Instead of shoving him away, Zack had pulled him in and kissed him. With Roger’s charm, Zack’s brilliance, and Takashi’s networking, they could become a force the world would have to reckon with. All that stood in their way was Seamus.
No. What stood in our way was Roger’s indecisiveness. He cost us everything. The thought was bitter, and Takashi hated it. He had glimpsed beneath the veneer of Roger’s bright smiles. Roger had the deepest wounds of anyone Takashi had ever known, yet he continued to live. To love. To hope.
“You are strangling the fiercest part of yourself. All for a man who isn’t worth the effort, Takashi.” Anton leaned against the window frame and looked out.
A two-person patrol was striding along their path, the slow creep of their progress speaking to the sheer size of the property. Was it supposed to be some metaphor?
But then Takashi spied a group of figures moving away from the mansion and toward the fence. Four individuals were running, with a fifth over the tallest one’s shoulder. There wasn’t enough light in the yard to perceive color, only dim grays and blacks of shadows. The tallest figure was one Takashi had seen too intimately, even in shadows, not to recognize.
“Roger?” he whispered.
“He came for you and Zack,” Anton crooned, “but he found tortured, damaged Dmitri.”
Experience enabled Takashi to keep his expression neutral rather than give in to the sad frown threatening to wash over him. Dmitri was Roger’s love-that-never-worked-out. In the 1920s, they’d been recently broken up, and Takashi had seen how the two looked at each other when they thought the other wasn’t. A hundred years later, that longing remained, though hidden further below the surface. But to choose him over Takashi? Over Zack?
Anton is at my ear, and he is running. Something must have happened between them. At least Roger had made an attempt. After two months of hardly making waves in the GLC, he hadn’t taken that long to seek them out.But this also means Roger believed that Zack was here. Seamus and Anton must have abducted him as well.
But Anton wasn’t forcing Roger to stay behind. Despite plotting against them, Seamus and Anton didn’t think of either Roger or Dmitri as a threat.Considering how quickly they kicked our asses at the hotel, they might not fear us at all. Thenwhy keep Takashi? Why try the tact of polite hostage keepers rather than resort to the torture they were known for? Of course, torture didn’t come in one shape, and pain could be rendered to the soul as easily as the flesh, but if that was the case, they were taking a slow approach with him. What were they doing to Zack?
In theory, Takashi could leap through the window in front of him and try to reach Roger. That might be why Anton was showing his escape. This whole act was a setup to see how Takashi would react. Perhaps it wasn’t even real but rather an illusion.
Everything between vampires was a game. Analyzing strategy was how Takashi had stayed alive through the various courts he’d visited. Right now, Anton was feeling him out and applying pressure where he thought it’d have impact. He’d fallen onto the subjects of love and power. He’d called Takashi out on not being true to himself. And Takashi couldn’t. Bits of mortal morality still clung to him at the worst times. Seeking power for power’s sake, that was the mindset of a vampire.
Yet if I’d been doing that, perhaps Zack and I wouldn’t be fucked. Roger would be the coven master already, or we’d be dead and not having to run this gambit. Takashi lowered his gaze at that thought. Ambition was a fine thing in theory, but to follow it purely with intent over centuries was what led to the heartless vampires Takashi had seen across the globe.
Anton opened the window. Cool night air rushed in and enveloped Takashi as Anton stepped off to the side. “You can flee with Roger if you like. My love will be angry. He’ll probably put a price on your head. You’d have to keep a low profile, even if you left our territory. You could return to Roger’s side, continue scheming against my lover and I.
“Of course, you’d also sacrifice the opportunity sitting in front of you. After all, my lover hasn’t killed you yet. He’s sought your advice about international vampires. He values yourexpertise. You and Zack could have places in my lover’s court and in our home. With us, you could rise to become something more than a weak vampire’s idea man. What do you want more? A little bit of passion or to manipulate strings for centuries?”
Takashi put his hands on the windowsill. Everything Anton was saying was technically true. If he left with Roger, he would find himself in the same hole. Certainly, Seamus would have stripped Roger of his position in the coven. That he was still alive probably had more to do with the bet he and Anton had. But why let him run free unless it was either torture for him or they believed him so weak he was inconsequential?Likely both.
If Takashi stayed, he might be able to help Zack. Additionally, he’d be in a better position to study Anton and Seamus. Opportunities to shove wedges into the cracks between the two were far more possible inside the mansion rather than out in the world.What is so wrong about wanting power? About longing to be heard and appreciated by one’s peers and not just one’s lovers? Why should I fear it?
The only thing he knew Roger could offer was his love, and that would be tainted with sadness of their separation from Zack.
The fleeing figures were nearing the fence at the edge of the property. Takashi could still drop from the window and join them in seconds. A good man would run.That’s what Roger is. He needs me to be a goodvampire.I am far more useful here.
Takashi reached up and closed the window.
“I do love when I’m right,” Anton said with a smile. He put his hand on Takashi’s shoulder. “Let’s find you someone to eat.”
CHAPTER 10
Few runs in Roger’s life had been filled with the growing dread and guilt that currently filled his veins. The last few feet to the Gladwell Manor door. The night he’d fled Paris, constantly looking over his shoulder for the hunters on their tails. And this one. Anton had let them go, but his bargain was also fulfilled. Would he sweep in and demand another? Take Dmitri back?
Dmitri was practically a dead weight over Roger’s shoulder. After being lifted into place, he hadn’t moved. Hadn’t made a sound. Roger had never seen a vampire die without losing their heart or their head. Yet his stillness was troubling.Dmitri has to be alive. He just has to be.
They reached the parking lot where the Wrights’ truck waited. Roger was about to zip off into the night, but Thomas grabbed his arm and made him turn around.
“What happened in there?” Thomas demanded.
“Who gives a shit?” Cal snapped. And he aimed the shotgun at Roger’s head.
As Cal began to squeeze the trigger, Roger pivoted to the left. He used a burst of speed to move to the far side of the parking lot and deposit Dmitri. Then he rushed back toward Cal. The firstblast had fired; Cal was sweeping around to aim at him a second time.
Roger pounced, knocking Cal to the ground. If Cal wanted a fight to the death, so be it. Roger needed the blood anyway. He lunged for Cal’s throat.
But Cal managed to get the shotgun barrel between them. He used it as a bar against Roger’s chest to keep him back.
