He sat down on the leather couch, and I did the same, sitting at an angle so I could see him.

“I wanted to apologize for the Cadogan House Novitiate thing. I’d meant to talk to you about it before it came up with the Ombudsman, but I didn’t, and that was my fault, and it was a really crappy thing to do. And I’m really sorry.”

“I appreciate that,” he said.

And a heavy and awkward silence filled the room.

“Did you have a good childhood?”

The question startled and appalled me. “What? Of course I did.”

“We didn’t exactly have good role models for parenting, your mother and I. And we tried so carefully to think of everything a human child would need, and everything a vampire child might.”

Tears blossomed and I worked to push them back, afraid if they fell I’d slip into full sobbing. “I had a great childhood,” I said again. “I know I was loved and supported. That if I fell, you’d help me back up. Mom helped me get past my chocolate chip cookie phase and learn the joy of a balanced diet, and you helped me understand the joy of rules and procedures.”

He knew I meant that mostly seriously, and his grin was full and utterly relieved. “Without rules, chaos.”

“No argument,” I said, thinking of Connor and his penchant, at least as a kid, for doing whatever the hell he wanted.

“I was thrown,” my father said. “We didn’t fail to Commend you because of an oversight, because we forgot. We believed—considered—you to be a full member of the House. And I am monumentally sorry that we were wrong, even if only technically.”

He cleared his throat. “Do you want to be Commended?”

And I thought we’d gotten through the awkward part. For a moment, silence hung heavily in the air. I didn’t have an honest answer, and I didn’t want to lie.

Finally, he held up a hand, smiled. “Don’t answer that. I will apologize for putting you on the spot. I love you and I love your mother with all my heart. I love this House, as well. It is neither my child nor my wife, but it is . . .” He seemed to struggle with the word.

“It’s yours,” I said simply, and offered him a smile. “And that’s all there is to it.”

“Yes,” he said with a relieved smile. “It is mine. And while your mother and I would both love to have you as an official member of this House, that decision is yours to make as you prefer.”

“And if I choose Navarre?” I asked with a grin.

He was silent for a moment, lip curled just a little bit. “There’s no accounting for taste.”

I grinned at him. “Typical Cadogan response.”

“Come here,” my father said, and opened his arms. And I went willingly.

* * *

• • •

The tension had evaporated when Margot, the House’s chef, rolled a wheeled cart into my father’s office. It was stacked with gorgeous trays of food and smelled like sugar and bacon.

My mother stepped into the room behind her.

“As always,” my father said, “your mother’s timing is impeccable.”

“She followed the scent of bacon,” Margot said, offering me a wink as she began placing trays and baskets on the conference table.

“You’re all hilarious,” she said, snatching a piece of bacon from one of Margot’s baskets. She glanced at us as she chewed, and I gave her a nod and a smile.

Outside there was chaos. But our family was okay.

* * *

• • •

Since coffee would only improve things, I fixed myself a mug and moved to the sitting area while we waited for the cavalry to arrive. They showed up in increments. Petra and Yuen, then Theo, then Gabriel, Connor, and Miranda.

I wasn’t sad to see that Dearborn had skipped the meeting, and assumed we’d have to invite the press and the mayor to get him to actually attend. I hadn’t expected to see Miranda, and was surprised she’d walk willingly into a House of vampires, given her issues with us.

Connor wore his uniform again today: jeans, boots, and a snug T-shirt under a fitted motorcycle jacket. There was dark stubble on his face, which made his eyes glow brighter. And he carried his dark motorcycle helmet.

He headed straight for me, and I wasn’t entirely surprised by the quick flash of emotion in Miranda’s eyes. Suspicion, anger, and maybe some hurt. So Miranda had feelings for Connor, the man she wanted to best for control of the Pack. Or maybe share control of the Pack.

I could sympathize, and shifted my gaze back to Connor. He looked like a model in a cologne ad. Sexy and seductive and arrogant. These were not comfortable feelings for me, especially in my father’s office.

He put his helmet on the coffee table and looked down at me, expression unfathomable. “You keep taking on the fairies.”

“Not by choice. What’s wrong?”

He sat down on the opposite couch. “With what?”

“With you. You look tired, and you sound grouchy.”

“It’s been a long night.” He ran a hand through his hair, which shifted muscles in his arms. “Riley’s managing, but that’s putting a shine on it. It’s not a great situation.”

“I think we’re getting closer. We just need a little more time.” And a little more luck wouldn’t hurt.

Gabriel walked to the sitting area, stirred his coffee with the familiar clink of spoon against ceramic. “Facing down fairies on network television?”

“Wrong place, wrong time,” I said.

“Or right place, right time,” Yuen said, smiling as he walked toward us. He glanced at my parents. “You have a very thoughtful and capable daughter.”

“And she’s a very good fighter,” Theo added with a grin.

“Agreed on all counts,” my father said, then nodded at Yuen. “We’re here to support your efforts, so we’re ready when you are.”

“We’re ready,” Yuen said. Then he nodded at Theo, passing the figurative torch.

“I’ll go,” Theo said. He verbally reviewed our visit to the castle, the fight in Grant Park, and what we’d seen on the surveillance video.

“We need to find Claudia,” Connor said, and Yuen nodded.

“We suspect this might be Ruadan’s reaction to the fairies’ diminishing magic,” Yuen said. “Maybe he isn’t satisfied with how Claudia’s managed the fairies since the Egregore, and thinks they should be doing more to increase their power, not let it slip away.”

Gabriel looked at the photograph of the chained fairy queen Petra had uploaded to the monitor. “And he’s shoved her aside so he can do what he wants.”

“That’s the current theory,” Yuen said.

“It’s logical,” my mother said. “But why the ley line conjunction? Why do they need that much power? What are they planning to use it for?”

“A weapon?” Connor suggested. “A spell?”

“Whatever it is,” Yuen said, “it’s big. Something that requires a lot of power, and something it appears they haven’t yet managed to pull off. They do appear to have figured out how to move along the ley lines—to appear and disappear by accessing the lines’ power.”

“That’s a new skill,” my father agreed. “I’ve never seen it. I presume you haven’t been able to narrow down their location?”

“Not yet,” Yuen said. “The castle and tower are empty. Officers have traversed the city above the ley lines several times, but the fairies haven’t been spotted inside the city limits, or outside it in the jurisdictions we’ve convinced to check.”

“They have to be somewhere,” Connor said. “They can’t just disappear.”

“They’ll go back to Grant Park,” Gabriel said. “If they need the conjunction, the power, to pull off whatever they’re planning for, they’ll try again.”

Yuen nodded. “Anticipating that, we’ve posted guards.”

“Guards may not be enough,” my father said. “Notwithstanding their disappearing act, they have no compunction about violence. They would have only backed off tonight because they chose to do so—because they decided that’s what was in their best interest. Not because they were afraid of a fight.”

“Precautions will be taken,” Yuen said. “But we can’t simply concede the ground and let them make their magic, especially when we don’t know what magic it is. That puts humans, supernaturals, and the city itself at risk.”