Sunset: Pact Arcanum: Book One (14 page)

Lorcan rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “I don’t think I could ever do that. Trying to reclaim my soul is truly a terrifying prospect. After all the things I’ve done, I’m not sure if I want to know what it thinks of me.”

“There’s no hurry. The Great Work won’t end overnight. You have all the time in the world.” Nick moved to lie on top of Lorcan. “In the meantime, we still have an hour or two before Scott wakes up.”

Lorcan smiled up at him. “It would be suicide to let him find me in here with you, corrupting his innocent young Daywalker.”

Nick ground himself against the older vampire’s body, making him gasp. “Then use the time you have left to say goodbye to me properly.”

* * *

Lorcan watched from behind a shroud of invisibility as Nick followed his bandmate into the dressing room. He could still hear the screams of the crowd back in the arena.

“Scott, hit the showers fast, okay?” Nick said. “We should make an appearance at the wrap party.”

Scott snorted. “Every tour you always say the same thing. Give it a rest, will you? They haven’t even started breaking down the equipment. The party’s going to last all night.”

“Yeah, I know. I know.” Nick raised his hands in defeat. “It’s just, well, it feels different this time. Our lives have changed. Our eyes are open. Who knows if we’ll do this again?”

Scott laughed. “I, for one, am planning to still be doing what I love even when they’re building colonies on Mars.”

Nick snickered at that.

“Something funny, Fang Boy?”

“Scotty, the Armistice space program is light years more advanced than anything the human governments have put together.” Nick tried to keep a straight face.

The Sentinel looked at him, trying to figure out if he were joking. “You’re just making that up.”

Nick held out his hand, palm upward, and the image of a brightly shining half-disk suspended on a field of stars formed in the air above it. The outline of North America was partly hidden beneath clouds. “When we get home, maybe you’ll get to see this for yourself.” He let the image fade.

Scott stared at Nick, speechless, and then found his voice. “Nick, that picture … that was from your own memory? You’ve actually seen it?”

“That was the view from Hephaestus Station, a manufacturing facility in orbit around the moon. It’s where they made all the structural elements to build the Citadel.” He paused and grinned. “You have no idea what’s ahead. There are so many wonders in store for you, so many things you have left to see, Scotty. We are the Free People. There is nothing we can’t do once we set our minds to it, and you’re going to be part of it. I know things have been pretty dark until now, but that’s all going to change.”

“What’s the Citadel?” asked Scott.

“The third of the Hidden Cities and the most advanced. It was designed to be the jumping off point for all of the Triumvirate’s efforts to expand beyond Earth, so that some of us would be out of reach when the Court of Shadows finally decides to attack us in force. Besides, it makes it easier for us to have somewhere we can go to be ourselves, where there’s no chance of running into any humans. It’s located on Lunar Farside.” Nick’s face suddenly reddened. “Um, at least it was. I’m not sure they’re rebuilding entirely in the same spot.”

Noticing Nick’s change in tone, Scott asked, “Assuming I believe any of that, why would they need to rebuild?”

“Because Ana blew it up when she was trying to kill me.” Nick looked distinctly uncomfortable as Scott stared at him expectantly, awaiting an explanation. “It’s a long story.”

“You’re chock full of long stories, aren’t you?”

“Just one, actually. It was an eventful day.” Nick tried to change the subject. “Look, we should get cleaned up and head to the party. The crew will be waiting for us.”

Opening his mouth to say something pithy and pointed, Scott was interrupted by Lorcan, who dropped his shroud of invisibility and cleared his throat. The Sentinel scowled at the invasion of their privacy. “What do you want, Lorcan?”

Lorcan stepped forward and nodded to Scott. “Consul.” He turned to Nick. “My Lord.” He looked back and forth between the two of them. “May I congratulate you on a fine performance?”

“You saw it?” Nick asked.

Lorcan noted with interest that Nick’s gaze raked his body, as if he could see right through the Nightwalker’s clothes. Lorcan shrugged. “I was curious, so I bought a ticket from a scalper.” He smiled, mentally letting Nick see his pleasure at his lover’s frank stare. “It was not exactly my kind of music. But I could see its appeal for mortals.”

Oblivious, Scott bristled at Lorcan.

“Once again, Lorcan, what do you want?” Scott asked.

