24. Justin
Justin
W hen Justin arrived at the mansion in Bayonne, he wasn’t surprised to see three vampires—one visible and two hidden—guarding it. What he didn’t expect was Wolf sitting on the stoop, crossbow in hand, with an expression that said, “I haven’t left this spot in days.”
Dressed head to toe in ecru faux-military clothes, Wolf cut an intimidating figure, with his muscular frame and his square jaw. Justin’s chest tightened as he approached the man, but he steeled himself by thinking about Sebastian. He needed information.
“What?” Wolf barked as Justin approached.
Justin sucked in a breath and launched in.
“Where is Sebastian?”
The man looked him up and down, evaluating Justin like he was a piece of meat. Or maybe an army grunt who’d been found wanting.
“Wherever he is, you won’t be able to do anything. My brother can take care of himself. He doesn’t like when people try to help.” There was a hint of bitterness in Wolf’s tone, although his face was a frozen mask of indifference.
Taking a moment, Justin searched for a way to connect to the stoic man. He was no master manipulator, but maybe honesty would do the trick.
“He’s my mate. He’s been gone for days,” Justin said, brushing a blonde curl out of his eyes as he spoke. “Something’s wrong.”
Wolf walked to the bottom of the stoop, the old steps creaking under his heavy footfalls.
“Your mate? I thought you weren’t sure…” Wolf’s voice was softer now, but a challenge hummed in it. “Best leave it to those of us who are actually blood. Even if some forget that.”
“He is my mate ,” Justin repeated. “I won’t leave him to die. Why won’t you help me?”
“Our family, and this Circle, was built on power. Between Veronica and Sebastian, whoever’s most powerful will prevail. It doesn’t change my life much…” Wolf’s eyes darted back to the house.
“Sebastian doesn’t hate you, even if you hate him. He feels guilty and sad and trapped by the past. He loves you. You’re his brother.”
Wolf glared at Justin, and for a moment, Justin worried the man might hit him. But finally, Wolf’s eyes relaxed, and he replied, almost in a whisper.
“I… Neither of us can escape the past, not with our parents. And I know my childhood wasn’t his fault. But…”
He glanced back at the house looming behind him but didn’t say more. Justin swallowed and asked once again .
“Can you help me? Please.”
Wolf sighed and stepped back.
“I don’t have a way to reach him. Linda might, but she won’t help you. If anyone believes in keeping family business in the family, it’s her. I’m sorry. Best to leave Veronica and Sebastian to themselves.”
“Maybe they’ll work out a truce,” Wolf added, although from his expression it was clear he didn’t believe that likely at all.
Justin simply nodded. If he couldn’t get help here, he knew where to turn.
Miles of colorful costumes lay out in front of Justin.
A melange of textures and time periods, the collection was overwhelming in size and scope.
He’d never been in the basement of the opera house before, having no reason to visit the huge storage space.
Pavel had said it would be safe to speak here.
A few rows in, his maestro stood, arms folded, next to a metric ton of shoes separated into clear plastic bags. His face was inscrutable, although that was typical. Even so, Justin caught a glimpse of anxiety in Pavel’s eyes.
What Justin wanted, more than anything, was to go to the man, to wrap his arms around the gargoyle’s strong back, to hold and be held. To taste Pavel on his lips.
But this wasn’t the time for that.
“What’s happened? Where is Sebastian?” An undercurrent of bottled rage simmered beneath Pavel’s flat tone.
Justin swallowed, the smell of dust and old fabric filling his nose. “He went after his sister. He’s been gone for four days. Wolf… His brother said to leave them to each other. But Sebastian should have been back by now.”
“Where?” Pavel pushed the word through his clenched jaw.
Shaking his head, Justin stepped in closer to his mate. The gargoyle wasn’t angry with him, but the furious aura he exuded was intimidating. Reaching out his hand, Justin rested it on Pavel’s bicep.
“I don’t know. He used some kind of spell to find her. She was more than thirty miles away. That’s all I know.”
