“I did no such thing. They came to meet me,” Anton said impishly. His grin said otherwise. He held out a phone toward Takashi. “Technically, they thought they were meetingyou.”
Takashi entered the room, took the phone, and skimmed the open messenger, rushing through nights upon nights of back and forth with the girls. The oldest conversations started weeks ago around Halloween. “You catfished them. Using me. Why?”
Anton took the phone back. “I could hardly use my own picture. They wouldn’t have spoken to the diabolical vampire warlock who was the subject of cautionary tales of their youth.”
“You don’t know that,” Takashi replied shortly. “You could’ve held a unique allure. Without dragging my name into it.”
“Oh, befun, Takashi.” Anton playfully swatted Takashi’s arm. “These three have kept our little secret. They thought they were the special chosen of a world-traveled ambassador. I believe Katie there was quite moved that you picked her.”
“They are children of Enduring Circle mages,” Takashi replied. “You should release them before you start a war.”
“If the mages truly had power anymore, then one of these young darlings would have already gotten out of her bonds,” Anton replied. “None of them are skilled enough—and they’ve already turned eighteen! By their age, I was setting fire to whole houses with a snap of my fingers.”
Anton raised one hand, fingers ready to snap.
Fearful he might set one of the girls on fire as an example, Takashi clamped his hand over Anton’s and pushed it back down to rest on the couch as he sat beside him.
Anton rolled his eyes and sighed. “The point is, the Enduring Circle is toothless. It’s only a matter of time until it crumbles. They wouldn’t dare start a war with our kind. Now stop fussing and feel honored. They want to become your vampire brides.”
Takashi had to refrain from clenching his fists. Exactly what had Anton promised these girls? “Oh, do they?”
Anton’s grin would have been devilishly handsome if he wasn’t discussing such a malicious scheme. “They sent me—well,you—a lovely little video last week showing how well they’d get along. You should see it.”
“No, thank you,” Takashi said sharply.
“You’re getting worked up.” Anton put a hand on Takashi’s elbow. “I thought you would be more fun.”
“Luring innocent girls into a kidnapping isn’t my version of fun,” Takashi replied.
“Right, you prefer to stalk bigots and catfish them into their graves,” Anton said seriously, all hints of teasing gone for a second.
Takashi glared at Anton. That was the truth of one of his hobbies, one that he had keenly avoided sharing with Zack. Roger knew, but then Roger had been asking how he handled his urge to bring death upon mortals.Anton must have discovered that secret while rooting around in my desires. Or he somehow broke my passwords on my laptop.
“The prim, proper, and mortal-palatable Takashi Sato has a dark side.” Anton leaned in closer, their faces only inches apart. His smile was back, slick and mocking, and he smelled faintly of fresh blood and old dirt. “Whatever will happen when the world discovers just how thick your mask is?”
But Anton wasn’t the only one who could see beneath a well-crafted mask. Takashi said softly, “You started courting them after Halloween. Was that when Seamus told you he planned on turning Zack into his son?”
Anton flinched, a micro-expression that vanished back into his smooth persona. He leaned back against the couch and considered the girls before him. “At what time my love was planning on bringing a new addition into the family isn’t what we should be discussing. We have three beautiful young women, and we should decide what to do with them.”
“Bizarre thinking, but you could simply let them go,” Takashi said.
Anton snorted. “Gods below, don’t tell me you’re going to keep clinging to that boring façade. I was in your mind, Takashi. I know you like the blood and death as much as I do.”
I doubt that. Takashi settled into the corner of the couch. “You clearly had a plan before I wandered in. Don’t pretend you need my ideas.”
“That’s true.” Glee sparkled in Anton’s ruby eyes. “I thought of gifting one to Zack as a pet.”
“He’s too young to keep from killing her, and he would hate how you found her,” Takashi said. “He won’t have a slave for a pet.”
“Ugh, fair. And I can’t stand to watch him brood more than he already does.” Anton stroked his chin while he mused, “I am certain that you should turn at least one of them.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Takashi asked.
“Oh, come on.” Anton gestured at the girls. “They aren’t that much younger than you were, or Zack was. I wager you could share enough power for the three of them to be fine young fledglings. And they did come to meet ‘you’ because they wanted to become beautiful immortals.”
“You’ve had me on a crap blood diet for a week,” Takashi replied.
“As if one week is enough to diminish a powerful sireling of Nell, the Pirate Queen and Master of the Smoky Woodlands Domain.”
