Chapter 46
CHAPTER 46
Zack had read until dawn, until the drowsiness daylight brought claimed him and pulled him under to sleep. Takashi hadn’t returned to their bed. The first they’d seen of each other had been “breakfast,” which had been a quick meal where Zack had failed to not kill his prey. After that, Seamus and Anton had given a lengthy lecture reminding Zack and Katie about the expectations for their behavior during the party.
Takashi had sat silently through the entire thing. He hadn’t even looked at Zack.
When Seamus dismissed them to get ready, Zack slipped his hand into Takashi’s. Though Takashi held his hand, there was no warmth in his touch, no small smile or sparkle in the corner of his eye.
Halfway back to his suite, Zack let Takashi’s hand go. He waited until they were in his suite and the door was shut before he said, “You said you wouldn’t be pissed. Promised, in fact.”
“I’m aware of what I said.” Takashi continued into the bedroom and headed for the closet.
“You were fine when you left last night,” Zack said. “What happened with Seamus?”
“I can’t talk about it.” Takashi opened the closet door.
Zack paced in the bedroom while Takashi brought out their outfits for the night. He’d expected that he’d have to wear some kind of tuxedo or costume, but his attire was a beautiful black suit with a bright white dress shirt. Takashi’s suit was a wine red, and his dress shirt was the black of Zack’s suit.
With dutiful care, Takashi laid the suits out on the end of their bed and then went to the dresser to pull out accessories from the boxes on top. His motions were economical, the barest of necessary action to complete what needed to be done. The wall around his emotions had never been thicker. Zack couldn’t glimpse even a blanked-out pop-up from him.
What did you do? Zack demanded in his mental connection.
Seamus didn’t respond.
Zack came to a stop and clenched his fists. What. The. Fuck. Did. You. Do?
Still, nothing from Seamus.
Okay, the bastard wanted to be like that? Zack closed his eyes and let out his breath. He began, at the loudest of his thoughts, to scream, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?
Zackery! Seamus snapped.
I can go all fucking night if I have to, prick. Hell, I can go centuries .
A moment of silence passed. Zack restarted his demand.
Fine! Finish preparing and then meet me downstairs .
Zack opened his eyes.
Takashi finished laying out their cufflinks and tiepins for the party with a definitive clink. “What did he say?”
“You suddenly a mind reader?” Zack asked.
“You wanted an answer I wouldn’t provide. He’s the only other one who knows, and all you have to do is think at him,” Takashi replied. “One needn’t be a genius to figure out what you were doing.”
With his chilling precision, Takashi strode back to the suits and began to change into his. Though his grace was still there, he was the least seductive he’d ever been.
The familiarity of his motions finally sprang forth a realization. Zack had suffered years of cold shoulders at family events. Now Takashi was giving him one. So much for love fixing any problem . Joining Takashi in silence, Zack quickly changed into his new suit. When he struggled to slide in one of his cufflinks, Takashi started to reach to help him, but Zack dipped away from him.
The micro flinch that passed over Takashi brought low bubbles of guilt in Zack’s gut. But he wasn’t the one who had begun this distance. If Takashi wanted to hide beneath a thousand layers again, then Zack was going to let him. He could put his own walls up, too.
They descended to the foyer together. Takashi went to Anton and Katie while Zack strode past Seamus’s three-pet collection and followed his inner compass to find Seamus in a parlor. It was the room that had been wrecked the night Seamus had attacked Anton, but it’d long been repaired and set to rights. Well, not entirely repaired. The couch was a new one, the smell of the leather almost overpowering Seamus’s musty scent of the grave.
Zack’s stiletto dagger was in a lovely new sheath that had his crest, the dagger with a snake wrapped around it, and it sat on the end table beside Seamus.
“Look at you! So devilishly handsome!” Seamus smiled at him. “Go on, do a spin. I want to see if the tailor managed perfection or only did the front correctly.”
“I’m not in the mood,” Zack replied. Though his immature approach had forced Seamus into this conversation, he sought the place of balance and control he’d first discovered in dominating Takashi. That was the part of himself that was powerful and could see him through this, and the part he had to show at the debut party if he was going to display strength. “What happened last night?”
“I greeted several of the vampires you’ll be meeting tonight and welcomed them to my domain,” Seamus said lightly.
“Yeah, and what else?” Zack motioned back at the foyer. “Takashi slept in his own suite last night and won’t look at me.”
“Ah. I was afraid that might happen.” Seamus stepped closer to Zack and lowered his voice. “I had a small discussion with him.”
“Discussion,” Zack repeated. “What was the subject of this ‘discussion’?”
“I understand that you believe that you have found the true loves of your life, but those two are not worth your time, Zackery. You’ll come to see them for what they are, a puppet and a leech.”
Calm master vampires do not scream obscenities at the top of their lungs . Zack slid his hands into his pants pockets, where he could hold his fingertips against his leg. That way, he couldn’t reflexively form a fist and attempt to punch Seamus through his smug fucking face. “I thought you approved of Takashi.”
“I understand you have affection for him, and I won’t hurt him as long as you cling to that, but you must know that he isn’t partner material, not in the long run,” Seamus said smoothly. He leaned in closer to murmur in Zack’s ear. “How can you stomach him? He traded a girl’s life for a phone. A phone , Zackery. One that he used to call his sire. How can you be certain that he won’t attempt to follow Nell’s order and kill you?”
“He would never.”
“I’m certain he said he wouldn’t. He is that smart,” Seamus continued. “But he is a known liar. I don’t blame him for that. We all tell falsehoods when needs must. But you can’t expect me to hold regard for someone who conspired against me, bartered with my lover, reached out to one of my enemies in another conspiracy attempt, and convinced my son that he could become a powerful coven leader within a few hours of rising! Either he isn’t as smart as we’ve been led to believe, or he is playing a deeper game than we know.”
“You said having a goal was a good thing for me,” Zack said under his breath.
“I have a new one for you. Find a worthier partner,” Seamus said. “Perhaps you’ll meet them at the party tonight.”
Words failed Zack. Nothing he said would change Seamus’s opinion of Takashi, and he was left wondering if Seamus’s constant assurances of support had anything to actually do with him. The errands, the killing of nest vampires—even the fucking debut party—were tests of his abilities. Seamus was only trying to see if Zack had become a monster like him. He’d only ever mold him further into a villain.
He’d been na?ve to trust Seamus for even a moment.
“Why is my dagger out?” Zack said hollowly.
“I hope that I’ve eliminated the potential threat for the evening, but in case I haven’t, you should be armed.” Seamus handed over the blade.
Would Seamus kill him if he attacked right now?
“Don’t do something that would ruin this wonderful evening,” Seamus said seriously. Clearly, he had heard Zack’s thought.
After the party was a different beast. Zack slid the sheath onto his belt, putting it in place so the dagger was at his back. It wouldn’t be a quick draw, but it wouldn’t be out in plain sight either. I will get him out of this .
Seamus laughed and put his arm around Zack’s shoulders. He tugged him along as he headed for the foyer. Telepathically, he said, In time, you’ll forget about the leech .
The only one Zack hoped to forget was the one who’d promised to never throw him away. It stung that someone who seemed to care so fucking deeply for him was the worst monster he’d ever met. But toxic obsession wasn’t love. He’d jeopardized real love because he’d thought he needed Seamus’s protection.
He would never make that mistake again.