Chapter 39
CHAPTER 39
The phone lay on the center of the coffee table in Zack’s living room, where Takashi had placed it ten minutes before. It was charged. He’d made sure of that these last two weeks. However, he hadn’t dared to call anyone from it yet. While his new phone lacked his old one’s stored contacts, he had memorized a vital set of numbers.
One was Nell’s.
Anton had sent out actual invitations to Zack and Katie’s debut party. Either this night or the next, Nell would receive one. If she somehow hadn’t heard about what had happened the night of the Winter’s Grand Ball, she’d definitely know that something was amiss after that.
Though Takashi had called her a few times before being brought to the mansion, their last in-depth conversation had been months ago in Tennessee. Of all my sirelings, you have always had a clear vision of the bigger picture , she had told him. Keep Roger on track .
He had failed miserably at that. Would Nell blame him for his lack of foresight? For taking things slow? For falling in love rather than pursuing the objective? She had Josefina, who she was devoted to, but Takashi knew that if Nell had to sacrifice her in order to protect herself, she would. She’d given Eulolia over to a dragon and never looked back.
Despite a vampire’s long life, stalling was still a bullshit move. Takashi sighed at himself, then grabbed the phone and headed into the closet where Zack’s coffin lay. He dialed. As he pressed the phone against his ear, he leaned back against the door.
“Hello?” Reed, Nell and Josefina’s favorite pet, said. Takashi had met him a handful of times, but he never forgot a voice.
“Hello, Reed. It’s Takashi. Is our master about?” Takashi tried to keep his tone light.
There was a slight shuffle of noise on the other end, but within seconds, Nell said, “Are you all right?”
Takashi blinked. Nell sounded genuinely concerned for his well-being. “I am … safe is an overstatement, I’ll admit. What do you know?”
“Roger has brought Josefina into his mess,” Nell replied. “I hope that he has told her everything.”
“He trusts her. I imagine he has.” Takashi closed his eyes. He had to focus to listen both to his conversation and for any indication that someone was entering Zack’s suite or passing too close. “You’ve heard what happened at the hotel?”
“Seamus took you and the hunter,” Nell said.
“We’re at his mansion. The situation has become complicated. Very complicated.”
“I appreciate your concern for propriety, but I have been waiting weeks to hear from you. Unless you have ages to speak, forget your trepidations and talk.”
Bluntness was one of her better traits. Takashi let the words unspool from him. “The night we were brought to the mansion, Seamus made it clear that if I cooperated, he would be lenient. He doesn’t seem to care much about what Roger does, considers him nothing more than a toy. But we had a long conversation about international affairs. I betrayed nothing of your deals or your domain.”
“I know you wouldn’t,” Nell said gently.
“I’ve been a valued hostage. Better than what happened in London, not quite as nice as what happened in Tokyo in ’75.” Takashi continued scanning the background for any sign someone was nearby, but so far, no interruption. He decided to skip over remaining to stay in the mansion during Roger’s rescue of Dmitri. Nell might not understand his reasons. “What you need to know is that I’ve created a new sireling, Kathleen. She’s shown arcane prowess already. In time, I think she’ll be quite strong.”
“You are dancing around another point.” Nell’s voice was sharper. “I can feel it.”
“Seamus turned Zack into a vampire. I think?—”
“Kill him,” Nell commanded.
“We plan to, but Seamus?—”
“Not Seamus. Zack.”
Words were a scrambled mess in his mind. He hadn’t had a chance to explain how strong Zack already was or that Zack would make an excellent leader for the coven. He’d believed that Nell would accept Zack as a vampire without issue.
Instead, she was ordering his death.
“When you put a stake in Zack’s heart, whatever portion of Seamus’s power is within him follows him into his true grave,” Nell continued.
If she learned just how much power resided within Zack, she might dare to send actual assassins.
“Roger’s in no position to claim the territory,” Takashi said.
“Let the GLC fall to rubble,” Nell replied without missing a beat.
