Demon Night

given her a second to get back into the house; a dagger might have let her get away once the vampire got hold of her.”
    “All right.” Jake was silent for a moment, then he looked up at Ethan with a startled lift of his brows. “That’s it?”
    Ethan frowned. “You want me to lay my fists into you? I’m willing.”
    “No. No, I just—” Jake shook his head. He turned back to the computer. “Charlie’s debit card is showing a purchase at a 7-Eleven, and a pending charge at a motel in Woodland.”
    “You see that she’s reimbursed for that.” Ethan leaned down to look at the name of the motel, and nodded. “All right then. You got anything else in?”
    “No, but I checked your inbox, and Savi sent you some preliminary info on Senator and Mark Brandt. She flagged one part—said she didn’t know if it mattered, but Mark Brandt works for Senator Gerath.”
    Ethan remembered the younger Brandt mentioning that, but it hadn’t meant anything to him then, either. “Why the flag?”
    “Because Gerath is on the closed-door senatorial committee that formed SI. The same committee that Rael, our friendly demon congressman, had to testify in front of before they approved funding.” Jake pulled up a document on-screen. “And look here: the elder Brandt was firmly against the research contract that Congressman Stafford—Rael—pushed through for Legion about six months ago, though Brandt supported a similar contract two years previous.”
    Ethan read through the page, and remembered the senator’s comment about Legion’s money not being the kind he wanted. At the time, Ethan had thought it political bluster—but Brandt, Gerath, and the demon Rael all belonged to the same party.
    With a narrowing of his eyes, Ethan said, “So maybe young Brandt has been breaking confidence as legal counsel to Gerath, telling his father about Special Investigations, what’s going on here. And Senator Brandt maybe knows that Stafford is a demon, and—considering that he’s connected to Legion—was against the contract to keep from funding demon activity.”
    “That’s my guess,” Jake said.
    “So how does Jane Newcomb fit? What were they trying to accomplish by contacting her?”
    “You don’t think it was just the son looking up an old flame?”
    “Oh, he was partial to her—but the father was pushing him, too. And the coincidence is just too damn big.” Ethan stepped back, shook his head again. The senator was trying to block Legion; normally, Ethan would have approved. But something just wasn’t sitting right. “You forward this on to Castleford and Lilith, I’ll ask her to feel out Rael about Brandt and Gerath.”
    “Done. Are you heading back up to Seattle?” Jake slipped the question in above the clacking of the keys.
    “Only to Woodland. I’ll be stopping at the Gate, visiting Caelum first.” And getting himself as clear as he could; Charlie would be feeding from him later that night, and she’d be hungry. The bloodlust would hit hard—he didn’t want to go to her without a few hours of drifting. “You’re wondering if you’re going back with me.”
    “Yes.”
    “No. Not today, leastwise,” he said when Jake’s shoulders slumped. “I’ll be bringing Charlie on down. So I’d be grateful if you could ready one of the rooms upstairs—I figure SI is the safest location until I can get her settled elsewhere.”
    Ethan ignored Jake’s wide-eyed stare. The rooms were small and utilitarian—more to give novices time alone than for living in. In some cases, however, they’d been used as temporary lodging for vampires who were visiting or undergoing training. “I’ve got her things,” Ethan added, “but maybe you could order flowers or something pretty to put in there.”
    Jake turned back to the computer with a wide grin, and a moment later the screen filled with a webpage advertising flower delivery. “Right. A room for Jane, too?”
    “If you want to order two bouquets, go on ahead. But I reckon it’ll only be Charlie.”
    Jake blinked up at him. “Why?”
    “Because Sammael helped me when she told him to—and because she loves him almost as hard as she does Charlie. And Sammael is twisted in his thinking, but he ain’t a fool—he knows what matters to her. I figure she’ll convince herself that discovering a blood substitute will save her sister long before Sammael gets a chance to do the same—and she’ll believe that Sammael will change for her.”
    “You’re