Dark Summer, page 10
“Look, Alec,” Jay said, putting his mug down, “about yesterday…”
“You don’t need to say anything.”
“Shouldn’t we talk about it?”
“Why?” He blinked at me. “Sorry. I’m not sure what you want me to say.”
He sighed. “I don’t want you to say anything. It’s just that…it was good, I thought. We were good. I’m not attaching strings or anything.” Jay shrugged and looked into his coffee. “It just felt like there was something there.”
Heat flooded my face. I laid down my fork. “I just… It’s not… It’s complicated.”
“I know it is,” he said. “I understand. I do. But there’s no harm in admitting you enjoyed it.” His smile turned wolfish. “I think you did. Didn’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Well then,” he said, turning his attention to his own plate, “we’ll leave it there for now.” He smiled to himself as he ate.
I finished my own food then retrieved my jacket from the back of the sofa.
“So, what now?” he said as he loaded dishes into his dishwasher.
“I need to speak to Novák, I guess,” I said sullenly. “Tell him what Bonny said, which was basically nothing. What a waste of time.”
“No, it wasn’t. You got to ask your questions and meet people who knew him, loved him.”
“Thanks for your help,” I said, though I couldn’t meet his eyes. “And for…” I glanced around the flat, flushed and coughed. “Yeah…for everything.”
“You should take me with you.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Take me with you. To meet Novák.”
“Why?”
“I’ve tried to get a meeting with Ivor Novák for years but never even got close. But if you take me, I know he’ll see me.”
“What do you want with him?”
“I can help,” he said, coming around the sofa. “And not just with the book. With everything I know, with my contacts in the human world, I could really make a difference if he made me part of his campaign.”
“He’s not my friend,” I said patiently. “He’s some alien overlord that has interfered with my life and tried to play god.”
Jay pursed his lips. “This is important to me. I want to be part of it.”
I glanced at his neck, now hidden behind the collar of his top, then glanced away. “It’s not up to me.”
“Alec—”
“Jay, please,” I said, putting my hand on the door handle. “Thank you for your help…really. But I’m going to talk to Novák, pass on what Ana Bonny said, then I’m going home. That’s it.”
His face fell. “That’s it?”
I sighed. “You know what I mean.”
He nodded stiffly, managing a ghost of his former smile. “I think I do.”
Chapter Seven
I got a taxi out to Hampstead to collect my car then drove back to the hotel. The musky smell of Jay’s hair and skin was still on my clothing. I pulled on a clean shirt, attempted to yank my unruly hair into some semblance of order, gave up then hurried out of the building. I drove through the choked London traffic to Novák’s building with my mind racing. My skin still felt warm where Jay had touched it.
I found the entrance to the underground garage on my second circuit of the building and was just scanning for a buzzer when the door began to rumble open on its own. I frowned at the camera over the door then drove inside. The lift was open and waiting, and all too soon I was stepping again into Novák’s apartment.
“Lord Aviemore,” he said, raising from his seat with liquid grace and moving to the drinks counter. “Good to see you. I hope you are quite recovered from your little ordeal?”
I gave him a look. “Which one?”
“The little forced afternoon tea with the Brassingtons.”
“Terje told you. He got my message.”
“He did,” he surveyed me a moment. “I don’t doubt for a moment you were able to handle yourself, but please assure me they didn’t harm you? Or threaten you in any way?”
“Harm me? No. Threaten me?” I shrugged. “Not overtly, no. But Terje told you what they said?”
“He did.”
“Not good.”
“Not on the face of it,” he said. “But they’ve shown their hand now. This is to our advantage.”
“I’m pleased for you,” I said flatly.
I got the distinct impression that if it hadn’t been for centuries-honed patience, he would have sighed. Instead, he just lifted his thick, black eyebrows a fraction. “And how did it go at Forest Hill?”
“Not great,” I muttered. “Where’s Terje?”
“Not here,” Novák said, holding out another glass of whiskey. “I think his assignment will keep him away for some days, especially with what happened yesterday. If we find out how they know about Terje, we may discover more of what they’re planning. As for your assignment, I’m impressed you were allowed entry to Forest Hill so quickly.”
“I…had help.”
“Ah, yes,” Novák said, pouring a whiskey for himself. “This would be the young Mr. Singh?”
I blinked. “You had me followed?”
“No,” Novák said, turning on the TV with his remote. “He followed you.”
The camera feed showed Jay hovering outside the garage, searching for a way to get in. I swore.
