Biting Cold: A Chicagoland Vampires Novel (CHICAGOLAND VAMPIRES SERIES)

said, rising from his chair. “Paige, Seth, Catcher, talk to Mallory and see if there’s anything to this idea. We’ll meet back here in two hours. And God willing, we’ll have a plan.”
    We might have a plan. But would we have a House?

C HAPTER T WENTY-ONE

    TWELVE COLONIES
    I was last into the ballroom, which was already full of vampires and nervous, agitated magic. Darius stood at the platform at the front of the room, Ethan and Malik beside him. The vampires whispered and shuffled as they waited for whatever was about to begin.
    I moved quietly through the crowd to the front, stopping only when I was close enough to make eye contact with Ethan, to let him know that I was there. Ready to assist if necessary . . . or be there to soothe him once it was over.
    “We live in strange times,” Darius said, his accent seeming extra-clipped as he prepared to lecture this room of Chicago vampires.
    “The public is aware of us and other of our supernatural brethren. By registration, they have demanded we warn them of our very existence. The Order is in the midst of a crisis of its own, and the city’s leadership is in chaos. There are many in the world who revile us, who would have us destroyed en masse if authority permitted.”
    The magic in the room stirred nervously.
    “In such times, the stability of the Houses is even more crucial. Financially, managerially, procedurally. The Houses exist to protect vampires from the whims of humans. Without them, chaos. Wandering without homes, without support, without leadership.”
    I wasn’t sure about all that, as Noah and the other Rogue vampires in Chicago seemed plenty well fed and happy.
    “The GP exists to support and guide the Houses. The GP has existed, in one form or another, for a very long time, and although some do not believe it, we do have experience and knowledge to offer.”
    The crowd snickered appreciatively. Whatever Darius’s faults, and I’m sure they were legion, he knew how to work a crowd. On the other hand, a captive audience of vampires who feared for their survival wasn’t exactly going to boo its purported “king” off the stage.
    “Franklin Cabot is not a perfect man,” Darius announced. “And his work as receiver of this House may not have been perfect. Nevertheless, his job was to review, analyze, stabilize, and report. Despite his premature evacuation from this House, he has done so.”
    The vampires around me stiffened. They knew something was coming, and they weren’t convinced the news would be good. By the look on Ethan’s face—and the line of worry between his eyes—he wasn’t, either.
    “Cabot perused the financial and other records gathered in this House through the nearly one hundred years of its existence. Financially, the House is in superb shape. Its investments are adequately diversified, its assets are substantially larger than its debts, and there are sufficient funds for emergency purposes in a number of international accounts. The House has sufficient contingency planning, and its resident vampires seem well satisfied with their lot. However . . .”
    I steeled myself for bad news.
    “The official position of the GP and its Houses respecting human affairs is avoidance. Vampires keep to themselves. Human civilizations have risen and fallen over the course of history, and they will continue to do so. It is in our best interest to let them do so and, simply put, stay out of it. The actions of Cadogan House are not consistent with that position. That, of course, raises some obvious concerns about how well Cadogan House fits within the parameters of the Greenwich Presidium—if at all.”
    I froze. Around me, nerves churned as vampires considered the possibility at which Darius hinted—that Cadogan House wouldn’t be a member of the GP much longer. Instead, we’d be its enemies.
    “Cadogan House rejected the efforts of the GP to review and stabilize this House. If Cadogan House does not wish to support the GP’s efforts, the GP must inquire whether Cadogan House should remain within the GP.”
    Darius looked out across the sea of vampires before him, and then back at Ethan.
    “The Presidium called a shofet ,” he said. “And that shofet has voted to excommunicate Cadogan House from membership in the GP.”
    The magic went panicky, vampires whispering about the possibility that they’d be Houseless in less than a month. I heard their whispers, and while many felt the House was being betrayed by the GP,