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“What’s happened?”
“Cade,” Connor said. “He’s announced vampires are to blame for the Apex’s disappearance.”
“Because it happened at Cadogan House,” I guessed. “Not entirely surprising.”
“No, it isn’t. But according to him, the Ombuds, CPD, andvampires are part of a massive conspiracy intended to bring down the Pack by installing a puppet as Apex.”
That had me laughing aloud.
“Is that funny?” he asked, looking at me slowly, his voice a little more testy than it usually would be.
“I’m assuming you’re supposed to be the puppet. Which proves how little they know you. You are no puppet.”
He grunted, which I took for general agreement.
“What do your uncles say?”
He rolled his neck. “They’re walking a very careful line between telling me to do what’s best for the Pack and telling the interlopers, as you call them, to pound sand.”
“They’ve put you in the middle.” I reached out, took his hand. “I’m sorry about that.”
“I’m in the middle because I’m the prince,” he said. And there was no joy in it.
FIFTEEN
Connor dropped me off at the office. Theo and Petra were out of their seats as soon as I walked in.
“She’s all right?” they asked simultaneously, reinforcing the fact that I’d made the right call by joining this team.
“She’s fine. And she picked a very bad time to restart using the magic that she’s spent a very long time avoiding.”
“Is Mercury in retrograde?” Theo asked. “What the hell is going on right now?”
And the answer was so obvious I was embarrassed not to have thought of it. “Well, there’s a chaos demon in Chicago.”
Theo opened his mouth, closed it again. “You think the chaos demon made her start practicing again?”
“I think the chaos demon is throwing a lot of magic into the air, which means unusual things are happening.” And I didn’t like the implication that decisions we made were only the result of her magical whims. How could we ever be sure we were making our own decisions, and not just doing what she’d influenced us to do?
Roger stepped into the doorway. “The fairies?”
“Situation contained for now,” I said, and took a seat. The adrenaline was gone, and I was suddenly exhausted. “Lulu is freaked out and worried for her parents. Because this was portal magic, she decided the fairies had to be involved. So she confronted Claudia at the castle.”
Theo whistled low. “How’d you maneuver your way out of that one?”
“I took a Lulu fireball meant for Claudia. And yes, it hurt.”
“You need medical attention?” Roger asked, brow furrowed with worry.
“I’m already on the mend. I got Lulu out of there, and I think I defused the situation. I will be talking to Lulu at length later tonight.”
“Did you learn anything from Claudia?” Theo asked.
“I don’t think the fairies had anything to do with Cadogan House’s disappearance. Claudia was insistent fairies only have a connection to the green land. I tend to believe her. I don’t think she’s going to be playing around with portal magic for a while—or letting her people do it—given what happened the last time.”
“Could it be another rogue fairy?” Theo asked.
“Is it possible? Yes. But what’s the benefit to fae of sending Cadogan House somewhere else? That’s just negative attention on the entire group, with no obvious benefit. Claudia didn’t think a demon would need an accomplice. But we do have a bigger problem.”
