Page 66 of The Maestro's Mates
Justin’s smile widened, and he reached out to rest his hand on Sebastian’s chest.
“I’m fine. The drop following the crimson surge hits vampires with different degrees of incapacitation. Mine was typical. I was out for the night, but I woke up the next morning with a clear head.” Justin smirked a little. “Unlike you.”
“What do you mean?” Sebastian pressed his lips together, thinking for a moment. “How long have I been out?”
“Three days. It’s morning.” Justin squeezed Sebastian’s obliques affectionately. “You’re in my apartment at the covenhouse.”
“Really?” Sebastian sat up, taking in the place more fully. “The place is empty. Did you forget you had a personality?”
Justin smacked Sebastian’s arm with his palm. “Jerk.”
“What? I just expected more.”
Justin sat up as well, crossing his arms in faux outrage. “More what? How did you think I would decorate?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe something sweet? Soft fabrics draped everywhere in calm neutrals, like beiges and very light pinks. Not gray walls and a black bed with white sheets.”
“Beige?Light pink? Who do you think I am, Martha Stewart?”
Sebastian couldn’t suppress his laughter at Justin’s taking offense. “Ooh, you could lean into the whole gothic vampire thing. Why not do, like, dark-stained wooden lattices and blood-red candles and?—”
“And jars with human hearts in them?” Two sharp fangs dropped from behind Justin’s upper lip. “Would you like yours to be first?”
Sebastian ran his fingers across Justin’s stomach, which was barely covered by his thin white t-shirt. “I’d volunteer, yes…”
Justin smiled again, his fangs retracting, and he squeezed Sebastian’s hand. Being here together was perfect. The only thing missing was?—
“Wait. Where’s Pavel?”
His smiling retreating, Justin sighed and then slid out of bed, keeping hold of Sebastian’s hand.
“Come on. Let me show you.”
The enormous sharedcommon room of the covenhouse was empty of vampires, perhaps because it was early morning, and many of them had just gone to bed. Everything looked the same as the last time Sebastian had been there, weeks ago, to ask for Freddie’s assistance. The only difference was that it had gained a new sculpture, sitting proudly in the center of the room, right where the sofas and chairs were arranged facing each other for conversation.
It was Pavel.
He was large in his gargoyle form. Only slightly taller than his human form, but much thicker, with supernatural muscles and enormous, extended bat-like wings of stone.
“How long has he been like this?” Sebastian hated thinking of him, trapped in that form. He wasn’t sure what it felt like to go dormant like this, but he worried some part of his mate was still conscious, aware of his inability to move. It was a frightening thought.
Justin stepped up to the statue, touching it on the shoulder, almost petting the exaggerated trapezius muscle.
“Almost immediately after we arrived, or so I was told. We were both unconscious. He handed us off to Freddie and Anthony and immediately went to stone.”
Sebastian stepped up next to Justin, staring into those granite-gray eyes, searching for any sign of intelligence. Was Pavel in there? The conductor had a brilliant mind. Sebastian had seen it in action many times in the rehearsal room.He was a genius, both at conducting but also at coaxing smart, beautiful performances out of his singers. Even before Justin arrived and he’d realized the man was his mate, he’d been attracted to his artistic intelligence.
But there was nothing there. He didn’t know what that meant. Was Pavel gone for good? Sebastian refused to believe that.
“The asshole’s probably not gone.” The familiar voice rang out from the far doorway, the voice of the person who should probably be considered responsible for all this.
“Mother.” Sebastian turned to Justin, raising an eyebrow with an unspoken question.
“She came right away when I told her what happened,” Justin said sheepishly. “She brought a healing witch with her. You were… Your sleep was restless at first, and you were saying horrible things. They helped you. She’s been staying in one of the empty apartments.”
So that’s why he’d been able to sleep. His mother had brought someone to heal him. Sebastian sighed. Linda wasn’t a bad person. Tactless, maybe, and controlling, but she did love him.
“Why are you so sure Pavel’s still in there?” Sebastian asked, turning to his mother, who was walking toward them with purpose, already showered and ready to take on the day in a navy fleece vest.
