Midnight Marked: A Chicagoland Vampires Novel (26 page)

It was terrifyingly creative.

The library door opened, and we both glanced back. Ethan walked in. His expression was too neutral for me to gauge his mood, but his magic was all over the place.

“Your grandfather just reported in. Detective Jacobs got a judge and got a warrant for Reed’s downtown offices. They’re preparing to execute it right now. He also called Nick Breckenridge, advised him of the search. He’ll be in place if they collect anything.”

Nick Breckenridge was a family friend, and a very well-respected journalist in Chicago. He had a Pulitzer for his investigative journalism, and would do a thorough job with Reed.

“They’ll collect something,” I said. “I don’t know what, and I don’t know how much, but Reed’s too arrogant not to have something about the Circle close at hand. He thinks he’s invincible. That will have made him sloppy.” I frowned at Ethan. “That’s good news, so why do you look unhappy?”

“If Reed doesn’t already know, he’ll find out. That may accelerate whatever else he has planned.”

“That’s a risk,” I agreed. “That’s why everyone is doing their part.”

He looked at the easels. “And how are you doing?”

“Good on the magic,” Paige put in. “Dire on the results.”

Ethan crossed his arms, expression transitioning to Masterly concentration. “And how does it work?”

Paige gave him the summary. “It’s very clever,” she concluded. “And narcissistic, and a smidge sociopathic. But very clever.”

“That sounds about right. Will it work?”

“Kyle Farr is evidence it already worked,” she said. “But on a smaller scale. We figured the symbol had to have a purpose—some reason to use that much magic, that much energy, for it to just be a laser light show.”

Ethan slid his hands into his pockets and regarded us with Masterly suspicion. “Why do I feel like you’re preparing me for something?”

“Because we are,” Paige said. “We think it’s a boundary. Or, maybe more accurately, a net.”

“A net . . . ,” Ethan began, then trailed off as realization struck him. “For the supernaturals in its border. The magic is supposed to reach all the supernaturals within its territory?”

Paige nodded.

“That’s hundreds of square miles,” he said. “And if the QE works the way the sorcerer’s sample with Kyle Farr did, he’ll control every sup in that area?”

“Yeah,” Paige said with a nod. “If you weren’t scared before, you should be now.”

•   •   •

We left Paige to call Mallory and coordinate on the countermagic while we worked in the Ops Room on the House’s response to the more general threat of Adrien Reed.

That Jeff, Catcher, and Mallory were walking in the front door when we reached the first floor—and that they’d come to the House together without even a warning phone call—didn’t ease my concerns.

“What’s happened?” Ethan asked, apparently of the same mind.

“A lieutenant in Vice, one of the men on the Circle task force, got a wild hair,” Catcher said. “He learned about the document pull, decided this was the time to come down on the Circle and on Reed. His team raided Reed’s home about an hour ago.”

“How did that happen?” Ethan asked.

“There was a leak, probably an informant in the department or the judge’s office that issued the warrant. We aren’t sure; Jacobs is looking into it. Anyway, Reed’s lawyers met them at the door, but by the time they made it inside, the Reeds were gone.”

“He’ll escalate,” Ethan said. “He’d been waiting for the right time to move. This is probably it.”

Catcher nodded, and his expression was bleak. “That’s why we’re here. The Vice guys were going through Reed’s house when a group of River trolls—two men and two women—showed up. There was a shoot-out. Four cops were killed, and all four of the trolls.”

They were the fruitarians we’d discussed a few days ago, large men and women who lived primarily beneath the bascule bridges that crossed the Chicago River.

“Jesus,” Ethan muttered, low and sorrowful.

There was pounding on the stairs, and Luc raced into the front room, magic flurrying around him. He stopped when he reached us, and his expression was as cheerless as Catcher’s.

“The raid?” Luc asked.

Catcher nodded.

“We just heard on the scanner,” Luc said. “They’d kept the radios off during the op.”

“They wanted to keep it quiet in case Reed had informants inside the CPD,” Catcher said. “It didn’t seem to matter much.”

“This was probably a one-off,” Mallory said. “Kyle Farr, but with trolls. We’d know if he’d started the big magic. But he won’t wait much longer.”

