“Oh, yeah, Sharon. Lay it on. Lay it on thick.
Right here in public where everybody can see!”
The man, who was only a couple of feet from me, lifted his arms and moved in a circle. “Did anyone not hear my lovely wife berating me?
Anyone?”
The people around us chuckled nervously, not sure whether they should step in and put an end to the dramatics, or ignore them.
I had the same question—until the man made the full turn and I could see the red T-shirt beneath his thin jacket. MIDNIGHT HIGH SCHOOL was written in faded white letters across the front. These were my RG helpers.
The guy winked at me, then stepped directly between me and McKetrick. “I mean, really, sir, is this the kind of behavior you’d expect from your wife? What happened to ‘for better or worse’ and all that?”
The woman stepped up and poked a finger into the guy’s chest. “Oh, just another thing for you to criticize me about, huh, Bob? I’m shocked.
Really shocked. I should have listened to my mother, you know!”
“Oh, yeah, Sharon. Bring your mother into this. Your poor, woebegone mother!”
A crowd began to gather around the couple, creating a thicker human barrier that put more space between McKetrick and me. Two security guards also ambled over, adding two more humans—and two more weapons—to the fray.
I got while the getting was good.
I found the Town booth and camped beside it, but fifteen minutes, and then half an hour, passed with no action. I cursed McKetrick, positive that he’d scared Celina away.
For the twentieth time, I stood on tiptoes to get a better look at the grounds, nearly falling over when a dark-haired woman nudged past me.
Absently, I watched her dark ponytail bob as she walked, but it wasn’t until she was nearly gone that I felt the tingle of magic in the air. I hadn’t recognized her—and wouldn’t have, but for the power that lingered behind her. My heart began to thud with anticipation.
Before she could escape, I grabbed her wrist.
Celina slowly turned to face me. She wore a one-piece, royal blue jumper with ankle boots, her hair in a ponytail. Her eyes widened in apparent shock.
Okay, now I was confused. Why did she look surprised to see me?
Her arm still in my hand, she moved a step closer. “If you’re smart, child, you’ll let go of my hand while you still have yours to use.”
“I was told you wanted to meet me,” I informed her. “By a mutual friend.”
Almost instantaneously, her expression changed. Her eyes narrowed, her nostrils flared, and her magic rose in an angry, peppery cloud.
The humans still moved past with fair food and plastic cups of beer in hand, completely oblivious to the magical reactor who was throwing off enough power to light the Loop.
“That little shit,” she muttered, followed by a few choice curses.
I assumed she meant Paulie, but if she hadn’t been expecting me . . .
“Who did you think you were meeting?”
Her expression went haughty. “As you are well aware, and as the GP has reminded you, my life is none of your concern.”
“Chicago is my concern. Cadogan House is my concern.”
She scoffed. “You’re a vampire in a fourth-rate House. And sleeping with its Master isn’t exactly a coup.”
I resisted the urge to do the nail raking and hair pulling I’d complained about only a few days ago. Instead, I gave back the same pretentious look she gave me. It wasn’t that I was naïve about Celina or her power—or the damage she could do to me. But I was tired of being afraid.
And if the GP was going to act like she wasn’t a threat, then I was, too.
“My life is none of your concern, either,” I countered. “And I don’t care how well you’ve managed to convince the GP you’re a good citizen and have nothing to do with the havoc in this city right now. I know it’s bullshit, and I am not afraid of you. Not anymore. I’m also not afraid of the GP, so I’m going to give you one chance to answer this question.” I pressed my nails into the flesh of her arm. “Did you put V on the streets?”
Celina looked around, seemed to realize that the people around us were beginning to stare.
And of all the reactions I might have imagined, the one she handed back wasn’t even on the list.
“Maybe I did,” she said, loud enough for all to hear. “Maybe I helped put V on the streets. So what?”
My mouth opened in shock. Celina had just announced to a few thousand humans that she’d helped put V on the street. It was a coup for me, but there was no way she’d make that kind of announcement if she didn’t think she had an out.
What was her game?
The humans around us stopped, now staring full out. A couple of them popped out phones and were taping the scene.
“What’s your connection to Paulie Cermak? I know you talked to him at Navarre House.”
She barked out a laugh. “Paulie Cermak is a little worm. He’s got a warehouse in Greektown that houses the V, and he’s been handling the distribution from there. That’s why there wasn’t any V in his house.” She gave me an appraising gaze. “What’s more interesting is how you learned about it. Morgan told you, no?” She looked me up and down. “Did you offer yourself for a little information?”
In addition to feeling disgusted by the suggestion, I felt a little sympathy for Morgan.
Celina’s craziness didn’t excuse the fact that Morgan wasn’t reliable, but it sure did explain why he wasn’t trustworthy. If he’d learned to be a Master by following in Celina’s footsteps, there’d probably been no hope for him.
“And the raves?”
“The raves were the linchpin,” she said. “The key to the entire system. They were means to get V—and humans—into the hands of vampires.”
Celina looked around, realized she had a captive audience of humans who’d recognized who she was—and the fact that she was supposed to be locked away in England, not standing in the middle of Street Fest confessing to crimes against the citizens of Chicago.
If I’d been in her position, I would have balked. I’d have lowered my head and ducked through the crowd, seeking escape. But Celina wasn’t your average vampire. With nothing close to regret or fear in her eyes—and while I stared at her, shocked at her audacity—she began to address the crowd.
“For too long, I bought into the notion that humans and vampires could simply coexist. That being vampire meant tamping down certain urges, working in communion with humans, leading humans.”
She began to turn in a circle, offering her sermon to the crowd. “I was wrong. Vampires should be vampires. Truly, completely vampires.
We are the next evolution of humans. V reminds us who we are. And you, too—all of you—could have our strength. Our powers. Our immortality!”
“You killed humans!” shouted one of the humans. “You deserve to die.”