She had sunk time and resources into aiding Roger and training Zack. However, she had also pushed Roger to have a timetable, to hurry. If Roger had come back to the city and quickly killed Seamus, his position inside the GLC would have been tenuous. Challengers always rose when one vampire claimed another’s position, but Roger would have been swarmed with those who doubted he had any strength since he had been gone for decades.
Civil war was inevitable. The only question was how much of the GLC and its territory would remain when the smoke cleared.
A brilliant, terrible epiphany struck.
Nell hadn’t cared about the money she loaned to Roger. What were a few million dollars to an empire of billions? When Zack and Roger moved into her mansion, she must have noticed their attraction for each other. She’d likely known that Zack was never going to turn his blade on Roger. She had noticed that Roger was reluctant to take a stand.
So she had called Takashi, her loyal fledgling, and he had dropped everything to come home to obey her orders. She had told him to be mindful of Zack’s temper and intelligence, to be wary that Roger’s smiles were false, and that the GLC was full of the worst sort of tricksters. She’d told him to be on his guard, not to allow Roger to come too close to his heart. After the meeting with her, Zack, and Roger, she’d promised that she would gladly bring him back into her coven when the time was right.
If the GLC no longer existed, she would be able to sweep anyone who wanted to join her into her ranks without issue. In fact, she could offer her protection to the willing, and they would likely run into her arms. She would be able to leverage her laws upon newcomers rather than attempt to enforce them upon the unwilling.
Why become a conqueror when she could be a savior?
She had never been satisfied with the size of her domain.
She had never wanted Roger to succeed.
And if all that were true—and it must be; Takashi’s gut and heart were in sync with the horrible realization—then something that had bothered him made terrible sense.
After all, Roger had been in a coma in the heart of her sanctuary for over thirty years. She’d known about the coffin and done nothing? Just allowed an unknown vampire to sleep in the basement of one of her citizens? No. No, that wasn’t like her.
The whole world had known that Seamus was looking for Roger. It had been one of the hottest pieces of gossip in every coven Takashi had visited. Seamus’s international reputation had suffered, and speculation had run rampant. Everyone— everyone —had considered it an inside job, that most likely Roger had finally run away. Until Takashi saw him again, he was certain of the same. Very few knew the truth about the magical coma.
But how better to destabilize a powerful neighbor than to make one of his favorite playthings disappear into thin air? To wait out the years, knowing that the perfect pawn was slumbering well within arm’s reach? And when the time was right, release that pawn to create absolute chaos in order to finally bring down that enemy.
Nell had sent him with Roger, counting on Takashi to be who he was and Roger to be himself and for their connection to never run deeper than a few good rolls in the bed. If not for Zack, Takashi would have kept his heart sealed away. They both would have.
“What was his name?” Takashi asked, his voice dry.
“Whose name?” Nell said carefully.
“The pretty fey you convinced to put Roger to sleep,” Takashi replied.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Takashi knew that tone of voice. He’d heard it many times over the last hundred years. She was lying. “How long have you been planning to kill Zack for interfering with your schemes?”
Nell said nothing, which spoke volumes.
Being right should have felt pleasant, but Takashi only had a coldness growing in his gut. “He completely ruined your timetable by waking Roger early, didn’t he?”
“What do they know?” Nell asked icily.
“Nothing. I only just figured it out myself,” Takashi replied. He heard footsteps in the hallway, so he lowered his voice. “I thought you cared for humans, at the very least for our kind.”
“I do ,” Nell snapped. “That is the reason the GLC must be destroyed. There is no purging the rot when everything has been infected. Zack will be an unfortunate casualty, but the lives saved in the end will be in the thousands. Hundreds of the thousands.
“Stake him. Grab your sireling. Come home. I can hide you until Seamus is finally ashes. We can work together to establish control over the GLC’s territory the right way.”
Which would put Takashi right back where he started, under her thumb, never to hold true power. Never to be the one who made the decisions that mattered.
