“Nonsense. You’re her father now.”
It was a conceit Takashi had never fallen into with his other sirelings. Nell had never called him son either. He wasn’t about to force it on Katie. He stood, his head swimming, and reluctantly let Anton steady him. “Only if she calls me that. Don’t be harsh with her if she takes time to like you.”
“I will be on my best behavior.” Anton rested his forehead against Takashi’s temple.
Takashi was too tired to push him away. He should. He needed to. Anton was not someone he wanted close to his heart. But the exhaustion continued to seep into his veins. He’d given too much of himself, and he just wanted a touch of comfort. He leaned into him.
After a long moment, Anton started to slip from Takashi’s side and let him stand on his own. “Now, we have two delightful meals to regain that waning strength of yo?—”
The front doors of the mansion burst open with a volume of sound that echoed down the hall to the sitting room they were in. Seamus’s voice followed, loud and full of rage, “Anton!”
“That sounds like a problem,” Anton said on his way out of the room.
Takashi made it as far as the doorway before he stopped and leaned against the frame. Whatever the problem was, it would have to come to him.
CHAPTER 29
This chapter contains depictions of domestic abuse. My intent in the telling of these events was not gratuitous, but neither is it vague. You are the best keeper of your mind and deserve the opportunity to avoid content that may disrupt your health and enjoyment.
Errand time with Seamus alternated between killing pockets of “poachers” and taking notes in the back of the room while he did business with other leaders around town. The end of the year was apparently a big time for supernaturals. Seelie fey were at their weakest, while Unseelie fey were at their strongest—leading both to ask the master vampire to meet with them. There were assurances and gifts and discussions of the schedule for lavish social parties and who was going to be responsible for what when it came to dealing with the mundane authorities.
The most surprising meeting was the one with a ghoul patriarch. Zack’s family had always taught him that ghouls were the vulture version of humans and just as wild. But the family had gotten that wrong, too. Mr. Bander had a waxy skin tone, but he could’ve passed for human. A creepy human, but hewas polite and seemed decent enough. The ghouls were how the coven disposed of bodies. Zack wasn’t sure if he was more disturbed about that or the fact that his first realization was how that was practical ecology. No part of a human went to waste, apparently, and there was less lingering evidence for police or hunters. It wasn’t theworstidea Zack had ever heard of.Yup. I’m definitely a vampire now.
They had just finished with a gathering of the Chicago-based lieutenants at a private club downtown. On the outside, it looked almost like a town house, but the inside was lush furnishings, fey and shifter servants, and willing humans. It was an exclusive donor house, only open to the elites that Seamus named. While everyone else at the meeting had had their pick of donors, two of the staff had brought Zack bound captives. He’d tried to keep from killing them, but he hadn’t pulled back in time.
Eating had been the last bit of the meeting, and Zack wiped at the corner of his mouth with his thumb as he followed Seamus down the steps to the street level. There was a spot of blood, and he felt more of it on his lips.
Seamus held out his hand for the key from the valet and handed Zack his handkerchief with the other. “I know you have these in a drawer at home.”
“I’ve never used them.” Zack took it and wiped at his mouth. He was almost sorry to let the blood dirty the cloth rather than find some way to consume it. A part of him tried to flinch at the thought, but he quelled it. “So I forget they exist.”
Seamus sighed. “Time was, a man didn’t go anywhere without them.”
“Wasn’t there a time before that where a man didn’t bother with them at all?” Zack asked. “You’re frigging ancient. You can’t tell me you’ve always had a handkerchief.”
“All right, I haven’t,” Seamus admitted. “However, I have gotten into the habit.”
“I’m sure you find themhandy,” Zack said.
Seamus grinned at him. “Did you just make a joke, Zackery?”
“I, uh, guess I did.” Zack finished cleaning off the blood and offered the handkerchief back to Seamus, but Seamus shook his head. Zack tucked it into his pocket instead.
The valet returned with their car, quickly stepping out of their way to hand it off to them. Zack slid into the passenger seat while Seamus rounded the front and took the driver’s seat.
As Seamus began to pull away from the curb, his phone vibrated. When he answered, the car’s Bluetooth took over and fed it through the speakers. A tight soprano voice said, “Master, I have troubling news to report.”
“Troubling news is never good from my financial advisor, Ingrid,” Seamus said. He told Zack, “Ingrid has stepped into the acting managerial role at XV Investments.”
That had been Dmitri’s firm. Zack nodded once since Seamus was acting like he was teaching him new information.
“Master, I … you have to know that I have been doing all I can here tonight,” Ingrid said.
“What happened?” Seamus demanded.
“Master, there was a break-in. We have some limited footage of who the intruders are, and we have greater evidence to their identity based on what was done, but honestly, we don’t know who all of the intruders were. We think it may have been a mix of humans and vampires, but we’re fairly certain who two of them were.”
“What did these intruders do?”
