I stood up again and rolled the katana in my hand, its weight comforting even if it wasn't my own. I turned on the man, who'd rolled to a stop, but in the most inconvenient location - at the boots of the Apex predator of the North American Central Pack.
"I got this one, Kitten," Gabe said, his narrow-eyed gaze on the shifter before him.
I hoped the man had sense enough to stay down.
With a nod of acknowledgment, I set off at a run, katana before me, sirens finally ringing out behind me.
It was the fire department, I hoped, if I was still going to have a place to bed down before sunrise.
As I slashed at two more attacking shifters, I tried to quiet my mind enough to connect to Ethan. But although I called his name twice, then three times, I couldn't find him.
He wouldn't answer me back.
I made my way through marauders to the House's front gate, and found Luc there with two fairies, the three of them battling back the crowd of shifters who were trying to push through. Given the smoke, some must have made it, or else they'd snuck over the wall on other parts of the grounds.
"Luc!" I called out, giving an attacker a foot to the chin and watching him crumple.
Luc glanced around. "Sentinel, thank God. Some of them are humans, but I think the rest are shifters.
They attacked the House!"
I had to yell out over the din of sirens and clanging steel. "It was Adam! He had a plan - we'll talk about it later. Is everyone okay?"
"I don't know. We left Lacey at the back of the House with Lindsey. Ethan, Juliet, Kelley, and Malik are inside."
"Merit!" I glanced behind me. Catcher, Jeff, and my grandfather, his gait a little slower, moved toward us amongst the dark-clad cops who were finally beginning to emerge from cars and wrangle the perpetrators together.
That raised a good question: how in God's name were we going to explain this to the cops? I guessed that was my grandfather's department.
"Just worry about your duties," my grandfather said, as if anticipating the question. "Nick called and explained. We'll get this calmed down out here. You do what you need to do to keep your people safe." I nodded, then pointed a finger at Jeff. "You ready to fight?" He grinned wildly. "Damned skippy."
"Then let's do this."
We moved inside the gate, my borrowed katana in hand and a shifter at my side. They swarmed us as we entered - half of them bearing the electric sizzle of agitated shifters, but none of them in animal form.
"Why haven't they shifted?" I asked him, raising the katana and preparing to strike.
"Paparazzi," he said, which made sense. Jeff bounced on his heels, fists curled. It was an odd-looking position for the lanky computer programmer, but I knew Jeff could take care of himself.
And unlike the convocation, where we fought on different sides of the room, this time I got to watch.
While I fought off the perps on the right, Jeff took the left.
And he brought it.
It was like watching a monk do battle - complete calm in his expression and his eyes, but every move perfect, every move precise. He was a fantastic fighter, his strikes and kicks on target and his blocks perfectly timed to defend against the blows of his attackers. At one point, he caught my stunned gaze and offered back a cheeky grin.
"Sorry, babe. I'm taken."
I rolled my eyes and swung my katana, and together we fought back the army of people and shifters hell-bent on destroying our House. I'd taken down four attackers when I finally heard his answering call in my head.
Merit?
I said a silent thank-you to the universe. Ethan, where are you?
First floor. My office. Get here if you can. If not, find Malik and keep him safe.
My stomach sank. Malik was basically Ethan's vice president, the vampire charged with taking over the House if anything happened to Ethan. Had Ethan given up? Was he already trying to establish a line of succession?
I let out a curse that should have blistered Jeff's ears.
Stay where you are, I told him. I'm on my way.
Merit -
I am the Sentinel of this House, Ethan. It's my call.
That was met with silence.
"Jeff, Ethan's in trouble. I need to get inside. Can you find Malik and make sure he's okay?"
"Hands are full, Merit," he said, using a strike to the chest to push someone back. "Can you wait until we've secured the front yard?"
I glanced around, wondering how much longer that would take - and smiled.
I'd made the call, and the cavalry had arrived.
Six of them strode into the gate in black and red leather jackets, Noah at the front, five other vampires behind. Together, they looked like avenging angels, katanas bared, expressions fierce, ready to fight for vampirekind. Jonah wasn't among them, and I assumed he'd skipped the fight so he could maintain his anonymity as a member of the Red Guard.
Some of the tension left my shoulders at the sight of them.
Noah signaled that they'd take the outside perimeter. When I nodded my agreement, he began to bark orders to the rest of his crew. They broke formation and dispersed into the crowd.
"Merit - to your left!"
At Jeff's warning, I immediately threw up my katana to block the attack. The perp's blow was deflected, and Jeff's punch to the guy's kidneys brought him down.
"Fun, fun," he said, smiling down at his fallen prey.
"Yep," I said, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. "You and Fallon are gonna get along just fine." With that, I mounted the stairs and headed into the House.
Gray smoke was now spilling down from the second floor, vampires evacuating as firemen ran down the hallway, hoses in hand. One of them paused on his way up the stairs and lifted his hood. "Ma'am, you need to evacuate!"
"Vampire!" I yelled out. "I'm immortal."
He winked at me. "Grey House," he said, then flipped down his hood and proceeded up the stairs with his comrades.
"Carry on, my friend," I said, then hustled down the hallway to Ethan's office.
His suit coat was discarded, spots of blood and smears of smoke a sharp contrast against the white of his shirt. He stood at the back of the room, the office's velvet curtains now shredded and smoking behind him, a fan of four shifters in front of him.
But even the direness of the situation couldn't trump my relief at seeing him hearty and hale.
Need some help, Sullivan?
He scanned my body, looking for injuries. A look of relief crossed his face. Thank God, he said.
I offered him a smile before turning my attention to the shifters. "Aren't you kids a little outnumbered?" I asked. When they turned to look at me, Ethan took advantage of their distraction, sending two of them to the ground with lethal slashes. I edged around the other two, putting myself between them and Ethan.