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

press conference.”
    Ethan nodded. “If we’re the only ones who see the threat, I suppose we’ll be the ones to handle it. And I agree—the risk of collateral damage is too high to ignore. I’ll get dressed. Get your sword and meet me in the office.”
    This time, I did as I was told.
    Luc, Malik, and Ethan were already in Ethan’s office when I arrived, the blade of my katana impeccable, my body clad in head-to-toe leather for the impending fight.
    I’d finally remembered to grab the worry wood from my room. It was a small ridge in my jacket pocket, a comforting reminder that magic wasn’t all bad, that it could even be helpful. That was a lesson I was fighting hard to remember lately.
    They were seated around the conference table. I joined them.
    “The officers are scheduled to be released within the hour,” Ethan said. “I contacted Nicholas Breckenridge.” Nick was an old family friend and a former flame; he was also a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist. “He said the cops are planning to make a statement, and the lawyers have invited the media to cover it.”
    “There will definitely be a crowd, then,” Malik said. “Everyone will be fighting for sound bites—those who think vampires are evil, those who think cops aren’t limited by rules and regulations, the family members of the humans assaulted.”
    “Collateral damage,” Ethan murmured, as Luc spread a satellite image of the lockup onto the table. The building wasn’t huge, but there was a span of long concrete steps across the front bounded by a couple of columns on each side.
    “Perfect place for a Law and Order –style shooting,” Luc said.
    Malik nodded. “And there’s more poetic justice if Tate takes them out on the steps. What’s the plan?”
    “Merit and I will take positions here and here,” Ethan said, pointing at the columns. “Our goal is to keep Tate away from the cops and limit the amount of damage he causes.”
    “How are you going to do that?” Malik asked.
    “I’m still working on it,” Ethan said, eyes scanning the map.
    “I do have one small objection to the plan,” I said.
    “Which is?” Ethan asked.
    “Your participation. You aren’t going.”
    Luc and Malik instantly froze, and Ethan’s eyebrow perked upward. “I’m not going?”
    There was no denying I was afraid of the coming fight—Tate was a monster beyond all I’d had to fight before, and I didn’t even know of a way to fight him now—but fear wasn’t going to help me, and it certainly wasn’t going to help Ethan. I opted for logic, instead.
    “Protecting these cops might mean throwing ourselves in front of them. You can’t do that. And as Sentinel, I can’t let you do that. We’ve already lost you once, and the House is in too much political chaos for you to be at risk again. The House needs stability. They don’t need a Sentinel.”
    “And if I say no?”
    “My job is to protect this House, even if that means disagreeing with you.”
    Ethan sat back in his chair and pursed his lips.
    “Darius is on his way back for our interviews,” Malik added. “You can’t blow him off. Not right now.”
    Ethan kept his gaze on me. “Luc will join you.”
    I shook my head. “Luc needs to stay here in case this is a ploy so the Tates can get to the House.”
    “I’m not going to let you go out there on your own.”
    “I have backup.”
    His expression flattened. “Who?”
    This is business , I reminded myself, nothing else . “Jonah. He can meet me there. He’s skilled and strong. He’s not as good with a katana as you are, but he also doesn’t have a history with Tate.”
    Jonah did, of course, have a history with me . . . or he’d wanted to. That might make things more than a little awkward between us, but he was still my best option.
    My only option.
    Ethan looked at me for a moment, the tension in the room building as the interlude of silence grew longer.
    “Gentlemen, give us the room.”
    Malik moved to Ethan and whispered in his ear, but my senses were so tautly strung it was easy enough to discern the words.
    “What she says makes sense,” he whispered.
    Ethan nodded, and Malik followed Luc to the door.
    “There will be no heroics,” Ethan said when the room was empty again. “Do what you can to protect the officers and keep the public clear of Tate’s shenanigans. No heroics,” he repeated. “That is an order.”
    “I have no plans to the contrary.” That was half a lie. I didn’t want to be a hero,