Never again to hold the two men he loved.
The outer door to the suite was opening.
“I have to go.”
“Takashi—”
He ended the call and placed the cell phone into Zack’s unused coffin, gently opening and closing the lid. Then he strode out into the bedroom and headed for the living room.
Zack interrupted him by walking through the bedroom door. He was making a beeline for his desk, and he was practically glowing with a chipper energy. In his hands was a stack of eight books that he balanced effortlessly. He danced around Takashi and continued on. New vampires had a habit of moving too quickly when they were excited. Zack had never shown that habit, but he was doing so now.
“I thought you’d be stuck in party planner mode until dawn.” Zack sat the stack on his desk and dug in the drawers to pull out a pen and a fresh notebook.
“We’ve settled on everything important,” Takashi remarked as he casually walked over to Zack. “Anton is talking of having another party here at the mansion in a few weeks.”
“Let me guess, he wants to throw a ‘bloody Valentine’s Day’ party with like actual hearts in jars.”
“I reminded him that dismembered body parts were gauche these days. Where did you find these?” Takashi laid his hand on the top book.
“The massive library that younger me would have sold his soul to find.” Zack paused. “Okay, maybe that’s not that funny since I let a demon in my dreams. I’m still not sure who’s curating it. Maybe Grimsby.”
“The infamous fey butler I have yet to meet?”
Zack scowled at him. “You’ve seen him.”
Takashi raised an eyebrow.
“He’s eight feet tall, sort of looks like a skeleton with skin, extremely thin. I’ve seen you and him in the same room,” Zack replied petulantly.
Kill him , Nell had ordered.
Perhaps because she’d issued the command, or perhaps because he had already tumbled off the tightrope of keeping a level head, Takashi was certain that he had never loved Zack harder than he did in that moment. His excitement, his energy, his everything called to Takashi in a way that was deeper than his soul. Zack was a missing piece of him.
“He must be using an illusion on himself,” Takashi said softly.
“Then why do I get to see him but you don’t?”
Takashi shrugged with one shoulder. “You’re the son of the master of the house, and I’m, at best, a guest?”
Zack scrunched his nose in such a perfect, utterly him way that Takashi hoped he would see him continue to do so for the next five hundred years or more. The movement was brief, reflexive, and gone by the time Zack turned his gaze toward Takashi. Zack narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. “What’s up?”
“Hm?”
“You’re doing a lot of intense staring.”
Takashi wrapped his arms around Zack and tugged him closer. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you excited and happy like this.”
Just as Takashi was about to kiss him, Zack put a finger on Takashi’s lips and pushed him back an inch. Intelligence sharpened Zack’s ruby-red eyes. “You’re hiding something. You have that whole ‘keeping a secret’ vibe.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Takashi murmured.
Zack’s gaze hardened to a glare. “I thought we agreed not to hide shit from each other.”
The last thing Takashi wanted to do was declare that Nell was not someone they could trust. The revelation would have to be shared, but Seamus might read Zack’s mind. If Seamus learned, he might launch an all-out war on Nell, and that would cause far more death than Takashi wanted.
Of course, not telling Zack was a risk as well. Takashi didn’t doubt that Nell was figuring out how to put assassins in place to destroy Zack.
They won’t reach him tonight .
“I learned something upsetting,” Takashi whispered, “but I don’t want to ruin this mood of yours. I want to cherish it and you. Please?”
“You promise to tell me?”
“Yes. In a while.” Takashi rested his hand on the stack. “What did you find in the library, lover?”
“I’ve been digging into dragons for the most part. No luck on demon deals yet, but I’ve also been reading up on our kind. Everything Seamus put in my room is all ‘vampires are the supreme predators.’ The library has whole shelves on what vampires can be like.” Zack twisted around, remaining in Takashi’s loose hold but facing his books. “Mom would’ve called this propaganda. There’s this one book by Edmund Weldrick that’s a translation of another—do you know Italian?”