“Did Paige catch you? Talk to you about the net?”

“The net?” Luc asked.

“We think the QE is a boundary for the magic,” Ethan said. “Or, if you prefer, a trap for everyone within it.”

Luc’s eyes widened. Understandably.

“We can’t let this happen,” I said. “We can’t let him take us all over.” I could feel the rising panic, and I ignored it, wouldn’t let it rise again. I wouldn’t let his glamour happen again.

“We won’t,” Mallory said, and pulled a plastic bag of what looked like braided friendship bracelets out of the messenger bag she’d canted over one shoulder.

“We haven’t had time to finish the countermagic. We’re working on it—and there are supplies in the car. We can finish it on-site. But I was able to make a few of these. They’re shielded,” she said, handing one to Catcher, to Ethan, then looked at me. “Wear your apotrope. It should keep them out of your head. It’s probably a better shield than these”—she lifted up her right wrist to show the bracelet she wore—“but they’re all I had time to prepare.”

The apotrope was a bracelet with a raven-engraved charm Mallory had bought in what she called Chicago’s “Scandinavian District,” magicked for good luck. I’d used it to keep Faux Balthasar out of my head. Made sense it would work here, too. I’d have to remember to grab it.

“We thank you for the effort,” Ethan said, sliding on a neon pink and green bracelet. He held it up against his immaculate white button-down. “How does it look?”

“Oh so fashionable,” Catcher said, sliding on a navy and red one.

Mallory offered the bag of bracelets to Luc. “I don’t have enough for everyone in the House,” she said. “But at least everybody on the ops team can have one.”

“Appreciated,” Luc said with a nod. “When we figure out what we can do, we’ll hand them out.”

“Paige can ward the rest of the House,” Mallory said. “Although that means she’ll have to stay here.”

“Might be best to limit the number of supernaturals running around out there,” Ethan said. “Does it matter how many supernaturals are here?”

She shook her head. “No. The ward will be on the physical structure. You could fill it to the rafters with vampires, and the ward won’t become any less effective.”

“Then we’ll load it up,” Ethan said, and looked at Luc. “Call Morgan, Scott. Explain, and tell them they can send their vampires here or out of the net.” He looked at Mallory. “Will that be enough? If they’re outside the symbol’s boundaries?”

“Give me a buffer,” she said. “A few hundred yards outside the symbol should do it.”

Ethan nodded. “We’ll call it a mile to be safe.” He looked back at Luc. “Call Gabriel, too, and update him. Same offer for the Pack.”

Luc scowled. “There are already shifters on the door and the gate. The House won’t be happy about more coming here.”

“It’s unlikely Gabriel will accept the offer,” Ethan said. “But we make the offer because it’s the right thing to do. It’s easy to be an asshole.” He smiled, but there wasn’t much happiness in it. “And harder to do the right thing. We do it anyway.”

“Aye, aye, boss. We’ll get some bracelets to the men on the gate.”

Ethan looked at Catcher. “The nymphs? The fairies?”

The city’s mercenary fairies weren’t exactly our allies anymore. All the more reason to ensure that they weren’t suited up as soldiers for Reed.

“We’ve gotten the word out. Told the Order, too. And Annabelle.”

“Good,” Ethan said. “There will be some we can’t reach. But the fewer supernaturals we give him to work with, the better off we’ll be.” He looked at Mallory. “How will he work this?”

Mallory squeezed her eyes closed, kneaded her forehead with her fingertips. “This is a big operation that’s going to need a lot of power. We’re talking about, what, a few thousand supernaturals within the net? The magic has to be powerful enough to affect them all, or it’s not much good. A sorcerer carries power innately. But this is exponentially larger than one person.”

“So, how will he do it?” Ethan asked.

“If it was me,” Mallory said, opening her eyes again, “I’d either have a generator, or I’d tie right into the grid, maybe with a transformer that turns electrical power into magical power. And I’d put it as close to the middle of the QE as I could. That makes the spreading of the magic more efficient.”

“So downtown,” Catcher said.

