“You know vampires. Relationships that just pick up from whenever they last saw each other, even decades apart,” Zack whispered.
Kit leaned in. “Does that mean the three of you are a thing?”
Zack frowned at them.
“I thought you and Roger were an item.”
Me too. Zack shrugged.
An interior door at the back of the cabin opened, and two people walked out. They showed no expression on their faces and wore gray bands on their arms just above the elbow. One presented a wrist to Roger, and the other offered one to Takashi. Without any preamble, Roger and Takashi drank from them. Afterward, they returned to the rear room of the cabin.
A flight attendant stepped out from the galley, bowed toward Roger, and said, “If you or your companion require more of them, master, they are available. I can bring either back here, or you or your companion can join them in the pen.”
Zack jumped to his feet. “Do theyliveback there?”
The flight attendant’s courteous smile faltered as her gaze fell on Zack. “Tonight’s selection was provided by Steward’s Garden.”
Zack’s stomach went cold, and he locked into place. He’d come across the name more than once in his research. The placewas owned by the vampire Marcus, one of Quinn’s sirelings, which made him a descendant of Roger. Supernaturals didn’t have to market, and vampires didn’t blast every detail of their businesses on social media, not even Night Deets.
Steward’s Garden was a “donor house.” But unlike Nell’s or even some of the other GLC houses, there were no protective policies. What little Zack had dug up about the business pointed to serious allegations of abuse and kidnapping—and inevitably murder. Vampires had to expend a constant effort to maintain their lust effect and dull a victim’s senses. Zack had theories on how that could aid them in brainwashing and assist in long-term conditioning, but the two people he had just seen barely had a scratch on them. He swung his gaze from the back door to Roger and Takashi. “Were they shifters?”
Roger frowned with confusion in his eyes.
“No,” Takashi said. There was a precision in his manners, something Zack had seen from Josefina and other mentors. He had the look of someone evaluating a promising equal.
The bands. I bet they’re enchanted. Zack clenched his fists. “Someone in the GLC has perfectedmind control?”
In a blur, Roger moved from his seat to stand in front of Zack. He said lowly, “You donotspeak that way to me.”
Zack opened his mouth, but Roger made a subtle gesture to indicate the flight attendant behind him. And Carver believed they were pet and master and would be living with them. There would be no true privacy to unleash his temper. Zack clenched his jaw and glared up at Roger.
Pretending to be a loyal pet was one thing.
Acting like he didn’t care about the suffering of others was utterly different.
He snarled, “Mind control.”
With an elegant motion, Takashi drew the attention of the flight attendant. “We are in need of some refreshments, dear. I’ll have a manhattan. Boy?”
“Do you have fey spirits?” Carver asked.
“We do,” the flight attendant replied.
“A shot of Winter’s Brink and a double of the best mortal gin you have on the rocks,” Carver said.
They were ordering drinks while two helpless humans waited like drones for the flight to end. Zack clenched his fists and glared up into Roger’s eyes.
A coldness swept over Roger’s features, and a mask Zack had never seen before snapped into place. He was cold and elegant and every bit the vampire Zack had imagined when he read theFrom the Graveseries. Powerful. Drop-dead gorgeous. Unfathomable.
Zack sucked in a breath.
Roger put his finger on Zack’s lips. “Don’t disappoint me, boy.”
Disappointhim?
This was what they’ve been warning you about, the rational part of his mind began.You’ve been told over and over that you wouldn’t like what you see.
He imagined a thousand ways that he could help the people trapped in the back. His dagger was in his backpack at his feet. The glory of going through a private airport and private plane meant he hadn’t needed to stow his weapon completely out of reach. He could use the magic of his dagger and a quick spell to undo the bindings of the armbands.
