But Roger had never shown real command. Though Zack and Takashi had nudged and pressured, Roger had hemmed and hawed on a decision.
That wasn’t leadership material. Not in a world of vampires and certainly not when the intricacies of inter-coven and inter-species politics came into play. A coven the size of the GLC needed someone who could lay out a plan, who could correlate data, who wasn’t afraid to call out people’s bullshit, who demanded answers, who didn’t hesitate when one of their favorite humans was getting his neck torn open.
A wild, insane, impossible, beautiful solution tickled the edges of Takashi’s mind. He batted the notion away. Such a thing wasn’t done. No one hadeverpulled that off. And yet it crept up. It took root and bloomed and begged for water.
Coven Master Zackery Wright, the Blade of the Night.
Oh, it was ludicrous. It had to be! This was only Zack’s second night as a vampire!
But on his first night, he’d proven to be faster and stronger than Takashi. He had the martial training. He had the knowledge. The intelligence. The ruthless drive to shove a stake into a vampire who threatened him. He would have Roger and Takashi, who were capable of charming just about anyone they met.
Nell would support him, especially if Takashi made the case. All she really wanted was someone who was “weaker” to the north of her. Zack would appear weak, possiblytooweak for Nell’s liking, but Takashi could talk her into it. She liked Zack and had respected him as a human.
A little support from her would make the other North American covens hesitate. The right phone calls to a few friendsoverseas would keep the international covens from descending en masse.
The real problem would be holding the coven together. Anton was right; the group of vipers that made up the leadership were petty dilettantes. Getting them to turn on each other wouldn’t be hard, but that might lead the coven into a civil war.
Candide would be key. She had the respect of other supernaturals in the city and ran the largest donor house in the country. That was bloodandrevenue.If she’s not on board, Roger might be able to convince her. Or at least convince Ezra, and he can bend Candide’s ear. If that doesn’t work…
Zack had quieted from sobbing to gently crying a few minutes before, but Takashi missed the moment he stopped entirely. With tender grace, Zack sat up, still leaning into Takashi. He kept his hand on the center of Takashi’s chest. His brows pinched together, and confusion clouded his red eyes.
They don’t turn gray. They’re always red, like an ancient’s. How much power did Seamus share? Takashi put his hand on Zack’s shoulder, then touched his cheek instead. “What is it?”
Zack’s scowl deepened. “I’m trying to figure out what that feeling is.”
That was when Takashi felt the pressure of Zack in his psyche. Takashi had put up a firm wall, but somehow, Zack had slipped past his natural defenses. An instinctive, self-preserving fear kicked in, and Takashi used that to push Zack to the outer edges of his desires.
Zack blinked and pulled back. “What the hell?”
“Peeking that far into my mind isn’t polite.”
Zack’s soft scowl hardened into a stern glare. Vampires tended to make the young. In fact, Seamus had likely been thirty at most when he’d been turned. Nell younger than that. Takashi was used to seeing youth gain the sharpness of experience’s edge. But Zack had never seemed so mature before. The bloodytear trails helped. “I was not ‘peeking.’ I was vibing. You let me glimpse whatever that was.”
“You couldn’t tell?” Takashi asked.
“I haven’t had even a crash course in desire-reading.” Zack motioned at his face. “And I thought it was pretty obvious I’m still struggling to understand my own fucking emotions.”
“I don’t know when Seamus will interrupt us, but if you’re feeling up to it, we could practice a few things.” Takashi started to sit up.
Zack put his hand on Takashi’s chest and pushed him back against the headboard with athud. He shoved away the comforter and straddled Takashi’s legs. “Great. Let’s start with definitions. What was that desire?”
“Why don’t you tell me what you think it was, and I’ll tell you if you’re right or wrong?” Takashi countered.
Zack narrowed his eyes.
A simmering want seeped from Zack’s cool touch into Takashi. He wasn’t pushing it out, but his broadcast was so clear that Takashi couldn’t help tuning in.
Zack wanted answers, and he longed for some measure of control.
The urge to flirt, to be just enough of a pest that Zack might be compelled to lightly punish him, swept upward through Takashi. His cock had the indecency of starting to thicken, which wasn’t helped with the way Zack clenched his jaw.
“This is making you horny? Seriously?” Zack said, his voice dripping with a new note. Something deeper, something that resonated in Takashi and made his cock harder.
Authority. That was what it was. Despite his knowledge, Zack had never displayed such innate command before. He had always balked or lowered his gaze until confronted, and then he was a burst of impatience. Roger had said that the Wrights haddone a number on Zack’s confidence. Takashi had thought he’d seen some measure of it before, but now, Zack was in full bloom.
Then, for a moment, he began to wilt.
“I’m not using my powers on you, am I?” Zack asked with a hint of hesitation.