Pavel’s jaw dropped open, and a bellowing roar issued forth. Justin flinched but didn’t remove his hand, instead squeezing lightly with his fingers.
“How do we find him?” Justin asked.
Breaking away, Pavel started toward the elevator. “I can follow our bond. It’s not complete yet, but it’s stronger than I ever expected. Strong enough to track him. Gargoyles are good at that.”
Pavel stopped at the elevator door, pressing the button and turning back to Justin.
“You should stay at your covenhouse. We don’t know if his sister has people in the city.”
“What?!” Heat rushed to Justin’s face. He tamped down the anxiety blooming in his stomach and sped toward Pavel. His footfalls clicked like an ever-increasing metronome on the concrete floor below. “You aren’t going without me.”
“It isn’t safe.” Pavel broke away from Justin’s gaze.
Justin would have none of that. The conductor might look fifteen years older than him and might actually be three thousand years older than him, but Justin wasn’t his ward, nor his child.
He reached and grasped the gargoyle’s jaw in his hand, pulling his eyes back to him. Pavel’s eyes went wide, perhaps shocked at the slight man’s strength.
“I am a vampire,” Justin growled. “I’m not breakable. And I’m not getting left behind when my mates are in danger.”
Pavel grabbed Justin’s wrist, pulling his hand away. “We won’t complete the bond?—”
If Justin had rolled his eyes any harder, his eyeballs would have dislodged from their sockets. This man was so infuriatingly stubborn. How could he be so lacking in self-awareness?
“You are about to fly who knows how many miles and maybe fight a whole bunch of witches to save Sebastian. You don’t do that for an acquaintance. Or a student. Whether you like it or not, we are your mates.”
Pavel opened his mouth to respond, then closed it. Justin wasn’t sure if it was an acknowledgement of the truth of his words or an unwillingness to argue any longer. The maestro stared at Justin, his eyes like two piercing lances boring into Justin’s skull.
Finally, he nodded.
“Let’s go.”
The ground flew by fast underneath them.
The last time he’d flown with Pavel, the pace had been brisk, but it hadn’t been like this.
This was breakneck. The wind whipped through Justin’s blond curls.
It would be a frizzy mess when they landed, but he didn’t care.
The faster they reached their sweet witch, the better .
“Can you feel him?” Justin asked after thirty minutes of flying. He was wrapped around Pavel’s torso, now gray and stone-like, but there was no fear. All he thought of was Sebastian.
The gargoyle nodded. “Can’t you?”
Justin had never even thought to try. He’d never felt like a magical being, not in the way Pavel and Sebastian thought of it. Still, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes as the wind wrapped around him, soothing his body.
It only took a few seconds. Once his mind was clear, a slight tug manifested from the center of his chest, like a hook with a fishing wire tied to it, gently pulling them along.
“It’s weak, but it’s there.”
Pavel nodded, his horns and gray skin giving him an even more solemn look. “For a gargoyle, that’s enough to follow to the ends of the earth.”
Despite the situation, Justin basked in the comfort of the words and pressed himself tighter to his mate. They would bring Sebastian home. Between his two mates, Justin couldn’t be safer. Maybe after this, they could build something special between them.
He wasn’t certain if Pavel had changed his mind, but back in the storage basement, Justin had seen a crack in Pavel’s resolve. Thin as a hair, maybe, but enough to wedge an opening in.
They traveled even faster now, the houses and cars below becoming a complete blur until they eventually gave way to uninterrupted forest.
“Where do you think?—”
Justin didn’t finish his question before Pavel descended, falling so fast the vampire let out a surprise yelp. The foliage below was coming up quickly, and for a moment, Justin worried they would crash into the branches.
But Pavel deftly slid them through a narrow opening between two trees, landing softly on a clear patch of earth below, covered in red-brown leaves.