Lorcan reached up and removed the security pass from the press credentials hanging around his neck. He held it out to Nick. “My Lord, my duties are now complete, and it seems our time together is at an end. I ask formally to be released from my allegiance to House Luscian.”

“Lorcan Praetor Luscian, I free you from your obligations to my house. Your honor is your own.” Nick looked at the plastic card in Lorcan’s hand. “Keep it as a souvenir, if you like.”

Lorcan followed Nick’s gaze down to the security pass and casually slipped it into his own shirt pocket. He looked at Nick gravely, keeping his emotions hidden, then he stepped forward, cradled Nick’s head in his hands and leaned in to kiss him passionately. Nick froze as Lorcan’s tongue invaded his mouth and stiffened even more as the Nightwalker’s fangs sliced into his tongue. The bridge opened between them. Lorcan fed hungrily, letting Nick feel his amusement at the waves of desire that rushed through the Daywalker’s body as he leaned into the kiss.

In return, Nick shared with Lorcan the sensation of his touch, the weight of the Nightwalker’s body against his, the hardness Nick could feel pressing against his lower body. Lorcan felt Nick’s thirst rise in response, knowing the younger vampire was just moments from clawing at the layers of cloth that separated them.

Suddenly, Lorcan broke away, leaving Nick gasping to control his bloodlust. Lorcan grinned, his eyes shifting from red back to green as he let his hands fall to his sides, delighted at the level of response he had been able to evoke. “Goodbye, Nicholas.”

Nick licked a bead of blood from his lips. “Goodbye, Ruarc.”

Lorcan, realizing Nick must have bitten him too at some point, turned back to face Scott. The Sentinel was glued to the floor in shock. “Take good care of him, Consul,” Lorcan said. “I’m trusting you to keep him out of trouble.” Then he gathered his will and jumped to the local House Tervilant stronghold to make his report.

C
HAPTER 10

January 2040; Anchorpoint City, Grand Mesa, Colorado; One day after public exposure

Lorcan slipped out of bed and padded naked into the living room, extending his senses to find Nick out on the balcony.
Hmm. Inconvenient.
Pulling open the frosted glass door between the living room and the open air, the Nightwalker, his breath steaming, stood in the doorway, careful to avoid the swath of direct sunlight that lay between him and Nick.

Nick lived in one of Anchorpoint’s highest buildings, second only to the central spire of Armistice Security Headquarters, and was standing at the edge of the balcony, gazing out across the spires of the city. Dressed only in white sweatpants, Nick’s chest and feet were bare despite the frigid temperature. Lorcan watched as Nick’s gaze roamed from the lesser towers beneath him up to the shimmering perimeter screen that stretched across the sky and kept the city hidden from detection. Anchorpoint was the pinnacle of Armistice engineering, surpassed only by the Citadel. It had been built in a bubble of accelerated time, compacting decades of construction into less than a year. Even after living in the Armistice Zone for two years, the vista still astounded Lorcan.

“Rapier,” said Nick, “activate flare shielding.”

The bright balcony view was immediately obscured by an iridescent screen of force that filtered out all visible and ultraviolet light. Lorcan came up behind Nick, equally immune to the freezing air, and wrapped his arms loosely around the Daywalker. Relishing the feel of Nick’s skin against his bare chest, Lorcan rested his head on his lover’s shoulder.

Nick laid his hands over Lorcan’s. “You overslept, Ruarc.”

“You should have woken me.” Lorcan breathed in the younger vampire’s scent.

“You looked so peaceful. I didn’t have the heart.”

Lorcan smiled. “And you thought it would teach me a lesson in humility to have to take the tunnels back home.”

Nick reached up to stroke Lorcan’s spiky hair. “That, too.”

Lorcan closed his eyes, focusing on not becoming fully aroused again at Nick’s familiar, maddeningly casual touch.
My beautiful Nicholas
, he thought.
If you only knew.
As he had so many times before, Lorcan ruthlessly suppressed the desire to say the words he had promised himself, for four hundred years, never again to utter. He knew Nick thought of him as a friend, maybe even a fuck buddy in modern parlance, but that was all. In the future, he might mean something more to the young Daywalker, but not yet. For now, there was no room in Nick’s heart for anyone but Scott. Lorcan understood, and he could wait.

“The Court of Shadows is debating what to do about the events of last evening,” he said aloud.

