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A group of five men sat together, talking in low voices. Three were on a sofa, while another with brown hair sat in a high-backed chair. The last man perched on the arm of the chair, an affable grin balanced on his lips.
After a few steps into the room, their conversation ended and all the men stood to greet them. The one with the light-brown hair and warm eyes stepped forward.
“Skylar Wallace, this is King Aiden Varik and his consort, Ronan,” Marcus introduced, including the dark-haired vampire who hovered at Aiden’s elbow.
“I’m sorry we’re not meeting under better circumstances,” Aiden greeted. “Gideon has told me about the wonderful service you did for him. Thank you for your help.”
Sky opened his mouth to say how Gideon was a delight to meet and he was happy to help, but the words didn’t come out because of Moon.
“Holy shit, you’re old,” the blood witch blurted out.
Sometimes Sky wanted to put a zipper on Moon’s mouth. No filter existed between his brain and his tongue. None.
Moon bumped him and Sky looked over his shoulder to see Moon’s amber eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. “Seriously, just…old. Insane.” He ripped his eyes away from Ronan and Aiden to stare at Sky. “Check. Do it. We’re talking once in a lifetime. You don’t want to miss this.”
“You’re both necromancers?” Aiden inquired.
“Sky is the necromancer. I’m a blood witch,” Moon stated, and Sky tensed, his breath frozen in his lungs.
“Interesting,” Aiden murmured.
“Definitely. I can’t say that I’ve run into a blood witch in at least five hundred years. Probably the same for a necromancer,” Ronan added.
Okay, that settled it right there. If Ronan was at least five hundred years old, Sky had to know. This was a rare treat, and he didn’t want to miss out. Lowering his eyes to the floor, Sky carefully released some of his natural magical energy, like turning the handle on a spigot. Just a trickle was all that was needed.
In the blink of an eye, he hit two black voids. As if he were standing in two doorways he’d opened to the underworld, except the doorways were bigger than all of Hartford and the surrounding suburbs. The vastness of it all stole Sky’s breath away.
“You’re…ancient. Both of you,” Sky whispered as he stoppered his magic.
Ronan chuckled. “Ancient. He makes it sound like we were around for dinosaurs.”
Aiden smiled warmly at his mate. “I don’t recall any dinosaurs.” He turned his attention to Sky and Moon, his eyes twinkling with laughter. “But we have seen a few things in our lifetimes.”
Marcus was quick to continue the last of the introductions, which included Beltran Varik. The vampire looked nothing like his sexy model twin. He was tall and thin with Albert Einstein hair and a bow tie. He instantly buzzed with hundreds of questions for Sky and Moon about their magic, but Marcus crushed it with a growl, making it clear they didn’t have time for his research.
The vampire’s pout was adorable, and it instantly drew his two mates, River and Wyatt, to his side for cuddles and reassurances. That was one very pampered vampire.
“Mr. Wallace, please sit. Winter and Fox have told me what they know of the situation, but I’d like to hear your full understanding of it ahead of Christoph Sandor’s arrival.”
“Just Sky, please, and Christoph is coming here?” It was one shock after another. He’d hoped that Christoph’s ass would be dragged before the king, but he’d not been willing to bet that it would happen.
Aiden motioned to the seats they’d been sitting in earlier, while the rest of the Variks and their various mates settled around the room. “He’s been summoned. It needed to happen because of the reports regarding the human pets. Nolan’s disappearance has sped things up.”
Once he was seated on the sofa with Moon beside him as moral support, he went all the way to the beginning—to when Nolan stirred up a ruckus at Phoenix. Of course, now his drunken behavior made sense. The idea that Nolan had been drinking at the club at the same time he’d been searching for his brother had always struck him as odd.
But Nolan hadn’t been drinking. Christoph Sandor had taken a very big drink from Nolan, leaving him dazed and staggering.Fucking bastard.
Sky pushed on, talking about Owen’s agreement with Aldo and Colette, being hunted, and Nolan admitting that he’d been bitten by Christoph, supposedly making him the clan leader’s new pet.
He rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans as he talked about the magic he used to fend off the Sandor vampires. No one had gotten hurt, and he had a right to defend himself, but all vampires were anxious about necromancer magic, and it wouldn’t help his case if Christoph surprised Aiden with claims about Sky’s magic later. It was better Aiden knew everything up front.
“This pet business is going to cause us endless problems,” Marcus grumbled.
“True, but it has been a tradition almost as long as we have existed. It’s an institution at this point. Most vampires are unwilling to give it up,” Ronan said.
“It needs to end. Humans aren’t pets or toys. They have rights,” Sky snapped.
“It’s true. Humans have a right to choose, and there are plenty of humans who are happy to take on the role of pet.” Ethan leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees. “I’ve seen it firsthand. There are a lot of humans who relish the position, who take it as a badge of honor. They don’t want to be set free. And not all of them were taken against their will or treated poorly.”
