Page 16 of The Maestro's Mates
Pavel put up his finger and turned to the rest of the class.
“Alright, everyone, that’s it for the morning session. I know I’d promised to announce your roles in the upcomingproduction ofDon Giovanni, but there have been some last-minute travel issues with a couple of the international singers, and it will take us a few more days to finalize. Sorry about the delay. Take lunch and pick up your new music before you go. Be back at one.”
Justin stumbled back as the nearest singer aggressively grabbed several of the copies he’d brought in.
“I gotta get back to the desk.”
It was an effort for Justin to stick to human speed as he walked, he was so desperate to get away from the two men he found so intensely appealing. He could do this. He just needed to keep his distance.
When he reached the front desk, Justin stared at his piles of work, at a loss as to what he should do next. After a minute or two, he gave up. He needed air.
He arrived at the elevator as the doors opened, slipping through and leaning against the wall near the electronic panel. He hit the first floor and pressed the door close button, although it was silly. This elevator system never went any faster than it wanted to.
A second later, Sebastian stepped in. Dammit. He didn’t want to deal with this right now. Not only was he trying to navigate his attraction to the man, but they were tied together in this ridiculous plan to go to the witch’s Circle in Bayonne.
No. The plan wasn’t ridiculous. It was ridiculous Justin was going. He still hadn’t heard when the meeting would be, which was driving him crazy, like he was a prisoner waiting for the axe to drop.
“Hey, Justin.” Sebastian slid over and leaned against the bar sticking out from the wall. “Where ya headed?”
The elevator doors began to close. Finally.
“I—”
Before the doors could fully shut, a figure stepped through. In a suit. Pavel.
Good God, could this get any worse?
The conductor glanced at them and then stepped to the opposite side as the doors closed behind him. That was good. At leasthedidn’t want to talk.
But Sebastian clearly did.
“Ooh, this is fun!” The malevolence of Sebastian’s character from earlier was gone, replaced by an excitement that might have been worse. “We should all grab lunch together.”
The universe was trying to torture him. That was the only explanation for this. The elevator began its slow descent as Sebastian stared at him, waiting for a response. Pavel was leaning back against the wall, his eyes closed, so Justin doubted the maestro would save him.
“I, uh, Yasmin asked me to grab her a chopped cheese from the deli, so I don’t think I can?—”
“There’s this great taco place around the corner,” Sebastian said. “They’re fast. There’ll be plenty of time to swing by the deli.”
Why was this man so determined? The witch had introduced himself at Justin’s new job, exposed the fact he was a vampire to Pavel, and then turned up again at the covenhouse, roping Justin into some kind of weird diplomatic mission he barely understood. Whenever Sebastian turned up, Justin was thrown off balance.
“I don’t know…”
“Iwill not be getting lunch.”
Pavel’s voice was rough and jagged, like stones rattling together in a jar. It was so fucking sexy.
No. He needed to let his crushes go. He had to work with both men.
“Oh, come on, Maestro,” Sebastian said, caressing Pavel’s arm with a light, flirty touch. “You can’t spare half an hour?”
“No, I?—”
There was a rough jolt and a clank as the elevator came to a sudden stop. Justin grabbed at the bar on the wall, steadying himself. After a moment, there was a loud pop, and the lights flickered out, dying along with the illuminated red buttons.
A dim emergency light above them snapped on, barely bright enough for them to make out each other’s faces. Justin didn’t know what his own expression was, but Pavel looked like he’d swallowed a live goldfish at the prospect of being stuck in an elevator together. Sebastian, on the other hand, had turned as white as a ghost, his normally unflappable demeanor totally gone.
That couldn’t be a good sign.
