Page 60 of The Maestro's Mates
“No!”
“So youaren’ttrying to be noble and self-sacrificing and depriving yourself of even a morsel of joy while making decisions for everyone around you in the controlling way you always do?”
That wasn’t fair. He should never have allowed the stupid human to get to know him so well.
“That’s not what I do!” Pavel’s words came out louder than he intended. The human had touched a nerve.
“Isn’t it?” Henry’s voice was soft and calming now, and his smile was kind. “Have you asked your mates what they want? Have you listened to what they said?”
Pavel’s throat squeezed shut with unshed tears. “I don’t want to be a burden to them. I can’t be.”
Henry sighed and reached out, grabbing Pavel’s hand and squeezing his fingers. The old man’s skin was wrinkled with age, but it was soft against his own, and compassion emanated from him.
“You may be a gargoyle, friend, and you may be a protector, but you deserve a modicum of happiness. You deservesomething, in whatever time you have left. And your matesdeserve the chance to stand by you. They deserve that choice.”
Pavel didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure Henry was right, but arguing would do no good. And maybe a tiny part of Pavel, a grain of sand at the center of his stony bulwark, thought he might have a point.
When Monday morning came,and Pavel exited the elevator onto his floor of the opera house, Yasmin was at the desk rather than Justin. She made some excuse for him, saying he was doing a big project for her in the office, but he couldn’t help thinking the vampire was avoiding him.
Then again, what balancing act had Pavel been trying to pull with his two mates? He couldn’t blame Justin. It must have been infuriating.
Sebastian was also nowhere to be found. As the morning session began, he was noticeably absent from the group. It didn’t sit well with Pavel. He didn’t want the witch’s career to suffer on his account. Of course, maybe his absence had nothing to do with what had happened between them, but he doubted it.
By Tuesday morning, he was worried. Sebastian was still missing, and rehearsals forDon Giovanniwould begin the following week. This wasn’t a small concert for the program, some kind of educational opportunity; this was a full production on the main stage of the Manhattan Lyric, the most important opera house in the US. Sebastian was playing a principal role. If he abandoned it, his career would suffer.
At the end of the day on Tuesday, Pavel was more thanworried. Sebastian’s career aside, Pavel’s chest was tingling. He believed it was the nascent mating bond. Even without cementing the connection between them, things could still get through, especially for him. Gargoyles didn’t have much in the way of innate power beyond their different forms, but they were natural magic enhancers.
The feeling of unease was growing, and he wasn’t going to wait any longer. As he was leaving for the house in Bayonne, the phone in his pocket vibrated.
It was Justin.
*Sebastian is in trouble.*
Chapter 23
Sebastian
The warm, dank odor of earth drifted in and out of Sebastian’s consciousness, beckoning him out of the darkness. He didn’t want to be beckoned, however. He didn’t feelcomfortable, exactly, but sleep was easier than what waited in the real world.
It came subtly at first, the knowledge something was wrong. It arrived with the flickers of orange flame, teasing at the corners of his unconscious vision. After a few minutes, his eyes were filled with fire, teasing at first, then all-consuming, building to an inferno. Sebastian was asleep. He was sure this was a dream or a vision, that it wasn’t real, but it didn’t matter. The heat was scorching and painful.
Then the faces appeared.
His mother, at first, shrieking, writhing in the flames. Next were other friends and family, their skin melting, their eyeballs turning to liquid. But it wasn’t until Justin and Pavel showed up, desperate and in agony, that he screamed himself awake.
His eyes snapped open to near-darkness. He foundhimself in a crude wooden structure. The shack from the clearing? He wasn’t sure. He’d only been there a few moments before he’d been knocked out.
Beneath his cheek, the dirt was gritty and rough. He rolled from his side to his back, facing the darkness of the roof overhead. A sliver of light peeked through from under the door. It didn’t do much to illuminate his surroundings, but Sebastian was thankful for it nonetheless.
Because he was being watched. As his eyes adjusted, a figure consolidated in his vision, sitting on a stool in the corner. He couldn’t make out much about them, other than that they appeared male.
At the sight, Sebastian froze, every muscle in his body tensing.
“It’s about time you woke up, city witch.”
Trying to seem casual, Sebastian pushed himself up to a sitting position. His head swam for a moment, probably the side effects of being knocked unconscious. He focused on the figure, but the dim light revealed nothing new.
“Where am I?” Sebastian attempted to rid his tone of any desperation. Unsuccessfully.
