“No,” Alexei said with a grin, and took the bottle and glass to the couch.
We were a strange assemblage, but a bonded one. We’d fought fairies and feral monsters, suffered arrows and sword wounds and magically shifting landscapes and fireside battles. And we’d come through it as friends—the kind you could rely on for crappy vodka and excellent planning.
“Why did they come all this way?” Theo asked. “Surely the AAM doesn’t have to approve every new vampire made.”
“No. But ‘regular’ vampires aren’t supposed to make them. And that’s the kind of thing that threatens the ones in charge. They’ll want to punish me.”
“How?” Connor asked, voice grim.
“I’m honestly not sure. Give me demerits?”
“Are you taking this seriously?” Lulu asked, concern pulling down her brows.
“I am. And I’ll deal with them.” I looked down at my collarbone. “It doesn’t look like I have much of a choice.”
“It’s a pretty simple spell,” Lulu said.
We all looked at her, given she’d generally avoided any and all discussion of magic or its details, with surprise. “I knew a little about some basic spells, before . . .”
Before she turned away from magic completely, she meant. Before she learned her mother had, at least for a little while, been seduced by dark magic and become an enemy to Chicago.
“Do you know if they’re right?” I asked. “About it disappearing?”
“If the spell was done correctly, yeah. Think of it as a little contract. You fulfill the terms, and the deal is done.”
“And if she doesn’t?” Connor asked. “What happens?”
“Depends on the sorcerer they had on speed dial. But it probably wouldn’t feel very good.”
“So she can’t ghost the vampires, ha ha,” Petra said.
“No. But I’d have to deal with them eventually. They aren’t just going to walk away from this; admitting defeat is not something vampires do easily.”
“Yes, we’re aware of the stubbornness of the fanged,” Connor said, managing to work a little exhaustion into his voice.
“So I’ll meet them tomorrow night. And since they’re vampires, I’ll handle them the vampire way.”
“With fancy clothes and arrogance and posturing?” Petra asked. There was no insult in the words, because she was absolutely right.
“Pretty much,” I said.
“In that case, you’re right about the location—it’s best if you don’t meet them in Grant Park,” Theo said, leaning back against the refrigerator. “It’s in the middle of the Loop and full of tourists. We don’t want humans caught in the cross fire.”
“Or cops watching us fight back,” Alexei said with a smile.
“Preferably no fighting, wherever the location,” I said. “But a place I choose.”
“A place we choose,” Theo said. “Some of your family members may be out of town. But not all of us.”
“Hear, hear,” Connor said. I squeezed his hand, had to fight back tears as I looked at them, my weird little family.
“Thanks,” I said. “The floor is open for location suggestions.”
“I’m on that,” Petra said. She’d pulled out her screen and was scrolling. “I’ll get back to you.”
“Appreciate it.”
“I’ll advise the Pack,” Connor said.
I frowned. “I don’t want them in the middle of this.”
He ignored that, typed something into his screen. And when he glanced up at me, his eyes were steady. “We’re already in the middle of this; the Pack helped create this problem.”
“Saving her was a decision I made,” I insisted. “It was a choice, and I’d make the same one again.”
“I know you would,” Connor said, voice softer. “But that doesn’t mean the Pack won’t help as it can. If all else fails, we’ll leave Chicago. Go to Memphis and enjoy blues and barbecue.”
Memphis was the Pack’s ancestral home. While I wouldn’t have minded the blues or barbecue, I hoped it wouldn’t come to that—when running away was my only viable option.
“I’ll tell Yuen,” Theo said and turned his attention to his screen. Roger Yuen was the actual Ombudsman, and our boss. “He’ll want the CPD there in case things go south. But he’ll coordinate with them to give you some room.”
I nodded.
All but Lulu had pulled out screens now, all sending messages to protect, to rally, to defend. A strange assemblage, I thought again. But I was so lucky to have found them. “Thank you.”
They all looked up at me.
“You’re welcome,” Theo said, understanding in his kind smile. “But I’m pretty sure you still owe me twenty for coffee.”
* * *
* * *
We finished cleaning up the party and said goodbye to everyone but Connor.
Lulu gave me a hug. “We’ll figure out a way through this. Maybe you aren’t measuring the flour correctly.”
“Funny.” I pulled back, looked at her. “You have to be careful. I don’t think they’ll approach you, but I didn’t think they’d show up at my door, either.”
“I’ll be careful. And it’s my turn to add to the community collective mural, so I’ll be around people all week.”
Lulu was part of a volunteer group that painted murals in urban areas that needed care and brilliant colors. Even though she didn’t live as a Sup, she kept supernatural hours. That meant even outdoor murals were painted at night, usually under the glow of work lights she’d picked up secondhand. She liked working at night, being awake in the relative quiet of sleeping Chicago. And she especially liked working through to dawn, when the colors began to shift and change as the sunlight rose and spread.
“Okay. If anything weird happens, let me know.”
“You’ll be the first I call.” She went to her room, Eleanor of Aquitaine trotting behind, head and tail high.
When her door closed, Connor pulled me into his arms. I wrapped around him, breathed in sunshine and cologne and Pack. And breathed deeply for the first time in hours.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine. This is going to be a mess.”
“It won’t be the first one you’ve handled. But if I find out someone in Minnesota reported you, we’re going to have some words.”