Free Dark Debt by Chloe Neill Page B

began to ring. It was Jonah, who I still hadn’t taken the time to call. I was glad he’d thought to do it.
    “Hey,” I said. “Sorry I haven’t checked in.”
    “So Ethan’s long-dead Master is alive.”
    “Hello to you, too,” I said, bristling a little at his tone, which was snarky, but not in a good way. “And yes, that’s what it seems. Have you seen him?”
    “Only on television. You think he’ll come here? What’s his play?”
    I gave him the overview and our analysis.
    “I know you’re probably busy with the AAM, but you’ll want to keep an eye out for him. He’s dangerous.”
    “So I sensed.This is going to make it even more crucial that we monitor Ethan.”
    I stopped on the stairs. “Wait. What?”
    “I was going to talk to you tonight. We want you to install a camera, with audio, in Ethan’s office.”
    Jonah was lucky he couldn’t see my face. “Excuse me?”
    “Ethan’s part of the AAM. He’s in a position of authority, and it’s our job to monitor people in those positions. It’sexactly what you signed up for.”
    In fact, I’d signed up for the RG when Ethan was gone. But that wasn’t the point.
    “I won’t help you spy on him.”
    “Balthasar is alive, Merit, and apparently strong enough to call Ethan. He’s dangerous.”
    “I don’t disagree. But Ethan won’t let Balthasar control him.”
    “You’re assuming he’ll have a choice.”
    “Balthasar isn’t that powerful.” Ihoped. “Besides, there’s an entire House of people who’d stop Ethan if we thought he was becoming someone’s minion, including me. You sure know I wouldn’t let him become a dictator.”
    “You have an obligation.”
    “So do you. Do you have a camera in Scott’s office?”
    “No.”
    “Are you going to?”
    “No, but that’s not relevant.”
    “How is it
not
relevant?” Realization dawned when hedidn’t answer. My anger rose, lifted like a hot cloud, and I dropped my voice to keep from screaming at him in the stairway.
    “You cannot actually think I’d ignore Ethan becoming adictator because I’m
sleeping
with him. I thought the RG was past that.” Another RG member, Horace, had raised the issue before, and I’d believed we’d resolved it.
    “Balthasar wasn’t in the picture then.”
    “It’s insulting either way.”
    “It’s not meant to be an insult. It’s meant to be a protection.”
    “Against what? My inability to logic through hormones?”
    “You’re taking this too personally.” He sounded tired again, like a parent talking to a petulant toddler.
    I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on at Grey House. Maybe you’re distracted; maybeyou’re concerned about Scott and the AAM. I don’t know. But you know him better than this, and you certainly know me better than this.” And if he didn’t, it wasn’t flattering for either of us.
    “You’re saying you won’t do it.”
    “Yeah, I am saying that. We all have lines, Jonah. This is one of mine. I assume you trust me, or you wouldn’t have made me your partner. You think about that, andyou let me know.”
    And for the first time that I could remember, I hung up on my partner.

Chapter Six

    WHAT A DIFFERENCE A NIGHT MAKES
    I was still stewing when I made it to the apartments. Ethan was gone, but the garment bag lay on the bed beside a glossy shoe box.
    Hoping to direct my anger more productively, I unzipped the bag, half hoping I’d find a voluminous satin gown with mounds of rhinestonesto rage against.
    But I should have known better. Satin and rhinestones weren’t Ethan’s style.
    “Oh,”
I said as I unzipped the bag.
    The dress was a slender column of black flared at the bottom. The sweetheart bodice was fitted but demure, and two panels of black tulle formed narrow sleeves that just covered the shoulders.
    I turned to the box, uncapped it, found a pair of heeled sandalsof crisscrossing satin straps that rose to the ankle and tied in a bow.