Page 49 of Nyte

“Perhaps once. A long time ago.” A weary look crossed Gaius’s face. “He is my greatest regret. I never should have given him the gift.”

Haven swallowed. His maker would be terribly angry to know that they were talking. But he needed Gaius, needed to get close, to seek what information Gaius could give. He’d make himself as sensuous and seductive as possible if it meant finding the answers to his questions, the solution to his ailments. “If you hadn’t, we never would have met.”

“I only wish I’d found you first.”

Haven knew Gaius wanted to touch him. He could see it in the tense way the other vampyre’s hand twitched at his side. If he’d done it, Haven would have allowed it, opened himself completely to it. Even for the danger it held. Because of who Gaius was…what he was capable of. Gaius was perhaps the only vampyre in the world that Thorne Bathory feared.

“So tell me,” Gaius continued. “What are my progeny’s plans for you tonight? The same as usual?”

A shiver ran down Haven’s spine. “I’ll serve my master however he asks.”

“Your Master?”

Haven nodded.

“You don’t belong to him, Haven. You’re a slave to no vampyre.” Those eyes bore into him, holding him captive. But as much as a person could belong to another, Haven knew the truth: he would always belong to Thorne.

“He is my maker.”

“And I am his. That does not mean he belongs to me.”

“Thorne said you cast him out.”

Theirs was a strange, tense relationship. So long as Haven had been with Thorne, Gaius had never shown anything but disdain for his progeny. Though most vampyres stayed with their sires for the entirety of their immortal lives, Gaius had long ago abandoned Thorne. Still, Thorne had made his own way and thrived, even without that support. But Haven knew it weighed on him. How could it not?

Gaius’s full lips pulled into a sneer. “He would frame it in that light. Thorne has always been...willful. We never saw eye to eye.”

“You must have at one time? Or why would you turn him?”

“I, like so many of my kind, am a fool for beauty, for flames that burn a little too bright. But now, I’ve been singed. I crave more than just a pretty face. I yearn for substance. And you, sweet Haven. You are everything I desire.”

Words. Words he’d heard before. He needed more from Gaius. He needed answers.

“Will you meet with me later tonight? After the others have had their fill and I’ve fulfilled my duty to Thorne. Meet me in my rooms? After all the others have retired?”

“It’s abhorrent,” Gaius hissed. “That he would loan out something so precious. If you were mine, Haven, that would never happen. Never again. No hands would ever touch you but mine. You’ll come to find I’m a jealous lover. I don’t like to share.”

His gaze was so potent, so intense, like he wanted to feast on Haven’s flesh, gorge himself on Haven’s body until there was nothing left. Haven had seen that look before, but on Gaius, it was absolutely terrifying. His stomach tied itself in knots.

He opened his mouth to speak when a voice like a song trilled through the air.

“Father! How marvelous to see you here!” Thorne strode toward them, a stunning vision of masculinity and feline grace. His long black hair flowed freely down his back, displaying his broad shoulders and slim waist, held tightly bound in a cinched black corset. The chemise he wore matched his eyes, startlingly red. There was a wicked gleam in his eye as he glanced between his progeny and his maker. “I’m sure my beauty is keeping you entertained?”

“Quite,” Gaius said through clenched teeth. His expression had tightened, his brow pulled taut.

“I had heard you would be in attendance, but I’m afraid I missed your correspondence. It must have gotten waylaid on its way to me. But I am so honored to see you. It’s been so long. Here, I’d come to think you’d forgotten about me after all these years.”

Thorne’s tone was playful, edged with venom. The air between them was heightened with electric tension. Two vampyres, hugely powerful, eying each other like wolves standing before a scrap of meat. Neither willing to back down.

Haven was the meat.

“Master—” he tried.

“What were you two talking about?” Thorne cocked a brow. “You weren’t trying to steal my progeny, were you?”

“Steal him? I was under the impression Haven was welcome to come and go as he pleased. Is that incorrect?” Danger laced Gaius’s cold words.

A slippery smile grew across Thorne’s lips. Like a predator claiming his prey, sticking his claws into the squirming creature’s neck. “Haven is mine. Just as I was once yours, Father. Or have you forgotten?”

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