Starlight(Pact Arcanum 4) (6 page)

He pushed open the door and stared at the king-sized bed, the covers turned down, lit by fairy lights of pure magic that flitted about the room along currents of air.

“I thought maybe we’d stay in this year.”

Lorcan snapped his head to face Rory, eyes wide, questions about to explode from his lips, then he swallowed hard as they were all forgotten.

Rory smiled at him, his long red hair hanging loose over his shoulders, wearing a white silk gown, loosely belted in front.

Beautiful.

Lorcan found his voice. “Sean, what—”

“I love you.”

Lorcan was speechless again.

“It’s strange. I felt the substance of the words so many times, expressed them in so many ways, that it never occurred to me to say them out loud.” Rory stepped closer and ran his fingertips over Lorcan’s right eyebrow, and down the side of his face, following the line of his cheekbones. “Do you love me, Ruarc?”

A single word came to his lips instantly, the only one he could have made himself speak out loud. “Yes.”

Rory’s smile was blinding in the shifting light. He leaned forward and kissed Lorcan hungrily. Lorcan responded immediately, reaching up to wrap his hand around the back of Rory’s head and pull him closer. Rory did the same, and in the back of his mind, Lorcan felt the smoothness of the Nightwalker’s soft leather half-gloves against his neck. Lorcan broke the kiss and took one step backward. “Wait.”

Rory stepped backward as well, his face showing his hurt and confusion. “What is it?”

Lorcan pointed at the black gloves. “Take those off.”

Rory blinked and stared at his hands in surprise. “Why?”

You don’t need to hide what you are from me,” whispered Lorcan, leaning in for another kiss. He closed his eyes as he felt the movement of Rory stripping the gloves off, then opened his eyes and stepped back.

The room was starkly lit by the painful brightness of the Grace, casting every surface into sharp relief.

Rory met his gaze with uncertainty. “And what am I?”

Lorcan reached out and untied the belt of Rory’s robe, and slipped it off Rory’s shoulders, so that it fell to the floor in a soft rustle. Lorcan ran his eyes over every inch of Rory’s naked body before raising his gaze back to the Nightwalker’s face. He smiled, his fangs showing, and let his eyes shift. “You’re mine.”

After that, there were no more words.

C
HAPTER 9

July 2094; San Francisco, California; Three years later

Lorcan was reading a book bound in blue leather, held in his right hand, while he absently stroked Rory’s hair with his left. Rory dozed under his touch, his head in Lorcan’s lap.

Then a familiar voice spoke in their minds.
“Rory. Ruarc. I need you to come to the main hospital at Anchorpoint, right now.”

Rory sat upright on the couch.
“Jeremy? What’s wrong?”

“You have to take care of Nick. You’ll find him in the medical intensive care unit.”

Lorcan dropped his book on the coffee table as he climbed to his feet.
“What happened to him?”

“To him?”
The voice sounded amused.
“Nothing.”

Rory frowned.
“Then what … Did something happen to you?”

“I’m dying.”

July 2094; Anchorpoint City, Colorado

Rory gently shook Nick’s shoulder. The Daywalker shuddered back to wakefulness, and his head snapped up to stare at Rory blearily. “Rory?” He caught the movement as Lorcan flipped a page in the virtual chart that hovered at the foot of the bed. Nick got unsteadily to his feet from the hard plastic chair where he’d fallen asleep. “What are you doing here?”

“Jeremy called us,” said Rory. He glanced at the still form on the bed, wired up to various machines, breathing through a ventilator. “What happened?”

“Pandemic influenza,” said Lorcan, closing the pages of physician notes. “I didn’t realize it had spread this far west.”

Jeremy’s voice answered in their minds.
“A group of Sentinel refugees from India brought it into Sanctuary. We’re still in the process of setting up proper quarantine, so the disease spread throughout the city before we knew what was happening. I must have been exposed then, but it didn’t hit me until I came back here. It’s already too far advanced to do more than make me comfortable, but Nick insisted they do everything.”

Nick sat back in his chair and grabbed the Sentinel’s hand tightly. “Don’t talk, Jer. Save your strength.”

