“Another newbie vampire isn’t much of an ally. What if she hates you?”
“She understood what was happening.”
Zack rolled his eyes. “You had a long conversation of ‘hey, I know you’re a teenager, but here’s your ticket to immortality’?”
“She goes to a magic school, Zack! She likely knows as much about the supernatural as you do!” Takashi took a moment and collected himself. “I read her desires. If her choices were death or vampirism, she wanted to become a vampire.”
Zack narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized Takashi. “What else are you holding back?”
Was Zack being perceptive? Or was he relying on his powers? Takashi traced his defenses and found no intrusion past them, but Zack’s power was brushing up against them. Keeping hisguard up constantly was exhausting, yet he didn’t want Zack to read him. He was still so mortal where his morals were concerned.
If Zack lost his faith in him, then Takashi would be stripped of what little aid he had left. Roger would likely follow Zack’s opinion as well. He hadn’t wanted to enter into a relationship with Takashi without Zack’s approval. To lose one would mean to lose both, and they were his anchor to sanity. Without Zack and the hope of reuniting with Roger, he would continue tumbling toward rock bottom. He never wanted to learn how far down that place was. He could never afford to fall again.
“That I am drained, that’s all,” Takashi said softly.
After a long moment, Zack replied firmly, “Bullshit.”
“We are in too precarious of a place for you to question me like this.” Takashi slipped past Zack, navigating around him without touching him.
Zack remained still. In his clear, confident voice that resonated with a novel power, he said, “Our situation is too dangerous for you to hide anything from me. You need to tell me what you’re thinking.”
Takashi stopped in the doorway to the bedroom. Few vampires he had met had the sort of echo in their voice that Zack already had.What was it they called it in Paris? Voix d’au-delà?It had a quality to it that demanded obedience, slipping toward a subconscious pull. If Takashi hadn’t been aware of it, he might have fallen into the trap of meekly obeying Zack.
Did Seamus have that power? He must have some form of it for Zack to have acquired it already. But then, how vampirism manifested was different for everyone. Some older vampires never gained new powers, while some younger ones displayed rare gifts. Takashi longed to speak with a few of his friends overseas. They might know more about what was happening here. Nell would know.
And he could no longer ignore a new danger that had shown itself earlier. Takashi turned toward Zack. “I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“You are telepathically connected to him.”
“Now that I’m aware of that, I can protect myself.”
“Can you?” Takashi asked.
As Zack drifted toward him, Takashi stayed where he was. In the last few nights, Zack’s perfect prison cell had become the closest place they had to a safe haven inside the mansion. Except that was a lie as well. Did Seamus know about Takashi’s scheme to make Zack the coven leader? Was he talking to Zack now? How much influence did Seamus have on Zack?
Every move that Takashi had mapped out had been done with tarnished pieces.
“Look, if he knows about our ambition, he either thinks I’m too weak to kill him, or he’s a million steps ahead of us and still has use for us in his ludicrous plan to go to war against dragons,” Zack said gently.
“Are you suddenly a mind reader?” Takashi asked.
“If I was, I wouldn’t have to ask you the same question fifty times.” Zack frowned. “What could be so awful that you’re working this hard to hide it from me?”
Zack wasn’t going to stop. His dogged stubbornness was a trait that Takashi couldn’t help admiring, even as he was attempting to dodge him.
“You’ll think me a selfish monster,” Takashi murmured as he took a few steps away.
“Yeah, I got that you’re scared I’m going to suddenly turn on you. Unless your goal is to abuse that girl every night for the next eight hundred years—which I sincerely doubt—I’ll get over myself.”
“Promise?” Takashi said.
“Promise,” Zack replied.
Takashi walked the length of the dresser and let his fingers coast along the smooth wood. When he reached the corner, he faced Zack. Allowing his exhaustion to rise to the surface, he said, “I am so tired of being alone.”
“Alone?” Zack’s frown faded into a greater sadness. “I’ve made you feel alone? I thought we’re in this together. You, me, and Roger, when we can get back to him.”
