Juliet was the feylike redhead. “Juliet. Eighty-six years, fifty-four in Cadogan. I was Commended into Taylor, transferred over. Nice to meet you, Merit.”
“Kel, you’re next.”
“I’m Kelley,” said the woman to my right. Her black hair was long and straight, her mouth a perfect cupid’s bow, her skin perfectly pale, her eyes slightly uptilted. “Two hundred and fourteen years. I was made by Peter Cadogan before the House was formed. When he was killed, I stayed with Ethan. You’ll stand Sentinel?”
I nodded, the only option available, as her tone brooked no argument. The energy that surrounded her was contained, intense, and almost thickly aggressive. For all that, she was lithe and slim, and was probably deceptively unfrightening to the average human.
“And last, and arguably least, we have Lindsey.” He looked over at her, gave her a haughty look.
Lindsey just waved an airy hand. “You know who I am. I’m one hundred and fifteen, if it matters, originally from Iowa, but I did my time in New York—Yankees rule. I had too much to drink last night, and I have a splitting headache, but I divested a newbie of a pint.”
I grinned, but caught a low-grade growl from Luc’s end of the table. Some unrequited feelings there, maybe?
“Do us a favor and spare us the bloody details, Linds.”
Lindsey smirked at him, smiled at me. “And I’m the resident psychic.”
He snapped his fingers. “Of course. I knew there was a reason he kept you around. Everyone has their specialties—Peter’s got the contacts, Juliet’s slippery. She gathers data.” I assumed he meant surreptitiously. “Kelley’s our resident mechanical and software genius.”
When he turned to look at me, the rest of the guards followed suit. I sat still while they gave me calculating, appraising glances, probably registering strengths and weaknesses, estimating powers and potentials.
“I’m strong and fast,” I offered. “I don’t know how I match up against everyone else, but as you probably heard, I at least gave Ethan a run for his money, so you know what I could do a couple of days out. Since then, I’ve been training with Catcher Bell, learning moves and sword work, and that’s coming along. I seem to have some resistance to glamour, but I don’t have any other psychic powers. At least, not yet.”
Her wide whiskey eyes on me, Kelley offered, “I suppose that makes you a soldier.”
“And I’m the fearless leader,” Luc said, “haranguing this group of ragtag vampires into something greater than the sum of its parts. I like to think of it as—”
“Boss, she’s in. She doesn’t need the recruiting speech.” Peter lifted brows expectantly at Luc.
“Right.” Luc nodded. “Right. Well, in addition to the six of us, we liaise with the daylight guards, the folks who stay at the gate. They’re employed by RDI—that’s our external security company.”
“And how do we know we can trust them?” I asked.
“Cynical,” Luc said with approval. “I like it. Anyway, RDI is run by fairies. And nobody fucks with fairies. The thing is, while we protect the House—”
“Because a safe House is a safe Master,” the four guards parroted together, their words ash-dry, and I guessed Luc broke out the proverb frequently.
“Jesus, you bastards do listen to me. I’m touched. Really.” He rolled his eyes. “As I was saying, our primary loyalty is to Ethan, to the vamps. Your loyalty is first and foremost to Cadogan. I don’t think that’ll make too much difference in the short run, but should something arise that tests the bond between Master and House, you’ll need to be aware of that.” He shook his head, mouth pursed. “That’ll put you in a helluva goddamn spot, having to counter Ethan about House security. But he thought you were the girl for the job, so . . . You know anything about guns?” he asked, expression suddenly tight.
I blinked. “Um, only to stay away from them?”
Luc blew out a breath, ran his hands through his hair. “Training, then. Jesus, you’re green. Ballet and grad school to Cadogan fucking Sentinel. It’ll take time.” He nodded, then released his hands and scribbled something on a notepad that lay on the table in front of him. “You’re going to need weapons training, strategy, cleaning and safety, all of it.”
He was quiet for a moment, flipping an occasional page as he made notes. In the interim, Lindsey offered me another hunk of jerky, which I gratefully accepted.
“Now that we’ve done the tea party,” Luc said, pushing back the notepad and settling into his chair, “it’s time for our annual review of Rules You Disrespectful Bastards Never Follow.”
A unified disgruntled groan filled the Operations Room. Luc ignored it. “I’m explaining these rules for Merit’s benefit, but since you people rarely obey them”—he gave Lindsey a pointed glance, to which she responded with a stuck-out tongue—“I’m sure you’ll appreciate the refresher.”
He tapped the panel in front of him. The Cadogan logo disappeared from the wall screen, replaced by a bulleted list entitled Cadogan Guards—Expectations.
Luc leaned back, crossed his hands behind his head, and kicked his booted feet back onto the table. “Number one, you’re always on call. I don’t care where you are, who you’re with, or what you’re doing. Sleeping, showering, making inappropriate advances toward still-pink vampires.” That earned a grunt from Lindsey. “If your beeper sounds, you’re on your way to the House, to the action.
“Number two, you will review the Web site, and you will learn the security protocols. If the worst happens—if there’s a direct attack on Cadogan—I want everyone in place, knowing their positions, knowing their responsibilities, knowing whether you’re guarding zone or man-to-man.”
Lindsey leaned toward me. “He’s obsessed with college ball,” she whispered. “Expect him to channel Coach K whenever he thinks he can risk the analogy.”
I grinned.
