How did I miss that?Roger couldn’t help the next thought.Or did he hide it from me?
As they passed, Zack fell in behind them. The three of them continued on to the first floor. Roger didn’t need to search for Seamus on this floor; the air was cooler the closer they were to him. Seamus’s scent of the grave was pungent, even from rooms away.
Bracing himself, Roger walked through the archway into one of the sitting rooms.
The first time Roger had seen Seamus, the vampire had been in the back corner of a tavern with his companion. He’d been just another stranger, but he had a beauty that Rogercouldn’t stop beholding. To this night, Roger wasn’t sure if that was because Seamus had used his powers or because he was a handsome man. Throughout that night, Roger had caught Seamus watching him and drank and partied all the harder for it. Half the reason he’d dragged Dmitri out behind the tavern for a quick fuck was because he kept thinking about the stranger.
Roger hadn’t known he was a vampire. He’d clocked that Seamus had seemed interested in him with a hunger that Roger thought he wouldn’t mind. And in that moment, in that night, he wasn’t sure what he’d hoped for.
And all the nights that followed? The pleasures had outweighed the problems for centuries.
Hadn’t they?
Or had he just been powerless?
Memories faded away to the moment—the rush of seeing Seamus becoming a reality. He had found a simple wooden chair and sat on it in the center of the room as if he were a king holding court. There was nothing new about that. He was telling a story, engaging the audience by sweeping his gaze across the crowd and making eye contact with the vampires who would meet him. His voice was smooth with an ageless reverberation only the true masters gained with their centuries.
The warm feeling dropped from Roger when he realized that Takashi was sitting in close proximity to Seamus. His position wasn’t the concern, but his careful attitude raised a flag. Takashi’s expression was guarded. Kit and Carver were sitting on the floor beside him. Carver was not nearly a skilled enough actor. His brow was pinched in concern.
“And this one,” Seamus said, pointing at Roger as he stood, “was in the middle of the room without a stitch of clothing on and a vodka martini in his hand. He didn’t miss a beat. He strode across the room to the prohibition agents and kissed one! They, of course, were too stunned by his beauty to do anything but givein to him. Those that lived had the best night of their lives, and those that didn’t, well, they made an excellent meal!”
Seamus had left out parts of the story. Like how Roger had known the lead agent and had been having an affair with him. Like the fact that Seamus and Roger had used their magic on the men to bring out their desire to fuck rather than destroy and those that couldn’t handle their sudden attraction to men became the first course.
The part of Roger that loved the taste of blood and the feel of warm flesh in his hands loved that memory. Another part of him shrunk away from it. He’d always ignored the shrinking part because what else could he do but enjoy his life? Even now, he packaged away the guilt rising in his gut and turned on his charm to its highest level.What will I tolerate?
Roger laughed with the crowd in order to disguise the painful thorns in his mind.
The laughter died down when Seamus strode toward Roger. He held his arms out for an embrace. “You’ve finally come home!”
For a brief instant, hope fluttered, and Roger wished that he could believe Seamus was happy to see him. He made that wish another shield and met Seamus’s embrace, hugging him in return. “Master, it’s been entirely too long. Please forgive my absence.”
“Of course,” Seamus cooed. “We all take a break from time to time. You should have told me you needed it!”
“The urge came on rather suddenly.” Roger had been planning his lies for months, and they tumbled from his lips. “You know how impulsive I can be.”
“I do.” Seamus’s gaze flicked from Roger to a place over his shoulder.
Zack, Roger realized. He tightened his grip on Seamus’s arm. “I have a gift for you.”
“Oh?” Seamus was not subtle about sliding his attention toward Zack again.
With a touch of flair, Roger drew out the envelope holding Takashi’s document and handed it to Seamus. “Forgive me for reappearing in Taliville, but I was trying to convince Nell to release my lover so that he could join us.”
Raising an eyebrow, Seamus took the envelope and removed the parchment it contained. He read it, and a flash of surprise crossed his features. “This is genuine?”
“It is,” Takashi said as he stood. He threaded his way through the crowd of pets sitting on the floor nearer to his couch and made his way over to Seamus and Roger. Closing the distance wasn’t necessary to be heard—the room had fallen into complete silence—but Roger could have kissed him for the solidarity.
“What could you have done that convinced her to release you?” Seamus asked.
“Fallen in love with one of your captains and refuse to travel for her anymore.” Takashi took Roger’s hand in his. “We debated for a few years where the better home would be. I loved the mountains, but Roger missed the city.”
The lie was a good one, and Roger could almost believe it himself. He smiled at Takashi. Bolstering his nerve, he swung his gaze back to Seamus.
Seamus regarded the two of them and then looked past them to Zack. “How does your hunter brat play into it?”
“Can you believe that Quinn tried to have me killed?” Roger said as if he didn’t care. “I stopped the boy before he could finish the job. He was simply too beautiful to kill. I had to have him.”
In his very long life, Roger had had to bullshit his way into Seamus’s good graces too many times to count. But every time came down to the one instant, the fraction of a second where Seamus might turn angry instead of accepting. Trying to predict which way he would turn had been the challenge of centuries.