“No.” Takashi stepped behind him and slid his arms around Zack from behind into a more complete embrace. “Weldrick, as in the mage who began mage circles?”
“His grandson. He spends most of this book arguing against the theories of Beatrice the Profane Sorcerer,” Zack rattled on. “She’s confident that when the dragons left our world, real magic started to fade.”
Takashi kissed behind Zack’s ear, then his neck, while Zack continued to speak. Hearing him so excited, so thrilled at the prospect of learning, was invigorating. “A theory she’s still teaching.”
“Still?” Zack straightened, which neatly lowered Takashi’s right hand to be over his cock. “She’s still alive?”
“A few practitioners have figured out how to slow their age. She’s one of a dozen, perhaps.” Takashi nibbled on Zack’s ear, careful not to touch his fangs to his tender skin. “She lives in Southern France these days.”
“I would love to talk to her. Do you know her? Like, well enough to call her up?” Zack asked. He gasped when Takashi stroked his thumb down the length of his clothing-covered dick and squirmed as Takashi slid his other hand under his shirt. “And what are you up to?”
“Do you have any idea how incredibly hot you are when you’re a bubbling fount of knowledge?” Takashi murmured in his ear. He pressed a kiss to his jaw and another right beside the first.
“All right,” Zack said slowly, his natural skepticism turning into a slow squirming in Takashi’s arms. He leaned his head farther to the side, and Takashi continued kissing and nipping him. “I read this whole book that theorized that nest vampires aren’t actually related to ancient vampires like Nell or Seamus at all. And I found this other theory that all born shifters are actually descended from dragons, which I don’t think makes a lot of sense, considering there are born shifters who can spread their ability to regular people through infection. And— ah .”
Takashi grinned against Zack’s neck. He’d unbuttoned Zack’s fly and was pulling his zipper down slowly. As he eased Zack’s underwear down enough to release his hardening cock, he nudged his own still-covered member against his backside. Zack gave a longer groan and laid his head back against Takashi’s shoulder.
“What have you found out about dragons?” Takashi asked.
“Hard to think that they’re still real and the family journals never mentioned them,” Zack murmured. He drifted his hand down Takashi’s arms until his hands rested over his. His fingertips brushed against the between places of Takashi’s knuckles and remained there. “But then our records only go back about two hundred years. At least my family’s. Dragons have been gone since the 1300s, though there are some—ah, yes, do that again—sightings and lore later on that get written off as folklore and fiction. I guess— mmm —I guess—hey …”
Takashi took his hand off Zack’s cock and used both hands to undo the buttons of Zack’s shirt. He nibbled on him. “Keep going.”
“Fine,” Zack pouted. He perked up when Takashi turned him around and pressed him up against the desk. Then he swore, twisted enough so he could scoot the books out of proximity of his ass, and braced himself against the desk.
Takashi chuckled against his neck, then kissed his way down as he went to his knees in front of him. As he planted one kiss against Zack’s hip, he murmured, “You were saying? About the dragons being gone?”
“Me rambling is really doing it for you?”
“Yes.” Takashi placed a kiss close to the base of Zack’s shaft. His own cock was hard, pressing against his pants and straining the material, but he was content to leave himself waiting. Slowly, he licked a line up the underside of Zack’s dick. “You’re not talking.”
“Sorry,” Zack breathed out. “Kinda distracted.”
Takashi risked a glance up, and the heat in Zack’s eyes was a blaze that warmed Takashi’s heart. He had dulled his psychic sense to protect Zack from his own fears and, in turn, had lessened his ability to feel Zack’s lust. He dared to open himself a fraction, and the flood of Zack’s desire rocked him backward.
Zack reached down and gently threaded his fingers through Takashi’s hair. His smile turned smug. “Now you’re distracted.”
“Can’t blame me. I like looking at my very attractive, smart boyfriend,” Takashi replied.
“I’ll start talking when your mouth starts working,” Zack teased.
“All right, then.” Takashi smiled up at him, and the joy in Zack’s face made his heart swell.
