She nodded.
"Crap, Linds."
"Yeah, crap." When she looked back at me, a tear slid down her cheek. She wiped it away nonchalantly, but there was no mistaking the guilt in her eyes.
"This thing with Connor - was it a fling? Just because you'd had a really long night?"
"I don't know what it is. That's kind of my problem. I'm just - I don't know - I'm not ready to be in some big" - she swirled her hands in the air - "committed relationship thing."
"Not ready? You're over a century old."
"That is so not the point. Look, Luc and I met a long, long time ago. He had a girlfriend; I had a beau. He's hot, sure. Obviously he's hot. But we started off friends, and I'd just rather we stay friends than become some kind of mortal enemies."
I gave her a dubious look. "How could you and Luc become mortal enemies? I'm not sure he even has mortal enemies. Well, other than Celina. And Peter."
"Definitely Peter," she agreed, then shrugged.
"I don't know. It's just - immortality is a long time. I could be alive a long time, and I'm having a hard time imagining only one guy being a part of that."
My sword in hand, I stood up, moved to the bed, and sat down beside her. "So bottom line is, no big commitment thing right now."
"Yeah," she said sadly.
I hated that for both of them - her for the guilt, him for the heartache. "So what are you going to do?"
"What can I do? Break his heart? Tell him I'm not interested in settling down?" She flopped back on the bed. "This is why I avoided it for so long. Because he's my boss, and if we tried it and it didn't work - "
"It was that much more awkward for everyone."
"Precisely."
We sat there quietly for a moment.
"So, how about them Cubbies?" she finally asked, fake cheer in her voice.
"Name one current Cubs player."
"Um, that hot one with the broad shoulders and the soul patch?"
"And that's what I get for being friends with a damn Yankees fan."
"I am useless," she muttered, then pulled a pillow over her face. A muffled, frustrated scream escaped it.
"You're not useless. Hey, if nothing else, you're one of the top ten hotties in Cadogan House, right? I'd put you at least in the top three."
She lifted a corner of the pillow and blew hair from her face. "Really?"
"Really."
She smiled a little. "You're the best Sentinel ever."
Yeah, sometimes I wondered.
Luc and Ethan met me on the first floor again.
"You've got your phone in case you need us?"
"I do," I assured him, patting my jacket pocket. "If the cops didn't find anything at his house, he probably won't be territorial enough to start anything. But I will definitely call you if the need arises. Don't worry - "
"She rather likes being alive," Ethan finished for me.
"I do," I said with a smile.
"Keep an eye out for accomplices," Luc offered. "If he's truly clean, someone must be doing the dirty work for him. They could be on alert after the CPD sweep."
"It's also possible he changed protocols afterwards," Ethan said.
"I'll get a good look before I go in. He knows he's on the watch list, so he probably won't be that surprised to see me. The bigger question is - if I find him, what do I do with him?"
Ethan arched a suspicious eyebrow.
"I'm not suggesting homicide," I explained.
"But if the CPD couldn't find anything, it's not like I could bring him in."
"Just get the information you can," Ethan said, "and stay safe. Don't worry about engaging him.
We know where he is and how to find him."
"At least until he bolts," Luc said.
"And do be back in time for dinner," Ethan reminded me.
"I remember. I'll even be back in time to clean up and dress respectably." I had to - I was heading into a meeting with three House Masters and the head of the GP. There's no way I was going in there without being dolled up.
Ethan smiled back. "That would be much appreciated."
At the sound of footsteps on the hardwood floors, we all turned around. Malik stood at the edge of the hallway, his expression wan.
"Darius is on the phone," he announced.
"He'd like to speak to us."
Luc and Ethan exchanged a glance that made me nervous, even though it was one of those looks that commanding officers share so they don't have to speak the words aloud and freak out the soldiers. "My office," Ethan said, then glanced at me. "Work your magic, Sentinel - and close this thing down." He followed Malik back down the hallway, and they both disappeared into Ethan's office.
I glanced at Luc. "You wanna walk me to my car?"
"Happy to."
I led the way down the sidewalk to the Cadogan gate. As per usual, two fairies stood at attention as we passed, but this time, one of them was a girl. She had the same straight, dark hair as the male mercenaries, and her face was sculpted and gaunt in a European supermodel kind of way. She also wore the same black ensemble as her counterpart and gave me the same look of disinterest as I passed.
"Have the mercenary fairies gone egalitarian?"
I asked Luc as we headed down the street, ignoring the screams of the protesters. There were more camped out this evening, probably because of the morning's news report, and they led with the new classic: "No more vampires. No more vampires."
"Apparently we'd previously had male fairies because no women applied for the job. She did."
"What's her name?"
"Not a clue," Luc said. "I don't even know the names of the guys who stand there, and we've had the mercs on contract for years. They prefer to stay professional."
We walked past a boxy sedan parked across the street from the House. Both guys in the front seat munched on sandwiches. Binoculars and paper coffee cups were stashed on the dashboard. I assumed those were our cops.
"Not exactly subtle, are they?" I murmured to Luc.
"About as subtle as vampires on V."
"Ouch."
"Too soon?"
"Let's wait until we aren't under threat of indictment." And speaking of uncomfortable topics, "About Lindsey . . ."
"She's killin' me, Sentinel."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"I saw her kiss him."
"Honestly? I don't think she has feelings for Connor. I just don't think she's ready to settle down."