“Twice a week,” Luc said, “we will review said protocols, focusing on developments, strategies, whatever burr I happen to have up my ass at that particular time. Every day that you are on duty, you will review the dailies, and you will review the dossiers that are placed in your particular file.” He pointed at a line of hanging folders mounted to the wall, each a different color, each labeled with one of our names. The label on the bottommost folder read Cadogan Sentinel.
“These documents will keep you informed as to any threats, any changes in the management of this or any other House, any guests in Cadogan, any particular instructions given by your Liege and mine. Four times a week you will train in accordance with the manual you’ll find on the Web site. Train here, train with your comrades, train outside the House. I don’t care. But you’ll be tested periodically—strength, speed, stamina, katas, weapons. You’re a Cadogan guard, and you owe your life and health to this House. You will be prepared to pay that debt, in full, if necessary.”
A weighty silence fell over the room, and I watched the guards nod solemnly, some touching the Cadogan medals that lay at the base of their throats.
“Number three,” Luc continued, pointing at the screen. “You’re an employee of Cadogan House. That means you screw something up in the process of doing your duty—injuring bystanders, pissing off humans—and you risk drawing unwanted attention to the House, our getting sued, an increase in our insurance premiums, and your ass on the streets, where you’ll end up following goth wannabe Rogue vampires around the Windy City. To use Merit’s words, no one wants that, least of all Ethan. And you sure as shit don’t want aspen drawn because you were careless.
“Number four, while this isn’t a hard and fast rule, and Ethan would never admit to it, you should be . . . circumspect in your relations with other sups. That includes vamps from other Houses, sorcerers, shifters, and perhaps most relevant today”—Luc looked to Peter and tapped the tips of two fingers on the table—“nymphs. Malik is the only Cadogan vamp authorized to enter into alliances on the House’s behalf without Ethan’s stamp. Friendly is fine—we don’t need to make enemies by acting like pricks from Navarre.” A chuckle flowed around the room; some of the tension faded. “But alliances are for our Liege and his Second to arrange. Use your common sense. And if you lack common sense, talk to me.” He grinned slowly, wolfishly, and directed that smile at Lindsey. “I’ll be sure to point you in the correct direction.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Number five. You work four days on, one off. On working days, unless I’ve assigned you elsewhere, you’re in the Ops Room when you report. You’ll either work here, or you’ll patrol—the House, the grounds. At least one day a week, you’ll guard Ethan personally, travel as his body man.” He looked at me. “Technically, as Sentinel, you’ll set your own schedule. But I’d suggest you work with us, learn the ropes in here, at least until you’re familiar with our processes.”
I nodded my agreement.
Luc’s brows lifted. “Well, you’re a little more biddable than we thought.”
That earned another chuckle around the room. I blushed in response, but smiled at my colleagues. Luc dished it out to everyone, and I knew I needed to—and could—take it.
“I await your pleasure,” I drily said, which earned an appreciative snort from Lindsey.
Luc tapped the screen again, and the image on the wall disappeared. “I’m going to give Merit the grand tour. Lindsey, since you’re mentoring Merit—and my advance apologies for that, Sentinel—you’ll take over babysitting when the tour’s done. Everyone else who’s scheduled, get to work.”
Luc rose, but the vamps stayed obediently seated until he threw out, “Dismissed.” Then they murmured thank-yous and rose, grabbing jerky from the tub Lindsey had placed on the table. Lindsey and Kelley both moved to the computer workstations at the edges of the room. Peter left the room; I guessed it was his day off. Juliet grabbed her jacket and headed for the door. “I’m on grounds,” she announced, then touched a finger to the buff-colored shell of a device that fit around her ear. “Check.”
“Check that,” Kelley said. “Audio in. Dialing in RDI.” There was a pause before she said, “Kelley, Cadogan House, on duty.” She nodded, then looked over at Juliet. “Security transferred. Juliet on. You’re good, Juliet.”
She looked at me, winked jauntily, then made for the door. “Tell me about it.”
His guards set to work, the next task on Luc’s list was the full House tour. We began in the basement, which held the Ops Room, the sparring room, a gym, and the steel-lined arsenal that housed Cadogan’s weapons—modern crossbows, bladed weapons of every shape and type, aspen stakes and pikes, and although Catcher had suggested vamps didn’t use them, an entire cabinet of guns. Rifles, shotguns, handguns—weapons I could only identify after years of faithfully watching Law & Order.
The main floor held the front and main parlors, Ethan’s office, the state dining room, the kitchen, a cafeteria area for informal meals, and a series of smaller offices, one of which belonged to Helen, who’d been given the unenviable duty of introducing me to the world of vampires. I made a mental note to find her and apologize.
As we took the stairs to the second floor, Luc explained the mansion had been built during Chicago’s Gilded Age by an industrialist eager to show off his newfound wealth. Unfortunately, the house had been finished for only sixteen days when he was shot to death in a flophouse in one of the city’s rougher neighborhoods, reportedly after an altercation with the boyfriend of a prostitute named Flora. The Greenwich Presidium purchased the building on Cadogan’s behalf shortly thereafter—for a very good price.
The second floor, which held the ballroom I’d visited the night before, also held the library, which we didn’t have time to see, a couple of informal dens, and half the dorm-style rooms that housed the Cadogan vamps who lived “on campus.” The rooms were wood-floored and high-ceilinged, and each held a small bed, dresser, bookshelf and nightstand, and had been decorated to suit the personality of the vamps who lived there. The House’s ninety-seven live-in vamps (which included all of last night’s Novitiates, save me) were unmarried and tended to work directly in the House—as administrators, guards, House staff, or other members of Ethan’s entourage.