And Nell would rob him of Zack. Would have him ruin everything he had spent his whole life wishing for and the last three months actively working to build so that she could destroy the Great Lakes Coven and add more to her own empire.
Takashi had been a fool to think she was satisfied ruling from her sanctuary without ambition. He had traveled the world, had spoken with countless vampires. None of them were ever sated. Why had he believed she was different? Because she claimed it?
If not for Zack tugging him into bed with Roger, Takashi might have remained Nell’s loyal lieutenant. She was the best of the masters he knew.
But she never saw him as more than an assistant.
Roger and Zack had seen more in him. He had known Roger was his chance at freedom. But Zack?
Zack was always the surprise.
Zack tapped one finger against the end of Takashi’s nose. “When I get older, am I going to get lost in my own head all the time?”
Wanting to seize the moment he was living, Takashi pushed aside his worries. He had meant his words when he declared he intended to cherish Zack. His grin returned. “Perhaps not. But you’ll likely learn patience.”
“I can be patient, if it’s worth the time,” Zack replied.
“Mm. I’ll make sure it is.” Takashi leaned forward again, sighing happily as Zack threaded his hand into his hair once more, and began to kiss near the root of Zack’s cock. With one hand, he kept him pinned against the desk. The other he used to slowly stroke Zack. Between kisses, he added, “You’re supposed to be telling me about what you learned.”
“There are seven kinds of dragon,” Zack said quickly. A moan underscored his words, as if ready to erupt with the right pressure. “Earth, air, water, fire—those are the obvious ones. Then there’s radiant, umbral, and spirit. I swear spirit’s just a catch-all term for ‘we built everything around elements.’ They like their hoards—material, people, land, anything that can be stockpiled.”
Takashi hummed as he began to lick Zack’s member in long slides. Whenever he reached his tip, he brushed it against his lips, teasing that he might draw it into his mouth, but he didn’t.
Zack groaned throatily and nudged forward. Takashi put a little more pressure into his hold on him. Zack could’ve overpowered him, but he didn’t, choosing to remain against the desk.
“There’s this guy who thought all the gods might be dragons,” Zack said. Soft moans interrupted his speech. “Because of their magic and their shapeshifting. It’d be a good scam. Just convincing people you’re so powerful you deserve the best of their stuff? And some people think that they’re from another dimension entirely. That they brought life with them—and Takashi, please , I need to feel more of your mouth than that.”
With a little laugh and a devious idea, Takashi spun Zack around. He spread his cheeks and licked close to his hole. Zack held on to the desk with both hands and whined loudly. His pleas turned into a loud, grateful moan when Takashi pushed his tongue into his hole. But Zack had stopped talking, so Takashi slipped his tongue out and rested his cheek against Zack’s butt cheek, nose brushing along his sensitive skin.
“Oh, come on ,” Zack complained.
“I like the sound of your voice,” Takashi murmured. He kissed Zack tenderly.
“It’s taking all my fucking control not to spin around and pin you to the fucking floor and fuck you,” Zack said, his voice going low and rough.
A sliver of ethereal quality echoed in his words, bringing out a deeper resonance that went straight to Takashi’s already hard cock. He started to reach for his own cock but stopped. Not yet . “You still have that control, though,” he whispered. “So, talk.”
Zack moaned in frustration and dipped his head. His body was tense, long, beautiful lines of muscle. The desk cracked, just a little, and he spat out, “The world got populated.”
Takashi continued probing him, pushing his cheeks wider apart so he could spear him further.
“ Ah . Fuck, yes. I’m talking, I’m talking, don’t you dare fucking stop!” Zack growled. He pushed his ass back toward Takashi, which Takashi took and used to his advantage. Zack’s interspersed moans were hungrier, more demanding. “Mortals got smarter. Other supernaturals got jealous. And dragons are living magic. Every part of them can channel great power. So they were hunted, their own magic used against them. When their numbers got too low, dragons made a pact with the fey and disappeared to their realms. Mostly. Some stayed, apparently. And I am so fucking done with talking.”
