Dark Debt: A Chicagoland Vampires Novel
Chloe Neill
Language: English
Pages: 400
ISBN: 0451472322
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
At an exclusive society soiree attended by the upper echelons of the human and supernatural worlds, Merit and Ethan barely stop the assassination of a guest. When the target turns out to be a shady businessman with a criminal edge, Merit suspects a human vendetta. But the assassins have fangs....
The connections to Chicago's Houses go deeper than Merit knows, and even one wrong move could be her last....
bubble, even if it would normally have been fine—still lifted a clammy sweat at the back of my neck. Another score for Balthasar. * * * They left us alone, but the apartments were still crowded with emotion, with memories, with the repercussions of what Balthasar had done. Ethan’s fury had faded, replaced by grief. “I am so sorry this happened. I wouldn’t have had you know him, Merit. Not like this, not ever like this, or any other way.” “I know.” “There is such childishness in his
agreed. “But more likely, he’d simply have refused to talk. The Circle does not continue to exist because its members snitch, and I’d surmise there are serious punishments for those who break the rules. Likely rewards for those who stay quiet. The CPD will have blood from the dagger, fingerprints from the Taser. That will likely give them as much as they might have gotten out of the man.” I nodded. “That helps. Thanks.” “Anytime, Sentinel.” I caught a glint of something in the grass, stopped,
not asked about screams, about blood, about midnight activities. Not when need was great, and happiness was in short supply.” “You escaped?” Ethan asked. Balthasar laughed, the sound like rough whiskey. “Nothing as romantic as that. The humans and their ancestors grew tired of caring for me, and they discarded me at an abbey in Walford. They either were gracious enough not to kill me, or believed I was nearly dead and the trouble would have been wasted. “The abbey was a fortunate choice. The
was a powerboat, something a family might use for skiing on a day at the lake. A seat for the captain behind a control panel and short windshield, a seat beside for a passenger, a line of cushions across the back. Nothing fancy, but the outboard engine looked serviceable enough. I hopped down onto plastic carpeting, the boat swaying beneath me. I hadn’t been on a boat in a very long time. Hell of a time for a reunion. I sat down in the captain’s chair, checked the relatively simple
injuries at the moment. Accident with a throwing star.” Ethan glanced at me, grimaced. “Oh, that sounds unfortunate.” I nodded. “It was. And bloody. I’d like to get some of those stars.” “I’ll see what I can do.” Reed’s lip curled at the comment and the byplay, but only for an instant. However dangerous he might have been, he was very well schooled at masking his emotions, playing the businessman. It was an attribute a vampire could appreciate. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “In