***
Cadogan House. Several graceful stories of white stone in the middle of grounds large enough to be a park, albeit one surrounded by a tall iron fence.
The House was accessible only through the narrow gate where guards stood duty twenty-four hours a day. Humans when the sun was high, vampires when the world was dark. Two guards, katanas belted at their sides, watched warily as I approached. And relaxed a little when they realized who I was.
“Elisa Sullivan,” I said, when I reached them. “I’m here to see my parents.”
“Of course,” the guard said, and the gates whirred open.
I walked down the familiar sidewalk, where I’d once attempted to draw princesses fighting dragons with chalk. Inside, I found a second guard beaming at the small reception desk tucked into the grand foyer.
“Ms. Sullivan,” said the vampire, a female I didn’t recognize. “Welcome back to Cadogan House. Your parents arrived a short time ago, and they’re in your father’s office. You’re welcome to join them.”
“Thanks,” I said, with a smile I tried to make pleasant.
Below me, down several feet and through layers of wood and concrete and tile, my mother’s sword—steel and leather and gleaming scabbard—beckoned to the monster. And it seemed louder than the last time I’d been here.
It was the sword used to bring down the Egregore. The sword that now held some portion of its essence, and called to my monster with a power that scared me, that tugged at some thread deep inside my body. And threatened my control.
No,I told the monster.Don’t even think about it.And sent a clear image of what would happen if it tried to take control while we were in Cadogan House. It would be identified and rooted out, and we’d see which of us survived.
That must have done the trick, because it settled down.
I walked down the hallway, thickly carpeted and painted in pretty pale colors, to my father’s office. He sat at his desk in his usual business attire while my mother, her long dark hair flowing down her back, stared through the windows that took up the opposite side of the room.
At the sound of my footsteps, or their sensing me, they both lifted their heads, met my gaze.
“Parental units,” I said with a smile, and was surrounded by embracing arms when I’d barely crossed the threshold.
“Okay,” I said after I’d judged they’d gotten their fill of reassurance, “now you’re being suffocating.”
I pulled back, and still my mother touched my hair, my father squeezed my hand, ensuring themselves that I was safe and whole.
“It’s good to see you,” my father said. “We’ve been worried.”
“You didn’t have to worry,” I said.
His stare was bland. “Let’s go sit,” he said and gestured toward the seating area across from his desk. Leather couches and chairs that surrounded a glass coffee table and had been the site of innumerable meetings with Sups and mildly rebellious daughters—me and Lulu both.
We took seats, and I jumped into business.
“Have you talked to Nicole again?”
“Unfortunately,” Dad said, “we haven’t been able to reach her.”
That set off alarm bells. “Why not? Where is she?”
“According to her admin, she’s in New York, meeting with the Masters in that city.”
“That seems convenient,” I said. Was she trying to avoid us, or had the Compliance Bureau been trying to avoid her?
“The visit has been planned for months,” my father said dryly. “The admin assures us our messages have been forwarded, and Nicole will be in touch regarding our ‘concerns’ as soon as her schedule allows.”
Nicole and my parents had been opponents when the AAM was founded, but they’d only had positive things to say about her leadership since then. I hadn’t met her, but that she was steady and reasonable was the sense I’d gotten from them. I didn’t think she’d have ignored the murder of an AAM vampire to focus on administrative issues.
“You didn’t tell the admin everything,” I surmised.
“No,” he said. “The admin either has no idea what’s going on here or is doing a very good job of hiding it.”