“I was going to go to the library,” I said, but when I checked the clock, I realized dawn was approaching. “But the night has wasted away again.”

“I talked to Paige while you were gone, made your apologies.” He ran a hand through his tousled curls. “Frankly, Sentinel, I don’t think your being there would have made much of a difference. She’s stuck, too. Said the equations still aren’t making sense. At least you got a new location tonight. Not that that helps with the scope of our problem. Just increases it.”

“I’ve asked Catcher to spread the word among the sups, have them alert us if someone finds more alchemy.”

Luc nodded. “That’s something, but Chicago’s an enormous city.”

“We need to tell the Houses.”

“They’ve got the basics,” he said. “Wouldn’t have been fair to keep the information about the alchemy from them. But requesting they jump in? Yeah. I mean, they aren’t Cadogan House—more Hufflepuff to our Gryffindor—but we could use the extra bodies.”

I just stared at him. “Harry Potter? Really?”

“Those books are quality, Sentinel. You should read them.”

He said it like he was the first person to discover the books, to realize they were good. I decided not to mention my first editions.

“I’ll make a note of it,” I said. “Oh, and Annabelle saw the sorcerer.” I passed along the minimal details she’d been able to see, my curiosity about the man at La Douleur.

“Lots of vampires wear suits.”

“I know. Ethan said the same thing.” Suddenly exhausted, I rose. “I’m going upstairs.”

“Get Ethan on the right track,” Luc said. “You’ll both feel a lot better.”

“Bang his brains out,” Lindsey offered helpfully from the other side of the room.

Luc shook his head. “Apologies, Sentinel. My girlfriend is crude.”

“And you love it,” she said.

From his wide smile, I guessed she was right.

“Good luck, Sentinel,” Luc said. “Our wands are up for you.”

I didn’t think that quite sounded the way he’d meant it to.

• • •

When I walked into our apartments, Ethan stood at his bureau. If circumstances had been different, I’d have teased him about Mallory, the fact that she now knew about the maybe-baby. That would raise the specter of baby showers, cribs, and godparents, which would have flustered him to my amusement.

But that’s not where we were. Not right then.

I took off my clothes, washed my face, and slid into pajamas. He did the same, sat down on his side of the bed just as I’d sat down on mine. The wall was invisible, but it was there. “They know of the meeting at dusk?”

“They do,” I said, turning off the bedside light and slipping my feet under cool sheets.

“Good. Perhaps we can make progress. Perhaps we’ll all feel better if we make progress.”

I wasn’t sure if he meant himself or me or both of us. Either way, the sun rose before I could ask the question.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DRY ERASE MAGIC

Our dusk meeting would actually begin an hour after dusk to give everyone time to get to Cadogan House. Preparations were well under way when I headed downstairs. Luc was updating the whiteboard while Margot set out bottles of water and a tray of snacks. Ethan talked with Malik near the bookshelves on the left-hand side of the room, away from the flurry of activity.

I joined them, dressed in leathers and black boots.

“Sentinel,” Ethan said, a question in his eyes—Are we still fighting? Since we hadn’t reached an accord, and he hadn’t even lingered in the apartments long enough to say good evening, I couldn’t see how the answer was anything but yes. But I wasn’t going to drag everyone into it.

“Did Luc talk to you about inviting Morgan and Scott?” I asked Ethan.

“He did, and they’ll be here. He also suggested we invite Gabriel.”

Talk about fighting fire with fire. “And did you?”

“I put in a call,” Malik said. “It hasn’t yet been returned.”

So Gabriel was angry, too. Reed was turning the city’s supernaturals into a seething cauldron of frustration, Cadogan House included.

Malik’s phone beeped, and he checked the screen, smiled. “Excuse me. I need to grab this. It’s Aaliyah.”

That was Malik’s wife.

“Of course,” Ethan said.

As Malik walked away, lifting the phone to his ear, Ethan settled his gaze on me. “Good evening.”

“Good evening.”

We managed that much, then just looked at each other.

“Your father called,” Ethan said carefully. “He wanted to be sure you’d gotten home all right after the incident at the Garden. He also wanted to let us know that Reed asked Robert to submit a proposal to manage the Towerline building.”

So Reed would own the building, and Merit Properties would manage it. That could be a very lucrative contract, if it was really about the money. But it undoubtedly wasn’t. “He’s trying to suck them in again. Reed and my family.”

“To get to them, to you, and to me. Yes.” Ethan studied me. “Your father wants a chance at him, Merit. He knows he’s being used as a pawn, and he wants to help take Reed down.”

I stiffened. “He’s not equipped to go up against Reed. His best bet would be to tell Robert the truth.”

“Which, as you know, would only tip off Reed and possibly incite him further.”

“Damned if we do, damned if we don’t. What did you tell him?”

Ethan paused, looked at me. “Nothing. Yet.”

The most frustrating answer. It neither told me what he’d do nor agreed to keep my father out of it.

“You aren’t making this easy,” I said.

“War is never easy. A soldier knows that better than most.”

I looked up at him, surprised by the grimness in his voice. “Is that what this is? War?” I was asking about both of us—about us and Reed, me and Ethan.

“Reed believes it is, so we will treat it as such.”

And use the weapons at our disposal, I thought, whatever the consequences.