“It’s unlikely Gabriel will accept the offer,” Ethan said. “But we make the offer because it’s the right thing to do. It’s easy to be an asshole.” He smiled, but there wasn’t much happiness in it. “And harder to do the right thing. We do it anyway.”

“Aye, aye, boss. We’ll get some bracelets to the men on the gate.”

Ethan looked at Catcher. “The nymphs? The fairies?”

The city’s mercenary fairies weren’t exactly our allies anymore. All the more reason to ensure that they weren’t suited up as soldiers for Reed.

“We’ve gotten the word out. Told the Order, too. And Annabelle.”

“Good,” Ethan said. “There will be some we can’t reach. But the fewer supernaturals we give him to work with, the better off we’ll be.” He looked at Mallory. “How will he work this?”

Mallory squeezed her eyes closed, kneaded her forehead with her fingertips. “This is a big operation that’s going to need a lot of power. We’re talking about, what, a few thousand supernaturals within the net? The magic has to be powerful enough to affect them all, or it’s not much good. A sorcerer carries power innately. But this is exponentially larger than one person.”

“So, how will he do it?” Ethan asked.

“If it was me,” Mallory said, opening her eyes again, “I’d either have a generator, or I’d tie right into the grid, maybe with a transformer that turns electrical power into magical power. And I’d put it as close to the middle of the QE as I could. That makes the spreading of the magic more efficient.”

“So downtown,” Catcher said.

Mallory nodded. “If it was me. And he’d want high ground, too. Taller than Cadogan House.”

Ethan looked at me. “Any sense of where he’d go? A building that he’d want to use for this?”

There was, of course, one building that he’d wanted most of all—the one he’d wrenched from my father.

I looked at Ethan. “Towerline. We’d thought Reed had wanted it for his portfolio. Maybe that hadn’t been the only reason.”

Ethan looked at Luc. “Assemble everyone. We won’t lose anyone else on my watch. We take Reed down, and we do it tonight.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

IDENTITY

Mallory studied the translated equation, then helped Paige set the wards on the House. When it was protected, or as well as it could be, the city’s supernatural leaders were called, and we prepared for battle.

By the time we gathered in the conference room, we were leather-clad and katana-wielding. Ethan wore a black moto-style leather jacket over dark jeans and boots, his hair pulled back with a leather cord. I’d added my apotrope to my ensemble.

Lindsey, Kelley, and Juliet were also dressed in leathers. Luc and Malik would remain at the House—Luc to keep it safe, and Malik to keep it under control. As Ethan’s Second, he’d be in charge of the House in Ethan’s absence—and the hundreds of vampires who’d come here to escape the magic.

Malik joined us, as did Paige and the Librarian, Catcher and Mallory, Gabriel, Eli, Jeff, and Fallon. Jonah walked into the room with Scott, which filled me with relief. I rose, met them at the door, could feel Ethan’s gaze on both of us. But since Jonah had jumped out in front of me and probably saved my life, he could bear a little jealousy.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Not bad,” he said with a smile. “Thanks for dragging me out of the line of fire.”

“Thanks for taking the hit for me.” I smiled up at him. “And don’t ever do it again.”

“I’ll make a note.”

I stepped aside so they could walk to the table, was surprised to see Morgan walk in behind them. He was as leather-clad as the rest of us, a yellow katana belted at his waist. And his expression was fierce.

He found Ethan. Morgan, the dark-haired Master of the nation’s oldest vampire House, matched against Ethan, the blond-haired Master of the city’s most active House. A former boyfriend matched against my forever love, and a vampire who’d been too human matched against one who, until recently, hadn’t been quite human enough. It was interesting how things had changed.

“I hadn’t expected you to fight,” Ethan said, extending a hand.

“You don’t mean that as an insult,” Morgan said, “but it’s embarrassing all the same. I should have been fighting a long time ago, against Reed and otherwise. Better late than never, I hope.”

Ethan nodded. “You’re here now. That counts.”

“I hope so.” Morgan glanced at me, smiled with disarmingly boyish charm. “I’ve seen Merit fight. She can avenge me if I go down.”

“Let’s hope no one needs avenging,” Ethan said.

“We’re ready,” Luc said when he and Jeff had finagled a small projector in the center of the table that shot an image onto a screen that descended at the far end of the conference table. Luc dimmed the lights.

A map of the Loop that showed Towerline—or its currently skeletal frame—and the surrounding blocks was projected on one half of the screen. Jeff’s projection of the QE filled the other.

“This is the Quinta Essentia,” Ethan said as heads turned to look at the symbol. “I don’t want to spend too much time on the magical details. Suffice it to say we believe Adrien Reed, his sorcerer, and his vampire, who’s been identified as Logan Hill, a Rogue, have been working on a complex alchemical equation. That equation is intended to provide one or all of them control of every supernatural within the boundaries.”