Zack’s words were warning enough, but his desire went from a liquid pressure to a solid force. He whirled and caught Takashi off guard with his speed and strength. Effortlessly, he trapped Takashi against the floor, body over his, and kissed him with a needy, demanding tongue. He was overwhelming in every way.
Takashi let go of his control. He was in Zack’s hands.
Zack was quick to strip him bare. Somehow, losing his clothes felt like baring his soul, though that could have been from the way Zack raked his gaze over him. A feral light was in his ruby-red eyes, and he was possessive in his kiss. Takashi opened to him, spreading his legs when Zack spat on his hand and then spread his spit on his own cock. It wasn’t nearly enough to ease the push of his cock into Takashi, but Takashi liked the burn. He arched and relished how Zack tugged his hair to pull his head even farther back.
Zack nipped his neck, his ear, his shoulders—everything within easy reach of his mouth. His fangs bruised and pierced, but the wounds healed nearly as soon as they were made.
Their rhythm was slow at first. Zack was having to push, thick and full and stretching Takashi. Takashi wrapped his legs around Zack’s waist.
“Yes,” Takashi whimpered, leaning into Zack’s hand still in his hair. Every little movement of Zack’s brushed against some part of him, inside or out, and tears formed at the corners of his eyes. It was too much and not enough.
Then he was stretched enough that Zack slammed into him, deeper and deeper.
Zack tapped into his supernatural strength and speed, and all Takashi could do was hold on and ride every fucking wave of pleasure that pounded him. He spent across his chest, splashing Zack as well, and yet Zack wasn’t done.
Taken apart, put back together, apart, and finally, the bliss-filled void with only one thought. I never want to lose him .
Eventually, time and space had meaning. Zack was curled over him, an arm slung over his chest despite the mess, and he rested his head against Takashi’s shoulder. Lazily, he grinned at him. “There you are.”
“You fucked my brains out,” Takashi replied. He was a mess inside as well as out. Zack had come at some point after he’d lost connection with reality. “They take a while to come back.”
“I should start timing.” Zack had a devious note in his voice. “See how long I can make it last. I’ve got eternity to perfect it.”
The sentence rubbed the raw place in Takashi’s mind. Kill him , Nell had said. As if destroying him should be easy. As if Takashi should simply obey her, no questions asked.
“You’re pulling back.” Zack scowled at him. He propped himself up enough to look down at Takashi. Worry filled his red eyes. “What’s wrong?”
Slowly, Takashi reached up and pushed a strand of Zack’s hair back. Hiding the truth would leave him exposed. He offered Zack his wrist. “Drink.”
Zack’s scowl tightened. “Takashi?—”
“I don’t want you to doubt what I feel for you when I tell you what I’ve learned,” Takashi replied seriously.
Carefully, Zack turned Takashi’s wrist so the angle was better for his mouth. He planted a kiss on his skin, then bit. His fangs sliced with only a hint of pain, and blood quickly welled. He sucked on the wound.
After only two swallows, Zack pulled away. Dark blood was on his lip, and he licked it quickly. A fresh uncertainty was in his eyes, but not the worry of someone who feared for their relationship. No, this was what Takashi felt. The fear that someone might be truly a piece of him.
When Zack met Takashi’s gaze, his ruby-red eyes softened. He stroked Takashi’s hair. “You love me. I love you, too. Now, what has you freaked-out?”
“Nell wants me to kill you,” Takashi said quickly.
Zack stilled, no breath, nothing, and a long moment passed before he said, “You aren’t hers to command. You belong to the GLC.”
“I belong with you ,” Takashi whispered. “With Roger and whomever else we declare as ours.”
“You do.” Zack kissed his temple, then his lips gently. “Was that all Nell wants? Not that my death’s a small thing to demand.”
“No.” And Takashi told Zack everything about what Nell had done to Roger.