit suit. Lindsey and Juliet sat at two of the room’s computer stations, while Kelley stood beside the conference table, a cell phone in hand, her eyes on the screen.
“What’s up?” I asked.
Without a word, Kelley turned her cell phone around and thrust it toward me. A picture filled the screen—or what I assumed was a picture, since the screen was pitch-black and I couldn’t actually see anything.
“I don’t get it.”
“This is Lake Michigan.”
I frowned, trying to figure out what I’d missed. Lake Michigan made up the eastern border of the city. Since we were awake only at night, the lake was always pitch-dark by the time we woke up. So I didn’t understand the concern.
“I’m sorry,” I told her apologetically, “but I still don’t get it.”
Kelley pulled back the phone, punched some buttons, and swiveled it again. This time, it displayed a photo of a drinking glass full of inky black water.
“That’s water from Lake Michigan,” she explained before I could ask. “The Internet is going crazy. About two hours ago, Lake Michigan turned completely black.”
“And that’s not all,” Lindsey piped up, then swiveled in her chair to face us. “Same thing happened to the Chicago River, at least as far as the city limits. They’ve both gone black, and they’ve stopped moving.”
I struggled to understand what they were telling me. I mean, I understood the literal meaning of the words, but they didn’t make any sense. “How could they just stop moving?”
“We aren’t certain,” Kelley said, “but we have a sense this might be involved.” She flipped the screen to a third image. It showed a petite but busty woman with long red hair and a very tiny green dress. She stood on a bridge over the river, arms outstretched, eyes closed.
I’d seen a girl like that before—a number of them, actually. She looked like one of the nymphs that ruled Chicago’s waterways. I’d met them before when my grandfather, the city’s supernatural mediator, had helped them resolve a dispute.
“A River nymph,” I concluded, leaning in to peer closer at the screen. “But what’s she doing to the water?”
“We aren’t entirely sure,” Kelley said. “This photo’s making the Internet rounds just like the one of the water. Based on the picture’s time stamp, the lake went dark a few minutes after she did that—whatever ‘that’ was.”
I grimaced. “That’s not a good coincidence.”
“No, it’s not,” Kelley agreed. “Especially not with the mayor convinced we’re the root of all evil.”
Former Mayor Seth Tate had made his mark—at least pre-indictment—by staying on top of the supernatural situation in Chicago and supporting our integration into the human population. He set up my grandfather’s office, and when vampires came out of the closet, he positioned Chicago as the frontier of supernatural relations in the U.S.
Mayor Kowalczyk was no Mayor Tate, and she certainly wasn’t interested in positioning herself as a friend to sups. The campaign for her special election had been short, but she’d made her position plenty clear. Chicago might have been built on patronage, but under the Kowalczyk administration, that patronage didn’t extend to vampires or shifters. No “special treatment” for supernaturals.
“As if we weren’t already popular enough,” I mumbled. When she and Lindsey exchanged a glance, I knew I was in trouble. “What?”
“Here’s my thought,” Kelley said. “I know this water thing isn’t exactly our problem, especially if nymphs are involved. I seriously doubt any vampire created the issue, and probably the Om-bud’s office will get people working on it, right?”
“It’s a definite possibility.”
ly width="
“But we are the public face of supernaturals.” Kelley said. “The public only knows about us and shifters, and Gabe’s keeping them on the down low. If people start freaking out . . .”
“They’re going to blame us,” I finished for her. Suddenly nervous, I tugged at the hem of my jacket a bit. “What do you want me to do?”
“Make contact with your grandfather. Find out what he knows, then get downtown. Keep an eye on things, and do whatever you can to help the Ombud’s office, preferably with as little public drama or political involvement as possible.”
“What about you? The House? If I’m out, you’re going to be even more shorthanded.”
She shook her head. “There won’t be a House if the mayor finds a reason to crucify us.” Then her expression softened. “I didn’t think to ask—will you be okay doing this? You haven’t been out of the House much since . . . you know.”
Since Ethan, she meant.
The last time I’d left the House on a real mission, two vampires had ended up dead, and only one had deserved it. I could admit I was gun-shy. The wound was still raw, the fear that I’d screw up and someone else would end up dead still sharp. The fact that I already had a demerit in my file for investigating Celina and pissing off the GP in the process also wasn’t encouraging.
Luc had argued the point, reminding me that Ethan had been staked not because I was careless, but because he’d jumped in front of a drug-addled vampire—and a stake meant for me. Unfortunately, that reminder hadn’t done much to assuage the guilt or to make me want to try again.
Kelley had been patient, letting me work around the House instead of playing Sentinel outside it. That arrangement had suited Malik’s plan to keep us under the radar for a while. We’d had more than enough drama lately, receiver included.
On the other hand . . . I glanced over at the nearly empty Ops Room. Other than me, Juliet and Lindsey were the only two arrows left in Kelley’s quiver. Someone needed to step up, and I was the only candidate left.
“I’ll be fine,” I agreed. “I’ll give my grandfather a heads-up about the picture in case they don’t already know, and I’ll head out now.”
There was clear relief in Kelley’s expression, but it didn’t last long. “I hate to send you out alone, and I know you’re used to working with Eth—with a partner. Unfortunately, we can’t spare anyone right now. You’ll have to take this one by yourself.”
I’d anticipated that, and had a strategy in my back pocket.