Mallory nodded. “If it was me. And he’d want high ground, too. Taller than Cadogan House.”

Ethan looked at me. “Any sense of where he’d go? A building that he’d want to use for this?”

There was, of course, one building that he’d wanted most of all—the one he’d wrenched from my father.

I looked at Ethan. “Towerline. We’d thought Reed had wanted it for his portfolio. Maybe that hadn’t been the only reason.”

Ethan looked at Luc. “Assemble everyone. We won’t lose anyone else on my watch. We take Reed down, and we do it tonight.”

IDENTITY

M
allory studied the translated equation, then helped Paige set the wards on the House. When it was protected, or as well as it could be, the city’s supernatural leaders were called, and we prepared for battle.

By the time we gathered in the conference room, we were leather-clad and katana-wielding. Ethan wore a black moto-style leather jacket over dark jeans and boots, his hair pulled back with a leather cord. I’d added my apotrope to my ensemble.

Lindsey, Kelley, and Juliet were also dressed in leathers. Luc and Malik would remain at the House—Luc to keep it safe, and Malik to keep it under control. As Ethan’s Second, he’d be in charge of the House in Ethan’s absence—and the hundreds of vampires who’d come here to escape the magic.

Malik joined us, as did Paige and the Librarian, Catcher and Mallory, Gabriel, Eli, Jeff, and Fallon. Jonah walked into the room with Scott, which filled me with relief. I rose, met them at the door, could feel Ethan’s gaze on both of us. But since Jonah had jumped out in front of me and probably saved my life, he could bear a little jealousy.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Not bad,” he said with a smile. “Thanks for dragging me out of the line of fire.”

“Thanks for taking the hit for me.” I smiled up at him. “And don’t ever do it again.”

“I’ll make a note.”

I stepped aside so they could walk to the table, was surprised to see Morgan walk in behind them. He was as leather-clad as the rest of us, a yellow katana belted at his waist. And his expression was fierce.

He found Ethan. Morgan, the dark-haired Master of the nation’s oldest vampire House, matched against Ethan, the blond-haired Master of the city’s most active House. A former boyfriend matched against my forever love, and a vampire who’d been too human matched against one who, until recently, hadn’t been quite human enough. It was interesting how things had changed.

“I hadn’t expected you to fight,” Ethan said, extending a hand.

“You don’t mean that as an insult,” Morgan said, “but it’s embarrassing all the same. I should have been fighting a long time ago, against Reed and otherwise. Better late than never, I hope.”

Ethan nodded. “You’re here now. That counts.”

“I hope so.” Morgan glanced at me, smiled with disarmingly boyish charm. “I’ve seen Merit fight. She can avenge me if I go down.”

“Let’s hope no one needs avenging,” Ethan said.

“We’re ready,” Luc said when he and Jeff had finagled a small projector in the center of the table that shot an image onto a screen that descended at the far end of the conference table. Luc dimmed the lights.

A map of the Loop that showed Towerline—or its currently skeletal frame—and the surrounding blocks was projected on one half of the screen. Jeff’s projection of the QE filled the other.

“This is the
Quinta Essentia
,” Ethan said as heads turned to look at the symbol. “I don’t want to spend too much time on the magical details. Suffice it to say we believe Adrien Reed, his sorcerer, and his vampire, who’s been identified as Logan Hill, a Rogue, have been working on a complex alchemical equation. That equation is intended to provide one or all of them control of every supernatural within the boundaries.”

“Control,” Scott repeated, incredulous.

“Control,” Ethan confirmed. “They’ve manipulated a shifter and, as of earlier tonight, several trolls. They’re dead,” he said, and glanced at Gabriel. “Your shifter?”

Gabriel just shook his head. “No sign of him.”

“So he could still be under Reed’s control,” Ethan said.

“What’s his long game here?” Scott asked. “He can’t have imagined this would work out well—that people wouldn’t notice what he was doing.”

“I believe Reed expected we’d take much, much longer to figure out what he’s doing. We literally stumbled onto the Wrigleyville symbols.”

