Zack swallowed around the knot in his throat. “Dad, I can explain.”
“You’re worried that your bond to your sire means he’ll be able to use you or find you, and you want to get away before dark to put as much distance between you and him as possible,” Thomas said. He motioned upward. “And you want to do it before your boyfriends join you or talk you out of it.”
“Not just them,” Zack said. “I have to protect you and Amber.”
“Zack—”
“I read your letter.” Zack zoomed forward and hugged his dad tightly. He tried to hold in his tears when Thomas put his arms around him in return. “I love you, too. I can’t put you in danger.”
Thomas kissed the top of his head. “That isn’t how being a father works. If you’re in danger, I should be doing everything I can to help.”
“Dad, I have to go.” Zack withdrew from Thomas’s hug and tapped his temple. “I can hear Seamus calling to me. I can’t stay in Chicago. Maybe running will be a good thing. He’ll be distracted, and you and Roger can carry on the war and?—”
“You just caught on fire in the sunlight, Zack. You’re not going anywhere,” Thomas said. Zack opened his mouth to argue, but Thomas continued. “Unless someone else is driving.”
“You’d do that? For me?” Zack asked. “What about Amber?”
“Lacey’s here. Amber’ll be pissed about this, but I never should have let her get this close to this much action in the first place. There’s being in the field, then there’s being in a war zone. She’s too young. You are, too, but you don’t have a choice anymore.”
His dad was willing to drop everything and just run with him. No questions asked, no hesitation. Thomas wouldn’t let him go through with his escape on his own.
Zack brushed away his tears. “I don’t know why I’m crying. It’s fucking stupid.”
“Hey, no it’s not.” Thomas stepped forward and pulled him into another hug. “You’ve gone through a lot.”
“Understatement,” Zack managed.
He might have remained in his father’s arms, crying his eyes out, but there was a yelp, followed by another yelp, and then the door to the house opened again. Vincent stumbled out, not looking ahead but behind. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Lee?”
A gray-striped tabby cat sat just inside the house. He fixed his gaze upon Thomas. “I take it you two intend to run.”
“Did the cat just speak?” Zack asked. He looked to Thomas and Vincent. “You heard that, right?”
Vincent looked as shocked as Zack felt.
Thomas was calm, like heknew, and Zack knew his dad well enough to know that, yeah, somehow, Thomas had known before that moment that the cat spoke. “Lee’s not a cat. He just looks like it right now. And yes, Lee, we’re making a run for it.”
“Great. Rousting the apprentice was hard enough. I wasn’t about to wake Bastian if I didn’t have to,” Lee replied.
“Lee, you’re not coming.”
“Oh yes we are.” Lee stood, tail swishing. “The apprentice needs to learn how to control his power before heunintentionally levels a city block, Bastian gets restless, you could use the magical protection, and I fucking hate Chicago.”
Thomas puffed up. “Lee?—”
“You owe me a favor, Tommy boy. Consider this it,” Lee replied. Then he stalked off into the house.
“Wait, Bastian as in Bastian Stone?” Zack asked. “That guy’s a legend.”
“He is?” Vincent said.
Zack swung his attention from Thomas to Vincent and did a double take on Vincent. Though Vincent’s hair was an unkempt mess, his pale complexion was less gray and more white guy who never went outside. He was still scrawny, but he looked like he got to eat and sleep regularly. He looked good.
“Yeah,” Zack said, blinking so he didn’t zero in on Vincent’s pulse. “Phenomenal exorcist, proficient battle mage. He’s—is he your mentor? Are you a mage?”
“Apprentice, and likely warlock because I think having to pay for the privilege of being called a mage is stupid.” Vincent folded his arms over his chest and lifted his chin. “I already have a wand.”
“He’s on his second wand,” Thomas murmured. “The first one blew up.”
