Wild Things: A Chicagolands Vampire Novel (Chicagoland Vampires) Read Online Free

invisible from the road and the driveway. The carriage house might have felt like an insult to Ethan, but it would be a secure location to spend a few quiet nights on the lam.
    Finn pushed a key into the lock and opened the door. “Please come in.”
    The invitation wasn’t strictly necessary—that particular bit of vampire myth was actually myth—but we preferred not to trespass.
    The carriage house had been outfitted like a small apartment, with hardwood floors, colorful furnishings and décor, and a ceiling striped by large oak beams. There was a sitting area and a small kitchenette, and a door that led to what I guessed was a bedroom. The Brecks hadn’t spared any expense on the décor. Books and orchids were arranged just so on a coffee table, knickknacks placed here and there, one wall covered in a mix of line drawings and paintings in gilded frames.
    “Pop uses the place for visiting board members,” Finn said, stepping inside and surveying the living room, hands on his hips. “Kitchen’s stocked with blood and food, so you should find everything you need here.”
    He pointed to a keypad beside the door. “The entire house is rigged to the security system, which is hooked up to the main house. There’s also an intercom in case you run into trouble.”
    I glanced around, didn’t see a back door. “Is this the only door in and out?”
    Finn smirked. “Yes. And I see Nick wasn’t kidding—you really are a vampire fighter now.”
    “All night long,” I said, gesturing toward the windows. “What about those?”
    “Ah.” Finn pressed a button on the keypad. Segmented plates descended across the windows, covering them completely. With those guards in place, we’d be safe from sunlight and marauders.
    “Thank you, Finley,” Ethan said. “We appreciate your family’s thoughtfulness.”
    “It was Nick’s idea.”
    “In that case,” Ethan tightly said, “we appreciate his thoughtfulness. And with all due respect, as we have amply demonstrated, your family has no reason to be hostile toward us.”
    Finn’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not hostile toward Merit. I’m hostile toward you. I don’t know you, except that you’ve embroiled her in a world that’s worrying her father and put her grandfather in the hospital.”
    The attitude was irritating, as the facts were wrong. My grandfather had been Ombudsman before I’d become a vampire, and I wouldn’t have become a vampire without my father’s meddling. Not that Finley needed the details.
    “We all make our own choices,” Ethan said, his smile thin and dangerous.
    “So we do. A suggestion?”
    Ethan lifted his brows, as Finley slid his glance to the sheathed katanas in our hands.
    “You might want to leave the weapons here. They don’t exactly scream ‘friendship.’”
    He walked back to me, concern in his eyes. He held out the set of keys, which I took, our fingers brushing. He might have played polite, but he was as angry as Michael. He spilled magic into the air, sending an electric thrill across my fingers.
    “Be careful,” he said.
    I nodded, not sure what to say.
    With that, he opened the door and disappeared into the night.
    “Well, they are just delightful,” Ethan said.
    I snorted, then walked over and locked the front door. I was responsible for Ethan’s safety, after all. Not that a dead bolt would do much good against a sustained attack. I didn’t think SWAT teams, paranormal or otherwise, would drop down on us during the daylight, but I suppose that was a risk we’d have to take.
    “Has Michael always been that aggressive?”
    I glanced back at Ethan, who’d pulled off his suit coat and draped it on the back of a nearby chair. “Actually, yes. When we were younger and I spent summers here, Nick and I, sometimes Finn, would play together in the woods. Michael never played at anything. I mean, he participated in football, but it wasn’t a
game
to him. It was a battle. He’s always had a very serious demeanor. And it