“Because I’m not allowed to speak for my ‘master,’ and he was pushing to know whether or not you were into him,” Zack replied.
“Would you please calm down and tell me what’s wrong?” Roger asked.
Zack narrowed his eyes and scanned Roger from head to toe and back to his face. The fire in his eyes shifted to a laser focus without any heat. Then he dipped his head and ran his hand through his hair. “I’ve been sucker punched a few times tonight. I guess since we have to worry about feeding Takashi, too, that it’s not a bad thing Carver’s coming along. And if he fucks up, it’ll take the focus off of me. You realize you have to have a reason Takashi is coming with us. ‘Just because’ will be suspicious. People might think you’re working for Nell.”
“The formal release will ease most of those worries.” Roger gently folded the paper and put it into his suit jacket pocket. “Takashi and I have been known to connect. We could say he’s my boyfriend.”
“‘Connect,’” Zack repeated. “You’ve hooked up before.”
“A few times.”
“Right.” Zack hugged his arms to his chest. “Yeah. That’ll work.”
“Zack—”
“I’m tired, okay? And tomorrow’s a big night, and I’m freaking out about it.” Zack turned and headed down the hall. “Don’t worry about me.”
Roger was out of words himself.
As soon as they were in their bedroom, Zack said, “I think I’m going to bed.”
Tension underscored Zack’s words and made his shoulders taut, but when he didn’t want to talk, he remained silent. Roger started to reach for him but went for his sleep pants instead. “I’ll join you.”
“You sure? It’s a few hours until dawn.”
“Like you said, tomorrow is a big night. I wouldn’t mind a little quiet.” Roger glanced to Zack. “Especially quiet spent with you.”
A glimmer of a soft smile graced Zack’s lips, and he relaxed his shoulders. “Okay.”
They changed, Roger sending a quick text to Dmitri about the additions to the flight, and settled into bed. Zack curled up against Roger. His warmth and the weight of him brought an intangible peace to Roger’s mind. He pressed a kiss to the top of Zack’s head when he was certain he was asleep and held him through the night.
CHAPTER 8
Zack said nothing as he cuddled into Roger. Sleep took forever, but he gradually dropped into it. His dreams twisted memories into nightmares and ended with Cal coming for him with a stake. In the morning, he gently unentangled himself from Roger so as not to wake him—Roger was hard to wake, but caution was wise. He’d tried to choke him to death once when he was between sleep and wakefulness. But Zack had discovered that short of shoving Roger out of bed, he didn’t wake during the day.
He said nothing bothered him to Reed before heading out for his last day in Taliville. He made posts in the Fang app and updated his status on Night Deets. One of them even welcomed Carver to Roger’s collection with a pirate booty joke. He had coffee and lunch like he’d been doing for weeks. His final goodbye to the librarian was tearful on their part. They were going to miss him.
At his last dinner with Reed and the other pets he’d gotten to know, he smiled and made polite conversation and joked about how wonderful getting out of the small town for a big city would be. Kit was full of energy, and Carver soaked up attention, but at least no one was staring at Zack. He drank three glasses of wine when he’d meant to have one.
The wine made the nothing in his heart hurt less.
But in the shade of Carver’s shadow, Zack was left to think. Roger hadcrumbledwhen faced with conflict. He’d caved to Nell’s demand and Takashi’s compromise and in a room of vampires looked to Zack for guidance. And he wouldn’t be able to do that in Chicago because Zack would have to act like a lesser. Like something Roger owned.
And there was the way Roger wilted when Zack got angry in the hallway.
That wasn’t the real Roger. The real Roger was charismatic and confident. He could charm the pants off anyone he wanted to, and he could make anyone feel desired. Wanted.Worthy. That was how he made Zack feel. He saw into him and turned him about until the shitty stuff fell away.
A good leader should be capable of that.
A good vampire leader couldn’t cower, though. Not once.
What’s bothering you more?the Cal voice taunted throughout the day.The fact that your boyfriend sucks at scheming or that you’ve tied your fate to a loser?Which wasn’t a true thought. Or a fair one. Roger had baggage. Centuries of it. He’d be able to deal with it. They just had to get rid of Seamus and Anton so he could.Sure. Because that guy really faces his problems.
Zack caught himself clenching his fists so hard that he had half-moon marks on his palms more than once during dinner.
He had a fourth glass of wine with dessert.
The middle of fall meant the nights came on quicker, so by the time dinner was done, darkness had come. Zack finished up his goodbyes, left Kit and Carver waiting in the foyer, and made his way to the bedroom to check on Roger.
