“Whatever did that poor bastard do to deserve such a public death?” Roger asked lightly.
Seamus grinned. “Nothing. He was given an instruction, so he carried it out. Like a good boy does. Like your Zackery did as well. I must say, your precision could use a little work.”
Zack clenched his jaw and stared at his glass.
“Youhavemanaged to train him. Astonishing.” Seamus slid to the edge of his seat. “How did you break the spirit of a Wright?”
“I never had to break him,” Roger said casually. “I plucked up the seed the Wrights had so carelessly thrown to the trash and nurtured him.”
Zack went still.
I said something a little too true, a little too much like a master vampire. Roger refused to give in to the impulse to glance at Zack. Because he had to keep his head, he had to remain aloof and in control, or the proverbial shit would hit the fan and be set on fire, and then Seamus would make them choke on the ashes.
“Is it possible I’ve been underestimating your gifts this whole time?” Seamus said.
A trick question. It had to be. Roger smiled the slickest, most wicked way he could. “I think you’ve always had a perfect measure of me, Seamus.”
“Perhaps, but it has been so long since you reached for your potential I thought it withered away.”
Before Roger could parse out any underlying meanings to that statement, the lights around the club dimmed further. Seamus rose from his seat. He began to thread his way through the club to the stage. There were no stairs to climb, so he merely leapt, the movement as quick and natural as breathing for a mortal.
A spotlight illuminated Seamus. His dark red shirt glimmered underneath the brightness. The crowd had been murmuring, but upon his taking of the stage, the club became quiet as a tomb. Standing above the others, smiling broadly, he was the handsome specter of Roger’s nightmares and the charismatic con man of his hopes. Seamus would never be kind, never change for the better.
A cold stone dropped in Roger’s stomach. Some part of him had still held out hope, hadn’t it? That somehow everything would be simple and fall into place for him. But dread was weighing down every fiber of his being. Seamus never did anything so showy without bringing hell down upon someone.
“How wonderful that all of you accepted my invitation this evening,” Seamus said. With silence dominating the atmosphere, he easily projected his voice without a microphone. “It has been some time since we gathered like this. Halloween isn’t a gathering, is it? It’s a party! And we deserve those. They aren’t the time for business.
“Tonight, we need to deal with a few small matters. First, we have a new vampire to welcome into our coven.” Seamus motioned out toward the crowd. As he spoke, a light shone down on the pod where they were sitting, and Takashi stood. “TakashiSato, formerly ambassador of the Ancient Nell. That title will have to drop, obviously. He’ll remain the Slick Polyglot. Did you have another one? No? Ah, well, we’ll find one with time.”
The light dimmed, and Takashi sat beside Roger again.
“I hope by now that you’re all aware that one of our lost captains has returned home,” Seamus said. “Roger, Gentleman Pirate of the Seven Seas, Highwayman of the Unwatched Roads, and Tempter of Forbidden Desires. Please, join me.”
There was a perfunctory clapping of hands as Roger made his way to the stage. He was grateful his heart didn’t beat. At least he didn’t have to worry if it was beating too quickly or loudly. Instead, he only had to keep his fear smothered in the depths of his mental oceans. The chest he had thrown it into continued to bob closer and closer to the surface.Stay in the moment. Stay vigilant.
Roger hopped onto the stage, his motion as liquid as a cat’s. As he stepped closer to Seamus and shared the light, he waved out to the crowd with a single gesture.
Seamus threw an arm around his shoulders, tugging Roger down a bit as he did. Until moments like that, Roger continuously forgot Seamus was technically shorter than him. Seamus put a hand on Roger’s chest as well. “This bastard has been at my side longer than anyone besides Anton. When he vanished, I was beside myself. Roger, your return couldn’t have been better timed. Our coven is striding into the future, and you have always been one of my loyal followers.”
“Thank you, master,” Roger said smoothly.
After a quick kiss to Roger’s cheek, Seamus released him. “I have another announcement before we move on to my love’s spectacle. I believe it’s time to name another captain. After decades strengthening our bonds with other covens, I’ve asked Lucille home to take on a leadership role among us.” He motioned out in the crowd.
Lucille zipped to the front of the stage. The beam of light widened a fraction so there was space for her underneath it as well. She’d never seemed less like a teenager than she did with the wicked grin she shot toward the crowd of Devil’s Cove.
Roger attempted to meet Candide’s gaze, but the light made seeing the crowd difficult. Any step to shade his eyes would be obvious, and he had to smother any surprise.Did Lucille turn on us? How much do they know?
“Thank you, master,” Lucille said cheerfully.
Seamus kissed her cheek as polite applause bubbled up from the crowd. Then he motioned for silence. Once the crowd had settled down, he ushered Roger and Lucille to the far-right side of the stage. “If the two of you wait a few moments over here. Yes, there we go.”
The light left them, centering on Seamus as he reclaimed the middle of the stage. “What is it the mortals say these days? Ah, yes, I’m the warm-up act, though we’ve already had one this evening. We know that we vampires have that killer instinct, but discovering that mortals have such a visceral edge to them is always a delight, isn’t it?”
There was movement on the opposite side of the stage. Seamus carried on a monologue with an air of charming patience. His words were anchors, locked around Roger’s feet, and plummeted him to new depths. He wasn’t smothering his fears below the waves but drowning with them now. His smile remained, strained but there, and he fought the urge to race across the stage and discover what was happening before anyone else knew.
Because he was seeking shapes in the darkness, he spotted Anton emerging onto the side stage and nearing the proper stage. He had a rope in his hands. He caught Roger gazing is his direction and gave him a smile that would make an angel weep.
“Most of all,” Seamus was saying, his voice dripping with a level of seriousness that would’ve chilled Roger if he wasn’t already frozen, “I have called you together to remind you of what we all are.Vampires. A coven.When a vampire betrays one of us, they betray all of us. And that betrayal must be punished accordingly.”
