11. Justin #2
Anthony gestured to an empty chair, but Pavel shook his head, demurring. Anthony shrugged and plopped back down .
“What do you mean, I’m right?” Justin asked, his embarrassment slowly draining out of him.
“Fate is all well and good,” Pavel said in his rumbling masculine voice, “but circumstances matter. If Justin doesn’t wish to be mated, he shouldn’t be. And no one should want to be my mate.”
Sebastian collapsed back in an exasperated, albeit performative, gesture, his limbs flinging themselves every which way.
“How did I end up saddled with the two of you? The whole point of fate providing mates is to skip this boring shit and get straight to the boning.” Sebastian sat up again and swept his long black hair out of his face with flair. “Don’t you want to get to the boning?”
Anthony giggled, which didn’t help Justin’s confidence. It was a bad sign if the coven master’s mate was aligning himself with Sebastian. They were each unpredictable enough on their own. Put them together and…not good.
Pavel closed his eyes and breathed in, like he was addressing a toddler. “I’m sure any boning would be very fun. But being mated to a gargoyle is no picnic. Especially one as old as me.”
“How old are you?” Anthony asked. “You look all of, I don’t know, forty?”
“I’m over three thousand years old.” Pavel sighed. “I’m set in my ways, and I’ll only get more so with time. I’m slowing down. Soon, I’ll…”
“You weren’t so slow when you shot us out of the roof of the Manhattan Lyric Opera!” Sebastian said, squealing and clapping. Justin couldn’t understand why Sebastian was excited by the memory. He’d been terrified.
“Which is the other problem.” A disconcerted look flashed on Pavel’s face, and he turned from them, walking over to the big glass windows and gazing out over the city. “Gargoyles are the most protective of supernatural beings. My need to safeguard you today was strong. Too strong.”
“I… You moved so fast,” Justin said. “But I liked how safe it felt. I could have skipped the flying part.”
“That’s the issue.” Pavel still did not turn back to them. “Once my stone form takes over, my focus narrows to one thought. ‘Protect my mates.’ I had no self-control. I wanted you up in the air and away from danger, and it didn’t matter what you said. I couldn’t even hear your words.”
“I don’t know,” Sebastian said. “I think it’s romantic. Fly me away, gargoyle daddy!”
“Oh my God, right?!” Anthony sprang to his feet and hugged Sebastian. “I like you already.”
Justin looked back and forth between his mates, one now being hugged by his busybody coven master, the other unwilling or unable to make eye contact with them. It was too much.
“I have to leave.” Pavel’s words were soft, and if it weren’t for his vampire hearing, Justin wouldn’t have caught them at all.
“What do you mean?” Justin asked, standing and sidling up next to Pavel. The view was beautiful. It was late afternoon now, and the shadows cast as the sun traveled towards its inevitable setting were like paddocks of rich, thick moss.
He dared to place his hand on Pavel’s shoulder. The man started a little but didn’t brush Justin off.
“I can’t stay in the city if the two of you are here. My gargoyle will go crazy. It’s time to go, anyway. A few more years and people at the opera company will start to question why I don’t age.”
“Don’t leave,” Justin said, the words leaving his mouth before he could stop them.
He barely knew this man, but Pavel had saved Justin and Sebastian.
It made Justin feel wanted in a way he hadn’t experienced before.
He still didn’t know about the whole mate thing, but the idea of never seeing Pavel again physically hurt him, his stomach aching at the thought.
Pavel turned his head, his gaze soft but resolved. “I must. We’ve only known each other for a day, so the potential mating bonds haven’t developed past their infancy. It will be unpleasant, but the discomfort will die down soon enough. The longer I wait, the harder it will be.”
Pavel gave Justin a small smile and stepped back. Justin’s hand fell off the gargoyle’s shoulder. A deep wound opened inside him at the separation.
“I’ll leave the coat on the roof.” Without looking back, Pavel strode to the stairwell and slipped away.
“Oh, this is gonna be a whole thing .” Sebastian’s head rolled back in annoyance.
“He’ll be back,” Anthony said.
“He seemed pretty certain.” Justin made his way slowly back to his chair. “He’s three thousand years old, right? He probably knows what he wants.”
“It just means he’s more hidebound.” Sebastian stretched his arms out in front of him, and Justin had a sudden impression of him as a black cat. Did witches ever turn feline? “He won’t change his mind as easily as you have.”
“I haven’t changed my mind,” Justin replied, eyeing both Sebastian and Anthony with suspicion .
Anthony gave Sebastian an amused look before looking back at Justin. “I think you probably have,” Anthony said.
“I have not!” Justin crossed his arms in annoyance. Anthony could be extremely frustrating when he put his mind to it. As could Sebastian.
“We’ll see.” Sebastian stood. “Regardless, I have to go check on my mother in Bayonne.”
“Alone?” Justin asked, his chest tightening. He wondered if his fear for Sebastian’s safety was a side effect of their uncompleted mate bonds.
Or maybe it was that Sebastian was handsome and charming and infuriating, and he didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.
Nope, not gonna think about that.
Sebastian nodded. “I need to help her clean up the mess.”
“But what about your sister?” Justin asked, a slight tremor in his voice. “What if she’s waiting there to ambush you?”
“If she was that close to the Circle, my mother would know.” Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “Besides, I can handle my sister.”
Was it false confidence? Justin wasn’t sure. Obviously, Sebastian had real power, but his sister did manage to trap them in the elevator. And who knew how many allies she had? No one was invincible.
Anthony clapped his hands, smiling. “Why don’t you take Justin with you? We’ve already decided he has to meet with your mother, and he can help if you run into any trouble.”
“I can?”
“Of course!” Anthony’s eyes sparkled with humor, and Justin had a sudden premonition he’d been trapped for the second time that day.
Sebastian let out a loud laugh. “Well-played. That’ll push my mother off balance.”
“Why would you want to do that?” Justin asked. “Wasn’t her home just attacked?”
“You haven’t made her acquaintance yet.” Sebastian wiggled his fingers like a cartoon magician. “She’s not easily fazed. Her force of will is strong. Having her as a mother was a constant struggle as a baby chaos witch. She was so hard to catch off-guard.”
“I don’t understand.”
Sebastian smiled wide, making him appear both extraordinarily handsome and like a velociraptor waiting to strike.
“Oh, you will.”