“You are many times older than me. I’d think you would be capable of turning all three.”
“I have to conserve my strength for the time being,” Anton replied. He nudged Takashi’s leg with his foot. “Turn at least one? I’d love a foster daughter.”
“You want me to turn one of them and let you raise her,” Takashi said.
“Wecould do the raising.” Anton put his hand on Takashi’s shoulder. “Think of how darling she could become under our mutual tutelage.”
The girl could grow into a terrible, brilliant nightmare. A true mastermind against mankind, with the perfect fuel for revenge upon them. How Anton missed that the girl would likely hate them for all eternity, Takashi wasn’t sure.
Perhaps he could divert Anton’s attention. Tactfully, Takashi frowned and asked, “What about Zack? Aren’t you raising him? He is your love’s offspring.”
“Yet I’m given no time to mold him!” Anton sighed. “I’m surprised my lover allows you anywhere near his precious prodigy. Now, please, Takashi. Let’s do this.”
The proposition had a million red flags. Versinal Academy was one of the premiere magic schools in North America and was run by the Enduring Circle, a very powerful group of magic practitioners based in Chicago. Even if their arcane prowess wasn’t a challenge, their wealth and connections would be. In addition to that, Zack and Roger would never approve of these circumstances for making a sireling. These girls had been tricked.
But they also weren’t long for this world. Anton had them and had already declared that he had no intention of letting them go. Their fates were sealed. Death, new life, or something worse awaited them.
Three vampires were impossible for Takashi unless he wanted to give away nearly all his strength or give them so little that they were practically human. However, if he made one into a vampire …she’d be bound to me. I wouldn’t have this loneliness aching in my bones because I would be connected to her. She would be stuck in the mansion with him, and becoming Anton’s foster daughter wasn’t likely to be entirely pleasant. But she might have access to the mansion in a way that Takashi didn’t. She would be a piece on the board that could work for him. An asset.
Takashi was in need of assets.
“You’d have to treat her like a daughter,” Takashi said slowly.
“Of course!”
“Not a doll or a toy or a role in some drama in your head, a daughter,” Takashi reiterated.
Anton mellowed, his cheerfulness becoming more subtle. He dropped his charade and became serious. “She will be a treasured being.”
“I want a phone. A brand-new one, sealed in the box, with no manipulations on it,” Takashi said.
Anton raised an eyebrow. “You want me to trust you with a phone?”
“I’m trusting you with my offspring.” Takashi held Anton’s gaze, unblinking. “At the moment, I could disappear into the night if I was willing to forsake Zack. If you have my sireling, you’d be able to easily track me. Even if I were to take her with me, the blood trail we’d have to leave would hinder us. This is no light feat you ask of me. You want my blood, mypower, and you want to shape her growth. You are asking for a piece of my soul. You can give me a goddamn phone.”
“You won’t be absent from her life,” Anton murmured. He put his hand on Takashi’s as he continued holding his gaze. There was something almost gentle in his smile. “I know that Zack has settled faster because you have been at his side. You are a fantastic teacher.”
“I wasn’t starting on the wrong foot with Zack,” Takashi replied. “What will you do if she’s stubborn like him?”
“We’ll deal with that.” Anton squeezed Takashi’s hand.
“That wasn’t an answer,” Takashi said quietly. “And you haven’t promised me what I asked for.”
“Such a stingy negotiator.”
Takashi pulled his hand away from Anton’s. “You could ask a dozen of your sirelings. You could find a new vampire to adopt within a fortnight, I’m certain. Instead, you want to raise what should be mine, and a flowery saying of ‘ours’ isn’t enough when I am a prisoner within these walls.”
“You chose to remain,” Anton replied sternly.
“Because you said I would gain power here,” Takashi returned. “However, all you and your love have done is take, and all I have been is patient. I am not a fool. You look to bind me more firmly to this place, and I am willing, but I have named my price. Tell me what you would do if she disobeyed. Promise me a phone.”
Slowly, Anton stood and moved over to a lamp on an end table. He drifted his hand along the lampshade.
At the same time, Takashi felt a push into his mind. He buried his desires under a cold bank of insecurities. He was scared of what Seamus was doing to Zack the long nights they were out of the mansion; he was afraid that if he chose one of these girls, her life would become hell; he was terrified that something had happened to Roger; he had a small, thin fear that he’d picked the wrong slacks to go with his shirt. One desire remained outside his wall, and he focused his thoughts on it.I want someone close. I don’t want to feel alone.
“I believe the mortals call it ‘gentle parenting,’” Anton said, an ancient power resonating in his voice. All jokes and levity were absent. “You aren’t the only one hoping for a little more joy in their evenings. I can arrange a phone, but know that if you conspire against my love, your Zack will be the first to die. Roger the second. The girl you make will scream for years before I break her. And you will be present for every second she is in agony. Do we have an understanding?”
Takashi wasn’t going to get a better deal. He nodded once.
