Page 64 of The Maestro's Mates
Pavel opened his mouth to respond, then closed it. Justin wasn’t sure if it was an acknowledgement of the truth of his words or an unwillingness to argue any longer. The maestro stared at Justin, his eyes like two piercing lances boring into Justin’s skull.
Finally, he nodded.
“Let’s go.”
The ground flewby fast underneath them. The last time he’d flown with Pavel, the pace had been brisk, but it hadn’t been like this. This was breakneck. The wind whipped through Justin’s blond curls. It would be a frizzy mess when they landed, but he didn’t care. The faster they reached their sweet witch, the better.
“Can you feel him?” Justin asked after thirty minutes of flying. He was wrapped around Pavel’s torso, now gray and stone-like, but there was no fear. All he thought of was Sebastian.
The gargoyle nodded. “Can’t you?”
Justin had never even thought to try. He’d never felt like a magical being, not in the way Pavel and Sebastian thought of it. Still, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes as the wind wrapped around him, soothing his body.
It only took a few seconds. Once his mind was clear, a slight tug manifested from the center of his chest, like a hook with a fishing wire tied to it, gently pulling them along.
“It’s weak, but it’s there.”
Pavel nodded, his horns and gray skin giving him an even more solemn look. “For a gargoyle, that’s enough to follow to the ends of the earth.”
Despite the situation, Justin basked in the comfort of the words and pressed himself tighter to his mate. They would bring Sebastian home. Between his two mates, Justin couldn’t be safer. Maybe after this, they could build something special between them.
He wasn’t certain if Pavel had changed his mind, but back in the storage basement, Justin had seen a crack in Pavel’s resolve. Thin as a hair, maybe, but enough to wedge an opening in.
They traveled even faster now, the houses and cars below becoming a complete blur until they eventually gave way to uninterrupted forest.
“Where do you think?—”
Justin didn’t finish his question before Pavel descended,falling so fast the vampire let out a surprise yelp. The foliage below was coming up quickly, and for a moment, Justin worried they would crash into the branches.
But Pavel deftly slid them through a narrow opening between two trees, landing softly on a clear patch of earth below, covered in red-brown leaves.
As Justin separated himself from the gargoyle, he took in the area around them. The forest was thick here, and without his supernatural sight, he might have missed them: small wooden shacks, covered in camouflaging moss and brush, tucked in amongst the trees. Maybe seven or eight total.
Justin looked to his mate, but the gargoyle said nothing, instead holding his finger to his lips as his form shifted, and his wings tucked themselves away and melted into his now-human back. Doing his best not to stare at the conductor’s muscular and now-naked body, he handed over the clothes he’d carried during the flight.
A few seconds later, Pavel was clothed in a simple black tracksuit. Locking eyes, Pavel gestured to the nearest structure. Justin nodded.
Although he didn’t have the inhuman speed and dexterity of a vampire, Pavel was surprisingly light on his feet. Which was good because they had no idea who was there. Sebastian was nearby, both Pavel and his own senses told him that, but he wasn’t sure how many witches they were dealing with. Looking at the array of buildings, it could be as many as twenty, if they were sleeping two or three to a structure. And there was no way to tell if everyone was home.
Reaching the rotting wooden door of a structure barely big enough to house a queen-sized bed, Pavel and Justinboth stopped. What would wait inside for them? Was this a trap? There was no way to tell.
Pavel looked like he had the same thought. Then, with one swift kick, he dispatched the door fully off its rusted hinges.
The tableau in front of them set Justin’s blood aflame with rage.
There was no bed, not even a layer of grass or hay to sleep on. Instead, Sebastian lay on his side in the hard dirt, his wrists and ankles bound. A man in a ratty t-shirt and stained denim jeans sat on a wooden stool, leaning over him, his hands outstretched, whispering under his breath.
The look on Sebastian’s face was one Justin would never forget. His eyes were closed, but his mouth was open, in a silent, tormented scream.
Justin lost control.
His vision turned red, and he lost any connection to his sanity. All that remained was a desperate, burning anger. His fangs dropped, and his claws extended without any prompting from his brain.
What happened next was a blur of whirling claws and blood. There was only one moment of clarity inside the fog of red mist, the moment when the dream witch turned his head, and Justin saw the terror written across his face.
He was young. Maybe all of nineteen. His big blue eyes and soft features were at odds with what Justin’s inner demon knew for sure, what there was no doubt about. This man was a threat to his mate’s life.
And because of that, there was no stopping.
