"Business partner close or...?"
"Touchy-feely close," Lindsey said. "And that was unfortunate."
I didn't disagree. Something twinged in my chest at the thought of Ethan being touchy-feely with anyone, and that was despite the fact that I'd been a firsthand witness to the act. Nevertheless, I asked, "Why unfortunate?"
Linds frowned, seemed to consider the question as she stirred her oatmeal.
"Because Lacey Sheridan was picture-perfect," she finally said. "Tall, thin, blond hair, blue eyes. Always respectful, always acquiescent. 'Yes, Liege,' 'No, Liege.' She always wore the right thing, looked like she'd stepped out of an Ann Taylor catalog. Always said the right thing. It was unnatural. She was probably barely human even when she was one."
"Ethan must have been crazy about her," I said, thinking she was the kind of woman he'd prefer to prefer. Elegant. Classy. And, I thought, as I nipped the end of a strip of bacon, acquiescent.
Lindsey nodded. " 'Crazy' is the word for it. He loved her, I think. In his way."
I looked up at her, bacon halfway toward its vampiric end. "You're serious?"
I couldn't imagine Ethan in love, Ethan letting his guard down. I wouldn't have figured him capable of trusting someone enough to let the man inside him peek through.
Well, except for those weird few moments with me, and he never seemed happy about those.
"Aspen-stake serious," Lindsey said. "When he realized how strong she was - she's rated a Very Strong Psych - he took her under his wing. After that, they were constantly together." She ate another spoonful of oatmeal. "They were like... arctic bookends, like some Nordic fairy couple. They were beautiful together, but" - Lindsey shook her head - "she was all wrong for him."
"Why's that?"
"Ethan needs someone different than that. He needs a girl who'll stand up to him, who'll challenge him. Someone to make him better, more. Not someone who'll kiss his ass twenty-four/seven and bow to every little suggestion he makes."
She eyed me speculatively.
I caught the glimmer in her eyes, shook my head. "Don't even think it. He hates me, I hate him, and acknowledging that's the only way we stand to work together."
Lindsey snorted and grabbed a strip of my bacon. "If you hate him, I'll eat my napkin.
And he may hate you, but that's only skin-deep. That's only the surface." She took a bite, shook her head, and waved at me with the rest of it. "No. There's more to him than meets the eye, Merit. I know it. There's heat beneath the chill. He just needs...reforming."
I made an impatient gesture. "So tell me more about Lacey."
"She had friends here, still does, but I thought she was cold. Arrogant. She's a Weak Physical, but a Very Strong Strat. She's political through and through. Maneuvering.
She always came off as vaguely friendly, but like she was a politician on a campaign stop, like she was going through the motions." Lindsey paused, looked contemplative, and her voice softened. "She wasn't kind, Merit. The guards hated her."
"Because of her attitude?"
"Well, yeah, in part. Look, Ethan rules the House, so he's kind of... separate from the rest of us. And honestly, I'd say the same thing about you. Folks are suspicious about how you made the Sentinel short list, about your family. You're completely na?ve about vamps, and yet you've got this historically important position, and although you're kind of a guard, you're closer to him than the rest of Luc's corps."
I grumbled at that, downed the bacon.
"It's not like I think you two are doing it," she said, but she paused, apparently waiting for confirmation.
"We are not 'doing it,' " I said dryly and jammed the little plastic straw into my chocolate milk box. It bore the brunt of the aggression that question always aroused. Tasty, though.
"Just checking," Lindsey said, hands raised in detente. "And if it helps, they'll get over it once they get to know you." She grinned at me, winged up her eyebrows. "I did. Of course, I have excellent taste in friends, but whatever. Not the point. The point is, Lacey was different. Not like us. She was the classic teacher's pet - wanted to be near Luc, near Ethan, near Malik, constantly near the source of authority. She didn't hang with us, didn't work well with us. But," she said, bobbing her head, "even if she was fake, she was really, really good. Always analyzing. Strategizing. She was a guard, and while she couldn't have fought off a wet cat, she had the mind for it. Planning. Long-term ramifications. Future steps."
My next question probably belied my feigned lack of interest. "Why did they break up?"
"He and Lacey? They stopped seeing each other after Testing, when she came back to Cadogan to Apprentice, to get ready for her own House. Word was, it was important to him that they stay professional while she trained. Too much at stake, ha ha, to spend time gazing into each other's eyes."
"He wouldn't care for the emotional interruption," I agreed.
"I've heard he flies out to San Diego occasionally to, what, copulate?" She nodded, grinned. "Yeah. I bet he'd put it like that. Very formal. He and Lacey probably mapped out a contract, probably negotiated terms."
"Hmm." I spared myself the embarrassment of considering, exactly, the terms they'd negotiated.
I glanced up, noticed that Malik had walked into the cafeteria. He nodded at me, then made for the buffet line.
Malik - tall, caramel-skinned, handsome, and quiet - was a mystery. In the two months I'd been a member of Cadogan House, I'd had approximately three conversations with him. As Ethan's Second they shared the bond of House leadership, but they rarely ventured off campus together in order to protect the line of succession should someone make an attempt on Ethan's life. I had the sense he played the part of CEO and understudy, learning how the House worked, how to manage it, administering the details while Ethan played Chairman of the Board. But I still hadn't gotten a feel for Malik as a vampire. As a man. The vamps who were obviously well-intentioned - Luc and Lindsey came to mind - were easy to spot, as were the overtly strategic ones -
Ethan and Celina. But Malik was so reserved that I wasn't sure where he fit in. Where his allegiances lay.
Of course, he and Ethan did have one thing in common - excellent taste in Armani.
Malik wore a suit as crisp and pristine as Ethan's usually were.
I watched him move through the line, but his eyes were on the vampires around him. He was all business around Ethan - at least when I'd seen them together - but he was downright friendly with the other Cadogan vamps. They approached him as he selected his breakfast, said hello, chatted. Interestingly, while the other Cadogan vamps tended to give Ethan a kind of respectful distance, they went to Malik. Talked to him, joked with him, shared a camaraderie they didn't afford their Master.