Nick snorted. “It’s too late to do anything about it, Ruarc. We can only move forward and find a way to coexist with the humans, now that they know we exist.”

“That’s not exactly a popular attitude in the Court at the moment. I suggest you refrain from leaving the Armistice Zone for a while, unless you want to fight a few duels.” Lorcan sighed. “And by ‘a few’, I mean a whole hell of a lot.”

“I’ll be careful.” Nick stopped running his fingertips through Lorcan’s hair and dropped his hand to his side.

Resisting the urge to demand that Nick continue stroking him, Lorcan reluctantly drew away from the skin-to-skin contact he craved. “I should get going. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

“A couple of days?”

“Last night was supposed to be the Traveler’s night to spend time with you. He called me an hour after the events in Los Angeles and asked if I thought you would want me to spend the night. I said yes, so we switched. The next two nights are his now.”

“You know, Ruarc,” said Nick, “this weird arrangement you and Rory have going freaks me out sometimes. If the two of you could stand to be in the same room, it would make my life a whole lot easier.”

“The Traveler and I get along perfectly well on a professional level, as long as you’re not around. I’m sure he thinks I’m a bad influence on you, but he’s your closest friend, and I’m your lover.” Lorcan shrugged. “Nightwalkers are violently territorial by nature. It’s next to impossible for us to back down from fighting over you when you’re present, and I have no desire to offer insult to the Redeemer. If he took offense, every vampire within earshot would take it upon themselves to avenge his honor. I wouldn’t survive long enough to even draw my sword.”

Nick sighed. “I should check in with my family up at the Citadel anyway, as well as Scott and Ana.” He leaned forward and kissed Lorcan gently on the cheek. “I’m going to take a shower. Take care, Ruarc. Feel free to help yourself to a new shirt on your way out.” Nick went back inside, leaving Lorcan alone on the balcony.

Lorcan gazed out over the infrared, watching the sun climb into the sky, its warmth suffusing the towers of the city. When he heard the shower running, he re-entered the apartment and made his way directly to the bedroom closet. His fingers caressing the hanging clothes, he inhaled deeply, seeking the one with the strongest lingering scent of his lover. Eventually, he pulled out a pale-blue short-sleeved shirt and slipped it over his head, then quickly dressed in the rest of his clothes.

At the front door, Lorcan retrieved his sport coat from the floor where he had dropped it, brushing off the shreds of green T-shirt. Shrugging into the jacket, he turned toward the faint echo of Nick’s heartbeat, barely audible over the sound of running water. “See you in a couple of days, Nicholas,” he said to the empty room, pitching his voice so quietly that not even vampire senses could hear him. “I love you.”

* * *

“How are you settling in, Jeremy?” asked Nick, turning away from the window of Jeremy’s new quarters to where Jeremy lounged on the apartment’s white couch.

“Nick, yesterday you exposed your entire civilization to humanity. I’m sure you have more important things to do today than worry about me.”

Nick glanced around the sparsely furnished room, noting the small stack of cardboard packing boxes on the floor. “I told you, Jeremy, you’re part of the team now. That makes you my responsibility.”

“
Your
responsibility?”

Pulling a dining chair away from the utilitarian metal table, Nick set it down across from Jeremy. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re part of House Luscian now. You can swear allegiance to me at your leisure.”

A calculating expression crossed Jeremy’s face. Then he shrugged. “My life is yours. I am your blade to wield.”

Nick’s jaw dropped open in surprise. Closing his mouth with a snap, he considered his next words carefully. “Jeremy, I was kidding. I don’t think you understand how much those words mean in this society. You can’t say them lightly or take them back. You don’t know me well enough to—” He trailed off, remembering.

Jeremy smiled, watching the cogs turn in Nick’s head. “I know you better than anyone else in the world. The Light made sure of that. I know exactly what the words mean. If you like, I can kneel at your feet and say them again.”

Nick took a deep breath, his heightened perceptions reading the Sentinel’s resolve, as he considered the offer. Finally, he nodded. “That won’t be necessary. I accept your honor, to defend as if it were my own. Welcome to House Luscian, Praetor.”

Jeremy sat up straighter on the couch, and Nick heard the Sentinel’s heart skip a beat. “Nick, Praetor is a diplomatic rank, just one step below your dyad brother. You’ve known me for one day. Surely you don’t expect me to speak on your behalf? I’m totally unqualified.”