“I appreciate it,” I said with an answering smile, surprised and pleased that Uncle Malik had given it thought. “Damn it,” I murmured, as tears spilled again. I looked up, focused on the waxing moon, which hung bright and white in the sky.

“Hard night all around,” Micah said. “I may need some extra Babu time tonight.”

“Babu?”

“New House mascot,” he said, then pulled out his screen, showed me a picture of what I was confident was the ugliest dog I’d ever seen. It was a bulldog of some sort, wrinkly of face and drooly of mouth, with a rather remarkable underbite.

“Babu is . . .” I struggled for a compliment.

“A face only a mother—or two dozen vampires—could love,” he finished, saving me. “He comforts all of us.”

“Then I’m glad you have him,” I said.

He put his screen away again. “The vampires who weren’t in Cadogan when it disappeared?”

“The Ombuds are making sure they have what they need.”

He must have seen my face. “If you’re feeling guilty, don’t. Your job is to get the House back, and I’ll wager that’s not going to be easy. I’ll talk to Roger and we’ll help with the displaced vampires however we can. We’ve got plenty of room in the House, and I’m sure Grey and Navarre will help, too.”

Those were Chicago’s other two vampire Houses.

“Thank you,” I said, and began to understand why Uncle Malik had selected him as Second. “We’ll keep you updated on this.”

“Do that,” Micah said. “And if you need some time with Babu, you know where to find us.”

* * *

By the time the moon had arced across the sky, I was exhausted. There were still two hours before dawn, but I felt like the sun was already on the rise.

Connor and Alexei pulled an SUV to the curb, which they’d switched out at Pack HQ so we could travel back to the town house together.

We said our goodbyes to the Ombuds, and I took one last look at the grounds. CPD uniforms had been stationed around the House, as if Sentinels to replace the one—my mother—who was currently missing.

I turned back to the SUV, where Connor held open my door. He hadn’t mentioned yet what had gone down at Pack HQ, but his face was hard and tired.

“How bad was it?” I asked quietly.

“As bad as it gets. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. We’re going to get something to eat, then we’re going to sleep. We all need our strength,” he added, anticipating my argument that we didn’t have time for anything else. “Without it, you won’t do your parents any good.”

I climbed in and he closed the door. I had no energy to argue, so I didn’t try.

We were silent as Connor drove to a silver bullet of a building that apparently housed a twenty-four-hour diner.

“Just a minute,” he said, then went inside and picked up an order that smelled, frankly, delicious. We rode to the town house in a fog of food smells.