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“There hasn’t been a gathering of vampires this large in many, many years,” my father said. “Perhaps the fairies saw it as a threat.”
My mother frowned. “But why not say something during the planning phase, or attack during the reception, or attempt to prevent the meeting in the first place?”
My father nodded. “The fairies have always been self-centered, but this was unusually specific. Like they’d only figured out our villainous plan tonight.”
“Perhaps the scale of the issue is larger,” Yuen said. “Their magic is fading again.” He glanced at me. “You know about Sorcha? The Egregore?”
The word thrummed through me like a plucked string on a cello.
“I know,” I managed, squeezing the words through tight lungs.
“Two decades have passed since magic was spilled over the city,” Yuen said, “and it has largely dispersed. Chicago is nearly at level again, from a magical standpoint. Concern that they’ll fade away again may have triggered their sudden interest—and the fear they’ll be pushed aside by vampires.”
“What about Ruadan?” I asked.
“We don’t know much about him,” Yuen said. “From what we understand, he’s twenty-two or twenty-three, born after Sorcha’s attack. There were several dozen fairies born in that timeframe, and we believe this was the first time fairies conceived children in the United States.”
“How old is Claudia?” I asked, thinking of Ruadan’s interest in her, romantic or otherwise.
“Older than me,” my father said with a glint in his eye, reminding me that he had been nearly four hundred and my mother twenty-eight when they’d gotten together. I didn’t want to think too closely about that.
“She looked older tonight than I’d seen her before,” I said. “Worn around the edges.”
“I thought so, too,” my mother agreed. “Not by a lot, but noticeably.”
Yuen looked at my father. “What is next, do you think?”
My father rubbed his temples. “I don’t know. They seemed satisfied by what we offered today, and that was little enough. If they believe we’re engaged in some sort of fanged conspiracy, I don’t know what we could really do to appease them.”
“They’ll want seats again tomorrow,” Yuen said, and my father rolled his eyes.
“I’m sure you’re right. I’m inclined to let them in again to maintain the peace, but that’s not helping the negotiations.”
“And tonight?” Yuen asked.
I’d nearly forgotten: Cadogan House was hosting a party for the delegates. It would be fancy, since that was my father’s style. And there would be food and music, since that was my mother’s. Question was, Would there also be violence?
“We could cancel,” my mother said, glancing at my father, but he shook his head.
“We won’t be cowed by violence, threatened or perceived. That wouldn’t serve Chicago or the purpose of these talks. We’llincrease security. And make everyone aware that the fairies aren’t above using magic to get their way.” He looked at Yuen. “I’ll be communicating with Kelley and the rest of my team as soon as we leave here.”
Kelley was the head of Cadogan’s guards.
Yuen nodded. “Very well. Then I’ll leave you to your preparations, and get a report to Dearborn.”
“He’s going to be angry,” my father said, but looked more amused by the possibility than disturbed. “He won’t care that his promotional opportunity has gone south.”
Yuen smiled. “We know who did the actual work in arranging this particular opportunity. But if the result is good, he won’t care much about the details of how that came to be.”
My father smiled, appreciating his dry tone. “You have a solid sense of him.”
“I am well aware that part of my job is managing Dearborn’s expectations,” Yuen said. “And for all our sakes, I hope the result is good.”
SIX
We had three hours until the Cadogan party, and I wasn’t needed until it was time to escort the French delegation to my parents’ House in Hyde Park.
I was trying not to think of the magic that awaited me, so I confirmed Lulu was still where she said she’d be, and took an Auto to Ukrainian Village.