“For what? Did you think I didn’t see that conversation with the doctors in your mind? I don’t call a 3% chance of survival exactly good odds.”

“We’ve faced worse,” said Nick. “We’ll beat this.”

“Face facts. The virus is almost always fatal. I’m not young anymore, and I’m tired of fighting.”

“Don’t say that,” said Nick, running his fingers through the damp strands of Jeremy’s gray hair. “You have to fight. You can’t just give up.”

“Will you do something for me?”

“Anything.”

“Take care of Sanctuary for me. Make sure the community I built survives.”

“Jer—”

“Promise me.”

“I’ll take care of it. I promise.”

“Then there’s only one other thing I want. Swear to me that you’ll do it?”

“Of course. Whatever you want.” Tears of blood poured down Nick’s cheeks and dripped onto the blanket.

“I want you to let Rory and Ruarc help you.”

Nick’s eyes went wide with shock. “What?”

“Listen to me carefully, Nicholas. I am going to die. This is my time, and I’m ready. You will not ask Rory to turn me. You will not ask him to bring me back. What you WILL do is go stay with them until they think you’re ready to live on your own again, and you WILL heed their judgment on what you have to do to take care of yourself.”

Nick snarled, his eyes going red. “What am I, a two-year old to be put in foster care?”

“You swore you would do what I asked. You’ve never lied to me, not once in fifty-four years. Don’t start now, when it matters the most.”

“Do you trust me that little?”

“I love you, Nick. Give me this much, so I can die with a clear conscience, knowing you won’t immediately follow after me.”

Nick struggled with his temper, but he managed to speak without raising his voice. “Fine. If that’s what you want.”

“That’s what I want.”

Nick got to his feet, shaking with fury. “Where the hell is that damn doctor?” He walked stiffly out of the room into the main unit.

The voice continued in Rory’s mind, bridging the gap to Lorcan’s as well, so they could all communicate.
“Guys, I’m sorry you had to see that, but you have to understand what you’re up against.”

“Did you have to treat him like that?” asked Rory. “You could have left him with a little pride.”

“If he hates me, then he’ll move on faster.”

“Jesus, Jeremy,” murmured Lorcan. “Are you that cold-blooded?”

“I’ve been planning this moment for decades. He needs your support. He’ll forgive me for forcing it on him eventually, the same way he’ll forgive me for leaving. But it won’t be easy, and it won’t be soon.”

“You were certainly quick to volunteer us to take him in,” said Rory.

The voice sighed.
“Guys, I know you care deeply for each other, but you care for him, too. Make it work. Make him remember that he loves you both, just as much he loves me. I can’t love him forever, but you can. Please. Don’t let me die and leave him all alone. I need to know that you’ll do this.”

Rory took Lorcan’s hand in his and brought it to his lips. “He won’t be alone, Jeremy.”

“Thank God.”
The voice wavered.
“Um, guys, can you get one of the doctors in here? I feel suddenly—”

The virtual screens above the life support machines turned red, all at once, and a piercing tone sounded loudly.

Rory sprinted to the door as they heard the sound of Jeremy’s heartbeat race. “Nick! Get back here!”

Nick reentered the room in a blur, pushing his vampire physiology to the limit. He grabbed Jeremy’s hand. “No, Leshir, please! Don’t go!”

Jeremy was too distracted to limit his focus, so they all heard his words as medical personnel pushed past them and started working.
“Promise you’ll remember me?”

Nick stood perfectly still in the chaos, refusing to be moved from his spot, so the doctors worked around him. “I will never let you go,” he said, quite clearly to Rory’s hearing.

All three vampires heard when the irregular heartbeat stuttered to a stop.

Nick let go of Jeremy’s hand and backed away from the bed, not stopping until he came up hard against the inner glass wall that divided the room from the main unit. Rory and Lorcan took up positions on either side of him, and they watched until the doctors stepped back, and the instruments shut down, one by one. The shriek of the alarm cut off suddenly, and the entire scene was shockingly silent.

Then Nick dropped to his knees and wept.

