Page 36 of Born Reckless

Sebastian smiles at this, the amusement written all over his face.

Roman’s gaze on me remains cold. But I think I see something in them shift just a little bit. Perhaps, my act of bravery puts me a little less deep on his shit list.

"She was stabbed," Mason says. His throat sounds thick. "Maybe she could have been saved, but it was so out in the public, so open. And we knew it was going to happen eventually. She bled out, but Elena and I brought her back to our plane, and we went to Las Vegas to let the Resurrection process finish."

"And what made you think that was a good idea?" Roman glowers. "The House of Valdez has been established there for over a hundred years."

"Las Vegas is one of the most transient places in the world," Elena says. She lowers her chin, staring darkly at her fellow councilmember. "Things didn't go as planned, and it was my mistake. But I don't apologize."

"You could have gone just about anywhere else," Roman seethes. "You could've picked any homeless bum, nearly just about anywhere in the entire country. You could've gone to literally any state that did not have a House within it. Yet you dove straight into a city where Royals live."

"The event has already passed," Sigrid says. Her tone is calm, even. "Berating another council member for something that is already over will lead to nothing productive."

"Yet the consequences of their actions lands in all of our laps," Roman says. His tone gets lower. Darker. And the look in his eyes? It is ice cold.

"And ifyouwere perfect, our father wouldn't be dead," Elena seethes. She gets to her feet, her palms pressed flat against the table. She leans forward and her eyes narrow on Roman.

For the first time, Roman shuts his mouth. His wicked stare does not ease. But his words do not lash out.

"Children, children," Sebastian says with a faint smile. "You are making our guest uncomfortable."

Every set of eyes snaps to me. I normally have a great poker face. I don't let what I'm feeling show on the surface.

But I'm sitting underneath the scrutiny of three vampires.

"Pablo Ramirez is still in Las Vegas," Roman says. "I can keep eyes on him for a week, but after that, I can't extend the resources. If he weren't so damn high up in the Valdez’s hierarchy, I would just take him out and call the problem taken care of. So, for now, we all get to watch over our shoulders."

His words surprise me. During my interrogation, he made it quite clear that no one in this city was going to have my back. To learn that he sent someone to keep an eye on the man who promised to get revenge? It's about the last thing that I expected.

"Good," Mason says. His voice is rough, and the annoyance in his tone isn't restrained. "Next item of business?"

Nobody says anything for a moment. It's a silent debate if we are done talking about me or not.

Apparently so, because just a moment later, Sigrid lays her hands on the tabletop and my world is knocked further off its axis.

The moment she touches the surface, glowing green lines shoot from the wood beneath her hands, out to cover the entirety of the table.

Light shimmers and shakes, dancing on the wood. And when I look up to look at Sigrid, I find that her eyes are glowing the exact same shade.

It's a map I realize. A perfect map of Chicago.

And on that map, there are hundreds of golden dots. At first, they all look like they are sitting still. But as I watch closer, I realize that some of them move. Many of them move perfectly aligned with the streets of the city.

I look down at my forearm, and I realize.

Those dots are vampires.

And the glowing, golden ring surrounding the city? This is the barrier that I heard spoken of.

"All comings and goings have been cleared in the last week," Sigrid says. Her glowing eyes follow the dots on the map. "Those that were banished last month have not come anywhere near the barrier. There was a little issue in Albany Park, but Roman took care of that on Thursday."

Issues. Both she and Roman have talked about "issues." Roman walked in with blood on his hands after solving tonight's little "issue."

"Any sightings of new regulars?" Sebastian asks as he looks over at Roman.

"There has been a man and a woman in town for five days," Roman says as he sits back in his seat. His eyes stay fixed on that map. "A couple. They're staying in a hotel, and so far, they've been good not to touch any of the humans. We’re not sure yet if they're just on vacation or if they're looking to settle. We'll keep watching them for a few more days and evaluate."

I am beginning to understand that Roman is not simply a rough-and-tumble security guard. He has eyes everywhere. Nothing happens in this city that he doesn't see. Mason said that certain personality types worked well with Roman. There has to be more than a few of those considering he's had eyes on someone in Las Vegas, and at the same time, he's constantly controlling the "issues" and keeping an eye out on the comings and goings of every vampire in this city. Tagged or not.