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Ethan nodded, and we took the stairs to the first floor.
"You did good," he quietly said, as we rounded the corner toward his office.
I nodded my thanks. Luc met us in the hallway, having driven back to the House with Lindsey, just as Ethan pushed forward into his office.
The room was full of vampires and shifters.
Nick, in gray trousers and a slinky black polo, stood with his father just inside the door.
He ignored me, but cast a dubious glance around the office. "I didn't know bloodsucking paid so well."
"Said the man who resorted to extortion to deal with his family problems," Ethan pointed out.
Headache or not, I bit back a grin. Who knew he had it in him?
"Have a seat, gentlemen," Ethan said, extending his hand toward the conference table.
Scott, Noah, and Morgan were already there. After the Brecks made their way to the end of the room and took seats opposite the vampires, Ethan took his chair at the head of the table. Luc, Malik, and I followed, and stayed standing.
"Thank you all for agreeing to gather together," Ethan said. "As Malik has no doubt explained to you, we have identified and nullified the supposed threat against Jamie Breckenridge." He glanced at Papa Breck, whose features were pulled into a confused frown. "A vampire in our House fell under the influence of a supernatural with a less than stellar reputation. In so doing, he was convinced to issue a false threat against Jamie, while at the same time warning us of a threat by the Breckenridges against us."
Ethan paused, then clasped his hands together on the table, interlacing his fingers. "His intent, we understand, was to foster animosity between vampires and shifters."
I had to give it to the Brecks. They didn't even blink an eyelash at the fact that they'd been outed.
"Thanks to the efforts of our guards corps and our Sentinel, we were able to detain the vampire," Ethan continued. "He has been excommunicated and is currently on his way to the U.K. for sentencing, as is our way. I want to stress that there is no indication that anyone, vampire or otherwise, Cadogan House or otherwise, intended to follow through with the threat against Jamie. Nevertheless, whether real or not, this threat has been neutralized."
"Who?" Nick asked. "Who made the threat, and who gave the order?"
Ethan arched an imperious eyebrow at Nick, who managed, impressively, to give back an equally stubborn look. "Sullivan, you can't think that I'm going to simply take your word on this and walk away. Not after what my family's been through."
"Then perhaps," Ethan said, "we could reach a compromise."
Silence, then, "I'm listening."
"The information regarding both the perpetrator and the individual we believe issued the orders is very precious to us." He linked his fingers together on the table, then glanced up at Nick. "That said, in the interest of goodwill between our respective organizations, we are willing to consider a trade. We will provide this information to you, upon your word that this information does not leave the room. That the information would not be provided to other shifters, other humans, advisors, officials, etc. Nor, of course, would it be provided to the press in any form."
Nick barked out a laugh and looked away before raising his gaze to Ethan's again."I'm a journalist. Do you honestly expect me to agree to that?"
"I expect that if you agree to that, we will have no need to further investigate why the Breckenridges generally, and Jamie specifically, were targeted for this particular incident. We will have no reason," Ethan said, "to further investigate why your family was so eager to jump to young Jamie's defense."
Nick's nostrils flared. Clearly, even if we didn't know the details, something was amiss with Jamie. "Blackmail, Sullivan?"
Ethan smiled back at Nick, with teeth. "I learn from the best, Breckenridge."
There was silence in the room.
"Agreed," Papa Breck said into the silence, "on the terms you specified." When Nick opened his mouth to speak, Papa Breck silenced him with a finger. "We will close this down, Nicholas," he said. "We will close it down, and we will close it down tonight. We have lived peacefully in Chicago for three generations, and while I love you, I will not allow your pride as a journalist to bring that to an end. Family wins this one, not career."
He returned his gaze to Ethan. "This is done."
Ethan nodded. "In that case, we are all witnesses to the terms of the agreement that we have reached."
There were nods around the room.
"Before we end this ridiculous lovefest," Nick said, sarcasm thick in his voice, "could we get to the meat of it? Who sent the e-mail?"
Ethan looked at him. "Peter," he said. "One of our House guards. As to the instigator, we have circumstantial evidence, albeit only circumstantial at this point, that the scheme itself was concocted by Celina."
"Celina?" Nick asked, eyes suddenly wide. I gave him points that he understood having Celina as an enemy was a cause for concern. "How did - "
"She was released," Ethan smoothly finished. "And in light of the fact that she has unfinished business" - he bobbed his head toward me - "we expect that she will return to Chicago. We have, however, no evidence that she bears any particular ill will toward your family. You appear to have been chosen because you were, let's say, strategically convenient."
"What evidence do you have that she's involved?" Scott asked, his head tilted curiously to the side.
"E-mails were sent from an address we believe to be her alias. And Peter confessed to the fact," he matter-of-factly added.
Scott made a low whistle. "This does not bode well. Not well at all."
The room went silent. Morgan, surprisingly, kept quiet, but a glance in his direction showed an abnormally pale cast to his cheeks. His eyes were wide, his gaze intense and centered on the tabletop in front of him, as if he contemplated grave things. I supposed more crimes perpetrated by your former Master, the vampire that made you, were pretty grave things to contemplate.
"Well," Papa Breck said, rising from his chair, "I believe that concludes this matter."
Nick interrupted the silence. "Wait - I want to say something."
We all looked in his direction.
"Chicago has three Houses," he said. "More than any other city in the United States. It is where vampires announced their existence to the world, and it is becoming the center of vampire activity in the United States. Chicago is the locus, the focus, of American vampires.
