Zack tried to use their bond to figure out what Seamus was feeling, but all he could pick up on was a bland desire for quiet. It was like a pop-up window again rather than a written page. There was nothing for Zack to dive into. With a frustrated grunt, he went back to staring out the window.
“I was distraught when he disappeared,” Seamus said.
Another few miles slipped by before Zack controlled his anger enough to speak. “Must have sucked to lose one of your favorite victims.”
“I have read your notes. You don’t have enough data to say that definitively.”
“Bullshit.”
After twenty minutes of silence, Seamus finally spoke. “I may not have understood Roger as well as I thought I did, but I know for a fact that he is not some innocent in need of saving. You were very thorough on my history and Anton’s—you even delved into a bit of Takashi’s past. But your notes are sorely lacking on the subject of Roger’s adventures.”
Zack really hoped Seamus was going to shut the hell up because this was not a conversation he wanted to have. What was a good way to get out of it? Flirting wasnotgoing to happen, so Roger’s example was no good. Thomas Wright wouldn’t have been stuck in this situation in the first place. Candide or Reed would smile and find some bullshit thing to talk about instead.
Screw it.With a hiss, Zack said, “You paid Quinn to seduce Roger into loving him and turning him into a vampire.”
“No, I paid Quinn to offer Roger his blood and to sleep with him if he was amenable.”
“You showed up at Quinn’s grave while Roger was waiting for him and boasted about how much you paid him.”
Seamus rolled his eyes. “That wasn’t what happened at all. This was, I forget the exact year, but I know it was not long after the American Revolution. Did Roger happen to mention Malcolm? At least I think the boy’s name was Malcolm. At any rate, one of Roger’s beloved pets had died in a duel. Roger had been grieving foryears, and he and Dmitri were close to reconnecting again. So when Roger showed a fraction of interest in Quinn, I realized that he was the perfect one to bring Roger out of his depression and keep him from going back to Dmitri. Ah, ah, I feel that little impulse to tell me I should have let Roger and Dmitri rekindle their flame.Youweren’t there to see them in 1734 or 1772. Or 1837. Or 1918. Dmitri does nothing but make him miserable. I was doing him a favor.”
Zack glared out the window because grabbing his dagger from Seamus and slamming it into the bastard’s heart wasn’t agood option with the car going eighty miles an hour down the interstate.
“Finding out that Roger’s been stretching the truth shouldn’t upset you. We grow old, we have a habit of twisting what happened, and we particularly spend time retelling the story in a way that makes us seem the most favorable,” Seamus said. “I’ve read your journal, Zackery. I know that you were distrustful of all supernaturals until you met him. Of course the only version of his life he was going to share with you was the one that appeals to your morality.”
“You raped him,” Zack snarled. “And youmurderedme. You going to find some ‘version’ of those stories where you’re somehow the ‘good guy’?”
“We are vampires, Zackery,” Seamus said coldly. “Good and evil are words for mortals to give meaning to their shallow, fleeting existences. I have seen them twisted and turned about countless times. Do you know how much damage they have done in the name of ‘good’? How much is still done? By your own brother, no less? And, for the last time,youwere trying to killme. I could have left you dead.”
Seamus had a counterargument for everything. Zack fumed and kept his mouth shut because what was the point? Anything he said, Seamus was going to find some clever new thing that would keep any of the fault from him.Must be nice to be so confident that you’re always in the fucking right.
You could learn something from that, the Seamus voice in his head said.
It sounded too much like Seamus. Zack scowled at him.Can you hear me?
Nothing happened.
Each silent mile grated on his nerves, and eventually, his hunger began to burn in his stomach. Zack huffed. “How long until we eat?”
“How quickly you’ve come around on that subject,” Seamus teased.
“Oh, you know, if you’re going to be a fucking?—”
“I have told you. Stop. Swearing.”
“I thought I was supposed to do whatever thefuckI wanted,” Zack taunted. “Wasn’tthatwhat you wanted for me?”
“Do not paint manners and rules as if they are some confines from which you need to escape,” Seamus replied. “Etiquette is what separates us from the ferals and the nest vampires.”
“Are we really that different from them?” Zack demanded. “Guzzling blood. Torturing people.”
“Enough arguing,” Seamus snapped.
Zack shut his mouth.I got a rise out of him. And he didn’t call me out on it. I’m going to call that a win. With a smug smile, Zack relaxed into his seat.
CHAPTER 25
After showering, Takashi donned a pair of slacks and a hoodie from the collection in Zack’s drawers. The sweatshirt had an ironic graphic—a pair of cartoon fangs dripping with blood and the words “I Bite” written underneath—which did seem like something Zack would eventually enjoy. Takashi thought it was amusing.