“Actually, I met Jonah, the Grey guard captain, the night of the Temple Bar fiasco.” Long story short, drugged-out Cadogan vamps had caused a ruckus that created city-wide attention. Jonah had walked down from Grey House to check out the fight, our faux first meeting. “Since we’re short-staffed, and this isn’t a Cadogan-specific problem, I could see if he can spare a guard.” Of course he’d spare a guard—himself.
“Oh,” Kelley said. “That’s a good idea. I hadn’t considered it, but it definitely has merit. No pun intended.”
I smiled politely, but caught Lindsey’s expression of uncensored curiosity. She’d definitely have questions about Jonah later.
“Do it,” Kelley said. “Get to the lake, and figure out what the hell is going on down there—and what we need to h d we needo about it.”
I promised I would. Reticence notwithstanding, that’s what Sentinels were for.
With a mission in mind, I hopped back upstairs to my second-floor room and changed into leather pants and jacket, a gray tank beneath, and then pulled on boots and clipped on my beeper. I’d already been wearing my gold House medal—the official membership card of most American vampire Houses.
I unsheathed my katana, the official weapon of GP vampires, and checked its edge. It was sharp and still immaculate from its last rice paper cleaning.
I opened the top drawer in my bureau, where a double-edged dagger lay nestled atop folded T-shirts too thin for autumn in Chicago. It wasn’t exactly a glamorous place for a weapon, but it was an intimate one that seemed fitting under the circumstances. A dagger was traditionally presented to the House Sentinel by its Master; most American Houses hadn’t had a Sentinel in a while, so Ethan’s appointing me—and giving me the blade—was a revised tradition.
The blade gleamed like chrome; the handle was pearl and silky smooth to the touch. And on the end of the handle was a gold disk, a near match to my Cadogan medal, inscribed with my position.
I picked it up and ran my thumb across the ridges left by the engraved lettering. It was one of the few physical reminders I had of Ethan, along with the medal and a signed Cubs baseball he’d given me to replace one I’d lost. It was such a strange thing—to be in a House surrounded by vampires he’d made and décor he’d chosen, to have vibrant dreams and memories of him, to have been on the verge of a relationship when he’d been killed—but to have so few mementos of our time together.
I might have been immortal, my life theoretically eternal, but I had no more control over the passage of time than any mortal. I assumed my memories would eventually fade, so I savored the tangible reminders of who he’d been.
Kelley had given me time to grieve, but it was time to get back to work. I pressed my lips to the engraving, then slid the dagger inside its boot holster. I pulled my hair into a high ponytail and grabbed my cell phone, dialing up Jonah’s number.
“Lake Michigan?” he answered.
“Yep. Do you mind playing Sentinel sidekick this evening?”
Jonah made a sarcastic noise. “I’m the older, wiser vamp. That makes you the sidekick.”
“I’m better with a katana.”
“That remains to be seen. And I’ve got more degrees.”
He was right; he had me beat on that one. My change to vampire had interrupted my own doctoral studies; Jonah had managed four graduate degrees even with fangs. I was woman enough to admit to some academic envy.
“Fine,” I said, rolling my eyes. “No one’s the sidekick. Equal rights, et cetera. Where should we meet?”
“I’ve got a friend with a boat, but it’s already in dry dock for the season. Navy Pier. Half an hour. Oh—and Sentinel?”
“Yes?”
“If the gate’s locked, don’t forget you’re strong enough to scale it.”
Excellent. I could now add “breaking and entering” to the skills section of my résumé.
Dagger in boot and in hand, I headed down the Houseded the Hous main staircase to the first floor—and a few feet closer to my chilly car.
I was in the lobby, keys in hand, when Luc and Lindsey came downstairs holding hands, both looking very much in love. Their blooming relationship didn’t make my own grief any easier to bear, but if I was playing the dopey-eyed optimist, at least something good had come from Ethan’s demise.
“Sentinel,” Luc said. “You heading out to check out this water problem?”
“I am.”
“First time on the streets in a while.”
“First House-related mission in a while, certainly.”
“You nervous?”
I thought about my answer for a few seconds. “Not nervous so much as uncomfortable. I know Ethan wasn’t always easy to be around. He was a tough teacher, and there were days when I felt like a lump of clay he was trying to mold into something else.”
“Like every trip was a teaching point?”
“Like that, yeah,” I said with a nod. “But I think he was figuring me out. Learning who I was, and learning that I could be a help to the House on my own, without amendment.” I smiled a little in spite of myself. “He was an imperialistic, self-righteous pain in the ass. But he was my pain in the ass, you know? And tonight, I won’t be with him. That definitely feels strange.”
Without warning, Luc reached out and gripped me in a chest-crushing bear hug. “You can do this, Sentinel.”
I held my breath and patted him on the back until he released me. “Thank you, Luc. I appreciate that.”
“You have backup?” Lindsey asked.
“Jonah—the Grey guard captain—volunteered to take point. He’s going to meet me downtown. And I can call my grandfather, of course.”
Luc put an arm around Lindsey’s shoulder. “You know we’re here for you, of course.”
“I do. You’re two of my favorite vampires.”
“You barely tolerate most vampires,” Lindsey said with a wink. “So I’m not sure that’s saying a lot.”
I stuck my tongue out at her, but gestured toward the door. “You wanna walk me outside?”
“Sure thing. I’m heading out for a walk around the grounds anyway.” She leaned over and kissed Luc on the cheek. “I’ll catch you after shift.”
“You know it, Blondie,” he said. He gave her butt a slap for good measure, and then offered me a salute. “
Bon chance
, Sentinel.”
Lindsey took my hand and practically dragged me to the door. But she managed to wait until we were outside and on the sidewalk before the interrogation began.