C
HAPTER 10

December 2104; House Luscian Stronghold, Sanctuary City, French Alps

Nick reviewed the latest immigration report. Since Jeremy had reorganized the refugee camp that Castle Night had become into a working community, there had been no shortage of work to keep the fourth Hidden City functional. They still received refugees every day, Nightwalkers and Sentinels trying to escape the war and enter the Armistice Zone. Armistice Security generally kept them cooling their heels in the Castle until they could be thoroughly investigated. Nick agreed with their caution. After all, their failure to be so meticulous in the past almost led to the destruction of Anchorpoint. For the sake of Sanctuary itself, however, Nick made a point of reviewing each application for admission and flagging those he thought might be persuaded to remain here and join the ranks of the city’s permanent residents.

He looked up at a soft knock, to see Rory standing in door to his office. The Nightwalker looked at the stacks of papers and data tablets strewn on the desk. “Working late again?”

Nick sighed. “The city doesn’t run itself, you know. This is as much of a full-time job as being Archangel ever was.”

“You’ve recruited scores of lieutenants to House Luscian. Couldn’t they take some of the load?”

Nick stretched his neck and felt the joints pop. “They can manage the basic day to day management, but I still have to review their work and make sure they’re doing things the way I told them.”

“Have to, or want to?” asked Rory. He raised a hand as Nick bristled. “All I’m saying is that you’ve built a well-trained cadre of professionals. Maybe you should let them do their jobs.”

Nick scowled at him. “I’m not obsessed, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Then why did you bring it up?”

“I don’t work hard because I need to. I work hard because there’s a lot to be done, and I take pride in my accomplishments.”

“Of course,” said Rory, in a tone of voice that left little doubt that he disagreed. “If you don’t need to work, then why don’t you take a break? Come with us tonight.”

Nick stared at him blankly. “Are you going somewhere?”

Rory frowned. “Nick, what is today’s date?”

Nick opened his mouth, then glanced at his watch.

“It’s Christmas Eve, and you didn’t even know that, did you?”

Nick reddened. “I just lost track, that’s all.” He looked down at the piles of documents and data on his desk. “Maybe a break would be good.” Then he glanced up at Rory, his expression fierce. “That doesn’t mean I plan to spend it in church.”

Rory shrugged. “Suit yourself. If you change your mind—”

“You left the address on the dining table, same as you do every year.”

“And you’ll spend the night alone, flipping through photo albums, same as you do every year.”

Nick said nothing, just glared.

Rory turned and walked away back toward the stairs leading to the courtyard and the main teleport gateway.

Same as he did every year.

December 2104, San Francisco, California

Nick chewed on a piece of steak as he flipped through photo albums of happier times.
I’ll say this for Ruarc, the man can cook. Jeremy was all thumbs in the kitchen.
His chest constricted at the thought of Jeremy, but he was used to it by now, and he knew it would pass.

He glanced at the clock.
4pm.
Midnight in Belfast.
Merry Christmas, guys.
He didn’t begrudge them their alone time. They were caught in an impossible situation just as he was. He didn’t know why they didn’t just give up and let him go.

He felt restless, and put the album down to stretch his legs. He wandered aimlessly through Rory and Lorcan’s house, finally coming to a halt before a framed image of the original Triumvirate: Rory, Takeshi, and Layla. Takeshi and Rory had resigned to spend more time together in Takeshi’s twilight years, and Layla had stepped into Nick’s shoes as Archangel when he had retired to rule Sanctuary.
We had so much hope then. When did I lose that?

The familiar surroundings felt suddenly oppressive.
Maybe I do need a change.
He looked around the walls and his gaze settled on a picture of him and his brother Toby, standing next to Rafael Tervilant, the captain of Nick’s ship, the
Starlight
.

Except he was Rafael Primogenitor Curallorn, now.
Another man with a high pressure job.
It’s been a long time since I went to see Raf. Maybe he’d be interested in drinks?

On impulse, Nick grabbed his jacket out of the closet and pulled a bottle of Tiamat from storage. He stepped to the teleport gateway. His AI gave him the coordinates he asked for, and he jumped to the House Curallorn Stronghold beneath the pre-Columbian mound city of Cahokia in central Illinois.