The cat flicked his tail and swiveled his head to face Bastian. His next meow was forceful and insistent.
“All right, but he’s got to agree,” Bastian said.
“The not-a-cat has an opinion?” Roger asked.
“Lee’s full of them.” Bastian wiped one hand across his lips and sighed. “He thinks I should take the kid under my wing.Which I hope”—he raised his voice a little and aimed his words at the cat—“he realizes that means we might have to settle down here in Chicago for a while.”
Lee strode up to Bastian and rubbed up against his leg. He wrapped himself around Bastian’s ankle and then lay down across his foot.
“You’re a pain in the ass,” Bastian said to Lee. He cleared his throat. “When Vincent wakes up, I’d like to talk to him. I’m guessing there aren’t parents in the picture.”
“No. I’m the closest thing he has to a guardian, though he is eighteen,” Roger replied.
A distant look filled Bastian eyes. One of his tattoos must have blocked vampiric abilities because Roger couldn’t read his fears or desires. However, he’d seen enough mortals to know when someone was thinking through everything they’d learned. Eventually, Bastian nodded once to himself, then dragged both hands down his face as he sighed.
Clapping his hands together, he said, “All right. Give me five minutes to set up, and I’ll be ready to guide you through some novice focus practices.”
“Just like that, you’d teach me?” Roger asked incredulously.
“Whenever Tommy calls, I know shit’s not only hit the fan, a sewer’s spewing in a china shop. And there are monkeys who have covered the wares in shit and are trying to outthrow the sewer’s sewage. Vampire though you may be, I noticed that boy didn’t have a fresh bite mark on him. Neither does Tommy or Amber. Even if you are going out and slaughtering the innocent behind Tommy’s back, you’re not stupid enough to kill me.” Bastian gave a wolfish grin. “And if I’m teaching you, then I’ll get to know what your magic feels like. So if you do turn out to be a maniacal undead warlock, I’ll have an upper hand on knowing it’s youandknowing what you’re capable of.”
Allowing Bastian to help him meant sharing a newly discovered part of himself. Roger had barely wrapped his mind around the notion that he had arcane power, and now he was supposed to trust this stranger? So what if Thomas had called him in—Thomas’s allegiance to Roger was clearly thin.And I likely ruined it. If Thomas relied on Bastian in disastrous situations, then either he believed he needed stronger people on his own side, or he thought Roger’s mission needed bigger players.
You asked him to find talented people. You asked for warriors. Roger put a hand to his forehead to shield his eyes. The world was too much. Zack a vampire. Takashi with a sireling. His own power. Vincent’s manifestation. Seamus throwing fucking parties after Roger had crippled him financially.
Quietly, Dmitri moved over to his side. He put his hand on Roger’s shoulder and murmured in his ear, “You can do this.”
I thought he was preparing me for the draining ritual, Dmitri had said during their first conversation in Nathaniel’s apartment. What Roger had been seeing must have been magic, and the rainbow sigil on Dmitri was proof of what Anton had done.
But without learning magic, Roger wouldn’t know what it was or how to help him.
Centuries of helplessness, and I could be as powerful as Anton. Roger put his hand over Dmitri’s and squeezed him tight as a brittle smile crossed his lips. Standing motionless had aided no one. If he could move forward, he had to.
“Five minutes,” Roger agreed. “Then I guess I’m learning magic.”
CHAPTER 42
The night was wearing thin, and yet Zack struggled to stay in bed with Takashi. Being with him was great, but Zack couldn’t shake what Takashi had told him.
Nell wanted him dead.
Nell had been the one to betray Roger and arranged a deal with a fey to put him to sleep.
How far did Nell’s reach extend? Josefina clearly had to be working with her lover, right? Had Kit or Carver been in on her scheme? What about Blake? Fuck, he hadn’t spoken to Blake since the night before the Winter’s Grand Ball. He had no idea if she knew he was a vampire or not. Had her neighbor’s cat given birth yet? Why was that where his mind went?
Because it’s easier to want a kitten heist than to think my role models are the enemy. Slowly, Zack slid his hand through Takashi’s hair. After getting cleaned up, Takashi had quickly dropped off to sleep. Zack wasn’t sure if it was the late hour or that he still wasn’t allowed much fresh blood. If Katie was bound to Takashi like Zack was to Seamus, then she could be taxing his system, too.
I can’t lose him. Zack curled around Takashi and held him close. No one was going to save them. Except for Takashi, hewas utterly alone. Roger was becoming more of a memory. He missed him, especially in the lonely dark, but they’d spent weeks apart. Plus, Roger had thrown away the script. Bankrupting Seamus and the coven had never been in any of the plans they discussed.
But then, he barely knew what to do while stuck in his own shoes. He had no idea what he’d do in Roger’s place.
Come downstairs, Seamus said in his head.
Seamus would call for him when he least wanted to move. Zack clung to Takashi.I don’t want to talk.
I can tell you need to, Zackery. Come here. Please.
Thepleasethrew him off. Seamus nearly sounded sincere, but the monster wasn’t capable of it. He’d almost killed Anton without stopping to consider that he didn’t have a motive for the theft. Just because Anton was the only one that he’d known with the power to shadow walk, he’d leapt to a conclusion and resorted to violence. And he supposedly loved Anton.
