Читать онлайн «Biting Bad»
Автор Хлоя Нейл
To Jeremy, Baxter, and Scout, my three favorite boys, with much thanks to Sara, the mistress of Meritverse conformity.
We worked beneath the shine of floodlights that punched holes in the darkness of Hyde Park—nearly one hundred vampires airing rugs, painting cabinet doors, and sanding trim.
A handful of severe-looking men in black—extra mercenary fairies we’d hired for protection—stood outside the fence that formed a barrier between the blocks-wide grounds of Cadogan House and the rest of the city.
In part, they were protecting us from a second attack by shape-shifters. That seemed unlikely, but so had the first onslaught, led by the youngest brother of the leader of the North American Central Pack. Unfortunately, that hadn’t stopped Adam Keene.
They were also protecting us from a new threat.
Humans.
I glanced up from the elegant curve of wooden trim I was swabbing with stain. It was nearly midnight, but the golden glow of the protesters’ candles was visible through the gap in the fence.
Their flames flickered in the sticky summer breeze, three or four dozen humans making known their quiet objections to the vampires in their city.
Popularity was a fickle thing.
Chicagoans had rioted when we’d come out of the closet nearly a year ago. Fear had eventually given way to awe, complete with paparazzi and glossy magazine spreads, but the violence of the attack on the House—and the fact that we’d fought back and in doing so had thrown shifters out into the open—had turned the tides again.
Humans hadn’t been thrilled to learn we’d existed, and if werewolves were out there, too, what else lurked in the shadows? For the past couple of months we’d seen raw, ugly prejudice from humans who didn’t want us in their neighborhood and camped outside the House to make sure we were aware of it.
My cell phone vibrated in my pocket; I flipped it open and answered, “Merit’s House of Carpentry. ”
Mallory Carmichael, my best friend in the world and a sorceress in her own right, snorted from the other end. “Kind of dangerous, isn’t it, being a vampire around all those would-be aspen stakes?”
I looked over the trim on the sawhorse in front of me. “I’m not sure any of this is actually aspen, but I take your point. ”
“I assume from the intro that carpentry’s on your agenda again this evening?”
“You would be correct. Since you asked, I’m applying stain to some lovely woodwork, after which I’ll probably apply a little sealant—”
“Oh, my God,
Magic is as magic does, and all that. ”
That explained the rumbling of the car in the background on her end. “Actually, Mal, even if you could make it, we’re a human-free abode right now. ”