As Justin separated himself from the gargoyle, he took in the area around them. The forest was thick here, and without his supernatural sight, he might have missed them: small wooden shacks, covered in camouflaging moss and brush, tucked in amongst the trees. Maybe seven or eight total.
Justin looked to his mate, but the gargoyle said nothing, instead holding his finger to his lips as his form shifted, and his wings tucked themselves away and melted into his now-human back.
Doing his best not to stare at the conductor’s muscular and now-naked body, he handed over the clothes he’d carried during the flight.
A few seconds later, Pavel was clothed in a simple black tracksuit. Locking eyes, Pavel gestured to the nearest structure. Justin nodded.
Although he didn’t have the inhuman speed and dexterity of a vampire, Pavel was surprisingly light on his feet.
Which was good because they had no idea who was there.
Sebastian was nearby, both Pavel and his own senses told him that, but he wasn’t sure how many witches they were dealing with.
Looking at the array of buildings, it could be as many as twenty, if they were sleeping two or three to a structure.
And there was no way to tell if everyone was home.
Reaching the rotting wooden door of a structure barely big enough to house a queen-sized bed, Pavel and Justin both stopped. What would wait inside for them? Was this a trap? There was no way to tell.
Pavel looked like he had the same thought. Then, with one swift kick, he dispatched the door fully off its rusted hinges.
The tableau in front of them set Justin’s blood aflame with rage.
There was no bed, not even a layer of grass or hay to sleep on. Instead, Sebastian lay on his side in the hard dirt, his wrists and ankles bound. A man in a ratty t-shirt and stained denim jeans sat on a wooden stool, leaning over him, his hands outstretched, whispering under his breath.
The look on Sebastian’s face was one Justin would never forget. His eyes were closed, but his mouth was open, in a silent, tormented scream.
Justin lost control.
His vision turned red, and he lost any connection to his sanity. All that remained was a desperate, burning anger. His fangs dropped, and his claws extended without any prompting from his brain.
What happened next was a blur of whirling claws and blood. There was only one moment of clarity inside the fog of red mist, the moment when the dream witch turned his head, and Justin saw the terror written across his face.
He was young. Maybe all of nineteen. His big blue eyes and soft features were at odds with what Justin’s inner demon knew for sure, what there was no doubt about. This man was a threat to his mate’s life.
And because of that, there was no stopping.
Blood spatter flew, and if the witch had any defenses, he didn’t have a chance to mount them. He couldn’t even speak before his severed head went flying, hitting the far wall of the wooden shack with a thud.
It was only then Justin came back to himself. Pavel and Sebastian stared at him, a mix of fear and concern showing on their faces. Pavel was kneeling, and Sebastian was sitting now, leaning against their gargoyle mate. Justin opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.
He tried again and was once again unsuccessful. Instead, he collapsed to his knees, slamming down onto the hard earth.
“It was the crimson surge,” Sebastian said, his voice rough and tired. At the sound of it, Justin’s demon wanted to rally for more fighting, but he had nothing left.
“What?” Pavel asked.
“A vampire trait. If a vampire’s mate is in danger, the demon inside takes over. Alistair never had a chance.”
Justin wanted to chime in, wanted to explain further, but still nothing would come out. A wave of dizziness overtook him.
Finally, he forced out the words.
“Are you…okay?”
Sebastian smiled at the question but didn’t get up from the ground.
“I’ve been better,” he said, a haunted look in his eyes. “I stayed awake until about an hour ago. He didn’t have his hands on me for long. But…”
Pavel reached down and stroked Sebastian’s cheek. “You don’t have to talk about it. But we have to get out of here before someone notices something is wrong.”
The tall witch stared at Justin, who still could not find the energy to bring himself back to his feet.
“We do,” Sebastian said. “But in a few moments, Justin will be dead weight, as will I. He is suffering from the aftereffects of the crimson surge, and I haven’t slept in four days. It’s a long way for you to carry the two of us.”
Pavel kissed Sebastian gently on the forehead and then hoisted him up with his right arm.
“I’ll always bring you both home.”