Mallory nodded. “If we hadn’t figured out the what and where of the magic, he’d be doing all this right now, only without police surrounding the building. We’d fall to his control, and he would have a supernatural army, and we would be none the wiser. And with that magical army, with that power, humans would be hard-pressed to argue with him.”

Ethan paused to let that sink in.

“If the QE is kindled, we’re all at risk,” he said. “The House is warded. All supernaturals are invited to shelter here. Mallory will have wearable countermagics for anyone on the go team.”

“How, exactly, does the magic work?” Morgan asked, leaning forward and linking his hands on the table. “And how can we use it against them?”

Ethan nodded at Mallory, who stepped forward. “The alchemy utilizes, combines, the sorcerer’s magic and the vampire’s magic. That’s where the control arises.”

“So we can just take out one of them?” Morgan asked.

Mallory shook her head. “It’s not that simple, unfortunately. Their magic gives effect to the QE, yes. But once the QE is on, it’s on. Taking them out won’t affect anything; that’s part of the fail-safe they’ve built into the alchemy. Ditto erasing the symbols,” she said, glancing at Paige, who nodded. “The only way out is backward. We have to use a countermagic—literally reverse the magic to remove its effect.”

“And you can do that?” Scott asked.

“We can,” Mallory said, looking at Catcher with adoration and pride. “They’ve got a vampire and a sorcerer. We’ve got three sorcerers. I say we win.”

I couldn’t help smiling despite the circumstances.

“Where do you need to be?” Ethan asked.

“On the ground.”

Catcher nodded, gestured to Jeff, and the picture switched to the street view, and a shot of the Loop I’d never seen before—almost completely devoid of people.

“The CPD’s cordoned off a two-block radius around the construction site,” Catcher said. “Chuck and Arthur Jacobs are coordinating from the ground.”

“I want to be here,” Mallory said, pointing to the plaza in front of the building. “I think this is the best place to set the countermagic—draw the reverse QBE. And then we’ll kindle the magic, begin to reverse theirs.”

“You’ll be in full view of the public,” Malik said quietly. “If they see you do this, they’ll know what you are, and what you can do.”

The public knew a lot about supernaturals. But they hadn’t yet learned about sorcerers.

Mallory looked at Catcher, squeezed his hand, then looked back at Malik. “We know. On the one hand, it can’t be helped. And on the other hand, it’s about damn time.”

“And their magic?” Scott asked. “What’s their HQ?”

Luc switched the image to photographs of the building’s current “roof.” It was a square of concrete, one of the building’s previous upper floors, surrounded by the steel framework that remained around it. The photos showed several figures moving around a large black structure that was partially hidden by a cloth. Probably a drop cloth to keep it covered until they were ready to go.

“It’s the sixty-eighth floor,” Catcher said, stepping forward. “They’ve got two construction elevators that go all the way to the top. The CPD confirmed by drone that there are six figures on the floor, but they shot it down before they could confirm their identities.”

“It’s most likely Reed, Logan, the sorcerer, and supernaturals to keep them safe,” Ethan said.

“And possibly Sorcha,” I said. “She’s always at his side.”

Ethan glanced at me. “You think he’d bring her into this?”

“I don’t think either of them cares about the difference between legal and illegal, danger and safety. He’s clearly crossed a line here—that division between his public and private personas—and may want to make a show of it for her.”

“Maybe she’s involved in it,” Morgan said.

“We haven’t seen any evidence of that,” I said, and flipped through my memories of her. Bored or vacant or typing on her phone.

“So potentially the four of them,” Ethan said, “and at least three supernaturals.”

“With heavy weaponry,” Catcher added. “He’ll have borrowed from the Circle’s cache.”

“Oh, good,” Scott said. “Because this wasn’t already an enormous cluster fuck.”

“No argument there,” Ethan said. “He’ll control any sups within the boundaries who aren’t otherwise protected. They’ll come at us, irrespective of their desire or their alliances, because the Circle wills it.”

I wondered if my immunity from glamour would have given me any protection. Not that it mattered now.

“What do we do about them?” Morgan asked. “We can’t take them out.”

“Chuck’s working with the CPD on that,” Catcher said. “They’ve been developing some small-batch tranq weapons. We’re hoping we can use those, since these sups won’t have been fighting through any fault of their own.”

