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

moment.
    “I am glad I’m alive, Mallory. I thank you for that. But you have put me and mine in danger, and those acts may ultimately prove unforgiveable.” He looked over at me, love shining in his eyes. “And for all that, Merit still seems to believe in you. I don’t trust you,” he said after a moment, “but I trust Merit. And I have seen her fight. And if you do anything to hurt me, she will come after you with all that she has.”
    “I understand,” Mallory said.
    “Wonderful. But if I’m doing the nullifying, who battles Dominic?”
    Courage , I reminded myself. “I will.”
    All eyes turned to me.
    “No,” Ethan said.
    “Yes,” I countered. “I’m the only one close to your level. You can argue,” I said, parroting back his words, “and I’m sure that argument will be well reasoned, but you know I’m right.”
    We looked at each other again, the risk of losing ourselves again between us. But this wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last, that we were faced with choices like these.
    Ethan nodded. “You will fight him.”
    There was a collective heave of relief in the room.
    “There is one more issue,” Paige said. We all looked at her.
    “I’m fairly confident this counts as black magic. If so, it seems unlikely the shifters or the Order will allow her to do it.”
    That was a bit of a sticking point.
    “There’s risk,” Mallory said. “Even if Gabriel said it was okay, I’d be nervous about backtracking. About getting worse instead of getting better. But for the first time, I’d have the chance to help someone else, not just myself.”
    “I’ll be there,” Catcher said. “I’ll keep an eye on you.”
    The decision made, Luc uncapped his marker again and filled in the empty space in the middle of our plan. wicking, he wrote.
    “When he appears,” Seth said, “you’ll only have seconds to strip his magic. The summoning only calls him to appear—it won’t hold him forever.”
    “And if he’s summoned, he’ll already have his guard up,” Ethan said.
    “Quite probably. You’ll need to act fast.”
    Another reason for Ethan to work the mojo instead of Mallory. Dominic would instantaneously react if Mallory appeared at his side, but if Ethan was there, he might just be curious enough to wait a moment, just long enough for Ethan to get the job done.
    “We’ll set things up before he arrives,” Paige said, “so you only need to touch him to trigger the magic.”
    Ethan nodded, but the worry was clear in his face.
    “And when his magic is gone, he won’t be able to leave again. He’ll be stuck here, and in human form.” Seth looked at me. “That will be your cue.”
    I nodded.
    “Then we know the plan,” Seth said. “I will summon him. Ethan and Mallory will neutralize him. Merit will fight him.”
    His list left out an item: Merit will kill him . However unpleasant, that result seemed inevitable and would be required regardless of whether step number two worked. Dominic had to be eliminated, or even more people would die. And he had no right to play judge, jury, and executioner. Although I wasn’t looking forward to playing that role myself—playing a game that would end only with a death by my hand and sword—I didn’t think we had a lot of other options.
    “It’s not a bad plan,” Luc said. “I mean, in my opinion. Lots of parts.”
    “Lots of places for things to go wrong,” Catcher agreed.
    “Where can we do this?” Ethan asked.
    “Hallowed ground,” Seth said. “It has to be.”
    Paige nodded. “If you’re messing with dark magic, you want to stick to hallowed ground. The goal is to make this better—not worse.”
    “We’d need a church?” Ethan asked.
    “Not necessarily,” Paige said. “Any land that’s been blessed or purified would work.”
    “How do we locate suitable property?” Ethan asked.
    “I can ask Gabriel,” Jeff suggested.
    “Gabriel?” Ethan asked.
    “We have bonds with the land,” he said. “If anyone would know it, he would.”
    “Gabe may not want us summoning Dominic on ground he’s decided is blessed,” I pointed out.
    “Yeah, but I don’t think you’ll find a pastor in Chicago who’s crazy about it, either.”
    Jeff had a point.
    Ethan nodded. “Shifters it is. Jeff, please make the call and see if he has time to talk or survey or whatever else it will take.” He looked at Seth and Paige. “Make sure we have what we need to make the magic work. If you need materials, have Helen