I glanced up.
Helen, the House liaison for new vampires and a den mother for the House, came into view. She was a taskmaster, and she was dressed for the part tonight in a boxy gray suit paired with sensible heels and classic X-shaped earrings that probably cost a fortune. Since she was staring down at me, I assumed she was here on a mission.
"Yes?" I prompted.
"Mr. Cabot is ready to speak with you. Please join him in the office." She didn't wait for a reply, but turned and walked back toward the door.
Ugh. Busted.
Helen was the type who ran only hot or cold, and offered no warning about which temperature might be in the pipes on any given day. She could fawn over a new pair of shoes one day and treat you like a stranger the next, barely acknowledging your existence. She was an odd duck, but since I didn't usual y interact with her, I didn't worry too much about it.
Frank, on the other hand, apparently used her as an errand girl.
I dropped my forehead to the library table, gearing myself up for a meeting I knew I wasn't going to enjoy. After a moment, I shut the book, then rose and scooted my chair beneath the table. I offered the librarian a nod as I passed him, then headed back to the stairs and Frank's first-floor abode.
Why did I do al those things? Because sometimes, especial y for vampires, drama was unavoidable. And on those days, a girl just had to suck it up.
For some reason, my favorite game as a child had been playing school. Except that I didn't pretend to teach a class or be a student. I played class administrator. I put GREAT
JOB! stickers on fake homework. I penned students' names and attendance records in old-fashioned class rol books. I organized papers into piles, including ticket stubs and hotel letterhead from my father's business trips.
I'm not sure why, but I loved paper and pens, markers and stamps, al manner of ephemera. As an adult, that translated into an appreciation for fancy pens and slick-papered notebooks. But as vast as my love of paper was, it was nothing compared to Frank's.
He'd fil ed Ethan's office with piles of paper. Trees would have wept from the sight. The sheer abundance made me wonder if Frank imagined the reams to be the source of some secret power - as if his ability to push paper (and stack it into tidy columns) were the keys to the Cadogan kingdom.
I was standing at the threshold, staring at the forest of white, when Frank waved me in from the conference table that fil ed the back half of the office.
He wasn't unattractive, but his features were aristocratical y pinched, like being born into wealth had sharpened them. His brown hair was short and careful y combed. He wore khakis and a tucked-in white dress shirt.
An expensive gold watch was wrapped around his right wrist. I guessed if I peeked under the table I'd find brown loafers with tassels on the top.
"Come in," Frank said. "Have a seat."
I did as I was told, taking the chair across from him. He didn't waste any time.
"You left the House this evening under order of the Captain of the Guards to investigate the" - he paused to look down at a sheet of paper on the table - "incident of Lake Michigan turning black?"
"Yes," I said. "Out of concern humans would automatical y blame the city's supernatural populations."
He just made a vague sound that indicated he found the notion ridiculous. "I understand Darius previously ordered you not to involve yourself in city affairs."
"It's not just a city affair if vampires are blamed," I pointed out. "And that dictate was issued before we lost another guard. The guard corps is short-staffed, and I'm next in SI of the of line to help out."
He made that sound again. "Merit, as you know, I've been tasked by the GP to evaluate the stability and sanctity of the House, both in terms of its financial accounting and its staff. In doing so, I'm interviewing every member of the House to better understand their roles." He shuffled through a few papers, then pul ed out a document to which a picture of me had been clipped.
He scanned it for a moment, then placed it back on the table and linked his fingers together on the tabletop.
"You stand Sentinel," he said. His voice carried the distinct impression of disapproval.
"I do."
"And you became a vampire in April of this year?"
"Yes." I saw no reason to elaborate.
"Mmm," he said. "And you were appointed Sentinel at your Commendation, after you'd been a vampire for a matter of, what, essential y a week?"
"Approximately."
"Were you in the armed services before you became Sentinel?"
He was asking questions to which he undoubtedly knew the answer. He wasn't confused about what I'd done prior to becoming Sentinel; he was gathering evidence of Ethan's mismanagement. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out a way around the game.
"I was not," I answered. "I was a graduate student working on my doctoral degree in English literature."
He frowned, feigning confusion. "But you serve as Sentinel - a warrior for the House. A protector. Surely Ethan would have fil ed the position with someone trained and ready to take on the chal enge?" Frank tilted his head, his brow stil furrowed, but a gleam of "Gotcha!" in his eyes.
And now it was time to elaborate . . . and throw back this farce he was perpetrating.
"I'm sure you've seen my file. I'm sure you know I'm rated a Very Strong Phys, a Strong Strat, and a Strong Psych because I can resist glamour. I was strong on the day I was made a vampire, and I've only become stronger since then.
I've been trained with a katana, I have political and financial connections throughout this city, and I'm strong enough to have bested Ethan in training. I'm wel educated and take seriously the oaths I gave to this House. What else would you have me do?"
"You aren't an infantryman. You aren't trained in combat."
"I'm the Sentinel of the House, charged with protecting the House as an entity. I am not captain of the House guards, and it's not my job to create military strategy. I fight only as a last resort, when al other options have failed. I find that people too wil ing to jump into the fray usual y have an ulterior motive for doing so."
Frank sat back in Ethan's chair, brow pinched as he considered his next tack. "Your ties to Mayor Tate did nothing to help this House."
"Mayor Tate was intent on using vampires for his own purposes. He created an empire of il egal drugs using the imprimatur of his office. There was nothing I could have done to stop that. But I discovered it, and I put an end to it.
And because of my work, he's no longer manufacturing drugs or using those drugs to control vampires."