AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She shouldn’t be here,” he said. “I realize you didn’t have any better options at the time, but her being here is problematic.”
“It is problematic,” my father said, then walked to the window and looked out, hands on his hips. He did that when he was trying to figure out an angle or a solution. “But I want her here.”
“Liege,” Kelley said, “I’m with the Ombudsman. It’s dangerous. If they figure out she’s here...”
“They may leave her be,” he said. “If Ruadan wants her out of the way, she is out of the way. She’s our problem now, which actually works for him.
“She’s dangerous,” he added. “No argument. But Chicago is disappearing before her eyes, and she’s tied to that magic somehow. I want her where I can see her.”
“I could overrule you,” Yuen said.
“You could try,” my father said. “And I mean that with all due respect. You could cite the deal with the city, and I could cite the sovereignty of this House.” He glanced around at the other vampires in the foyer. “We fight when we must, and render aid when we can. She will be guarded.”
A long moment passed, and then Yuen nodded. “Dearborn will be told you made an unassailable legal argument regarding the sovereignty of your House.”
My father smiled approvingly. “So I did.” Then he looked at Kelley. “Increase security outside the House. Double the guards.”
“Liege,” Kelley said with a nod.
“When Delia arrives, ask where she’d like to treat Claudia. Perhaps the guest suite or one of the empty Novitiate rooms would be best. Restrain her, and put two guards inside, another on the door.”
“And video feed into the Ops Room,” my mother said. “Just in case she gets creative with the magic.”
A corner of Kelley’s mouth lifted. “Sentinel,” she acknowledged.
“She wakes up, or stirs magic, or anyone disturbs the House, I want an immediate report.”
“Liege,” Kelley said again. “We’ll let you know when everything’s in place.”
“My office,” my father said, and we followed him down the hall.
TWENTY-ONE
“The fairies at the church?” Theo asked, when we were in my father’s office and the door was closed.
“In custody,” Yuen said. “They’re on their way to the brick factory, but for now are refusing to speak.”
“If they were willing to depose their queen, they’ll probably stay silent,” my father said.
Yuen nodded. “I suspect you’re right. But at least they’re two we won’t have to deal with at the immediate time.”
“What happened to the people?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” my mother asked.
“The parking lots around the United Center were empty, so there probably weren’t many people in the building,” I said. “But there might have been guards, maintenance staff. There was no one, not a single person, in the green land, at least the parts that we could see. What happened to them?”
“We’re thinking it’s a kind of phase shift,” Petra said. “The green land is a world of magic that exists in, for lack of a better term, a bubble. Outside our normal physical realm. The fairies want the green land here, which would require an immense amount of energy. They draw on the power of the ley lines, and they make the shift—they switch the green land for our world.”
“And, theoretically, Chicago goes into the bubble,” Yuen said.
“Exactly. An exchange of matter. When the United Center isreplaced, it pops into the bubble, along with anyone else who happened to be there at the time.”
“So, they’re alive,” I said, and felt a flood of relief.
“They’re alive,” Theo agreed, but I didn’t like his somber tone. “But their entire world is now the boundary of the United Center. No contact with our world, with those they loved.”
“Wait,” Yuen said, holding up a hand. “If the conjunction is in Grant Park, why did the green land appear at the United Center?”