“You have enough for the entire team?” Jonah asked.

“I’m waiting for word,” Catcher said.

“And speaking of the team,” Ethan said, “we propose Catcher and Mallory, Jeff, Gabriel, Eli, Fallon, Morgan, Merit, and I go downtown.” He looked at Scott and Jonah. “Bringing the sups here will protect them, but if Reed figures that, he may split his troops and attack here. I’d appreciate it if you’d work with Luc and Malik to protect the House.”

Scott drummed his fingers on the table while he considered, then nodded. “I’ll have my vampires come here.” He glanced at Malik and Luc and nodded. “We’ll do what we can to keep everyone here and safe.”

“Appreciated,” Ethan said, then looked at Gabriel. “You have any bodies you want to spare?”

“The countermagic work on shifters?”

Mallory nodded. “Yep. Anything that meets a magical threshold.”

“Then if you’ve got enough, I can offer a few more. They’ll stay outside on the grounds. They don’t need to be in the House. Not after what they’ve done. The rest of them will stay outside the QE.”

Ethan nodded. “Then we leave now. Basement in fifteen, and we’ll arrange transportation.” He looked at all of us like a general surveying his troops. “This isn’t our war, nor is it a war we want to fight. But it is a war all the same. Reed would control us, obliterate us as creatures with free will in order to achieve his ambitions. We must not allow that to happen. We
will
not allow that to happen.”

•   •   •

We scattered, colleagues clustering together to make plans, arrangements. I drank a bottle of blood—like an athlete preparing for battle. When I returned to the foyer, Ethan and Malik stood together, Ethan’s hands on Malik’s face.

Ethan whispered something, Malik’s eyes flared with concern. It wasn’t difficult to guess the nature of Ethan’s words. This was the last communion of a soldier and his family before war. It was a promise by Malik to care for the House, a confirmation by Ethan that he knew Malik would protect and serve it, and a good-bye for both of them.

I’d seen this scene before, and each time it moved me; I had to look away to keep tears from blooming.

“Sentinel,” Malik said, walking toward me when their discussion was complete. “Good luck. Take care of yourself and our Master.”

“He’s the first thing on my mind,” I promised. I embraced him, then Luc.

“You got this, Sentinel. Go kick their asses.”

“I fully intend to.”

There was one particular vampire on my mind.

•   •   •

CPD had cordoned the blocks around Towerline with police tape and crowd barriers. Officers in riot gear were stationed every few yards, and people were stacked ten deep behind them, cameras raised high above the crowd to catch photos and video. They probably weren’t entirely sure what was going to happen, but they figured it would be exciting.

Magic filled the air like the tingle of electricity before a thunderstorm. The entire city was waiting for something to happen. And Reed was working to ensure that it did.

The plaza was empty of people, but figures moved inside the building’s two-story atrium, which had already been surrounded by glass. Maybe that had been a strategic decision, too.

We walked toward the cordoned area, were waved in by my grandfather, who stood with Detective Jacobs in the middle of a V formed by two canted police cars in the northbound lane of Michigan Avenue. My father stood with them in a Merit Properties windbreaker against the spring chill, and his expression was utterly dour. I had an extra twinge of guilt about both of them. Fathers and daughters were a complicated thing.

My grandfather greeted us, then introduced the rest of the team to the several officers he was working with. But for him and Jacobs, they were also dressed in riot gear—dark shirts, dark pants, boots, protective vests, and plenty of communications equipment. They were not messing around.

How much blood would have to be shed to satisfy Reed’s ego?

“They’re still on the top floor, as far as we can tell,” Jacobs said. “Sups in the lobby with automatic weapons.”

“I’m surprised they haven’t been more aggressive,” Ethan said.

Morgan’s gaze tracked the moving shadows. “We’re tools to him. He’ll think of them as assets, and he won’t want to waste them until his plan’s completely in place.”

Jacobs nodded. “Our thought as well. We move toward the building, and he’ll attack.”

“That’s why we go in first,” Ethan said, and the cops around us went quiet, looked back at us.