“I know Mr. Singh by reputation. He’s one of our valued human allies. He has done much for us. Though, because of his connection to you, I have considered it unwise to involve him too directly, in case he stumbled onto the truth.”
“I knew him a long time ago,” I said carefully.
Novák weighed me up a long moment then sipped his drink. “If you think we can trust him, I would like to have him on board.” I stared out of the window. “Well? Can we trust him?”
“He’s passionate about haemophile rights,” I said. “I think he was in love with one, once. Doing his part seems to mean a lot to him.”
“And you would be comfortable with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” He looked at me heavily. I scowled. “What? Can you smell him on me or something?”
“Yes.”
“Jesus Christ…”
“I don’t mean to offend,” he said, looking thoughtfully at the screen, where Jay was moving from one camera feed to another, still looking for a way in. “The intricacies of human relationships are lost on me, I’m afraid. But I’m aware enough to know to ask.”
“Involve him or don’t,” I said, drinking the whiskey, “I don’t really care. I’ve done what you’ve asked. I just want to go home.”
“Very well.” He pushed a button on the drinks counter. “Collinson? There is a young gentleman attempting to gain entry at the North Gate. Show him in, would you?”
“Now?” I grated.
“Why not?”
“I told you that I’m done. I want to get out of here.”
“I’m not stopping you, my lord.”
I made an impatient noise. “I’m not leaving without Terje.”
“Like I said, I don’t expect him to be done for some days yet. I can provide you with accommodations if you wish to wait. But the safest thing for you to do would be to return to Glenroe and wait for him there.”
I was about to reply when the lift doors slid open and out stepped Collinson, followed closely by Jay.
“Mr. Jason Singh,” she announced, then withdrew. Jay looked around him. His gaze landed on Novák and his eyes widened.
“Mr. Singh,” Novák said, “good of you to join us. May I offer you some refreshment?”
“Rådgiver Novák,” Jay said, glancing nervously at me and coming forward, holding out his hand. “It is a great pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“And you, Mr. Singh,” Novák said, taking Jay’s hand. He held out a tumbler of whiskey with the other, which Jay accepted. “I know you by reputation, of course. And our mutual friend Lord Aviemore has informed me of your interest in working with me.”
“That’s right, sir,” Jay said. “The only way to make progress is to alter human perceptions. I’m planning a series of articles ahead of the release of my book, which I hope, with your endorsement, will—”
He cut off as the lift doors slid open again and out stepped Terje. He froze, stiller than stone, just inside the room. His silver eyes, glinting like moonlit ice, slid from me to Jay and I knew he knew. The bottom dropped out of my stomach.
“Terje,” Novák said, putting down his glass, the faintest line appearing between his eyebrows. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
Terje didn’t speak. I couldn’t. Jay stared at him, his face pale.
“Terje… Terje Kristiansen?” Jay’s gaze shifted from my lover to me, hardening as it did so. “Alec? What’s going on?”
My mind clamored but my mouth didn’t open.
“This is…unfortunate,” Novák said.
“He’s supposed to be dead,” Jay said, his voice hard.
“He did die,” I said. “Ogdell shot him with an automatic rifle. He bled to death, in agony…” Jay’s face creased, and I stepped closer, lowering my voice. “Jon Ogdell murdered him. In cold blood. Out of hate. That all happened. It’s just that he…came back.”
“Came back?”
“They’re different,” I said, looking to Novák and Terje for help, but they just watched us in silence. “Sometimes they can…come back. The Blood brings them back.”
“So why lie?” Jay asked.
“It was necessary,” Novák said, “for the greater good.”
“I can’t believe this.” Jay shook his head, staring at Novák. “This is… This is an abuse of trust. People have faith in you. They’re relying on you to fight for their cause and you’ve lied about this, one of the most influential events—”
“I understand the implications,” Novák said, holding Jay’s accusing gaze without reaction. “But both to further our cause and for Terje’s own safety, I judged it the best course of action.”
Jay looked at me. “And you, Alec? Why’d you lie?” I downed my whiskey and didn’t meet any of the eyes on me. After a pained moment, Jay turned back to Novák. “Rådgiver Novák… All due respect, but I believe this was a serious misjudgment.”
“You must understand, Mr. Singh,” Novák replied, “that I see more than you do. And the wellbeing of my people is, and will always be, my first priority.”
No one spoke for some time. I looked around, feeling the deep, black voids dividing us all.
“Terje,” Novák finally broke the silence, “do you have something to report?”
“Yes,” Terje said without intonation.
“Go ahead,” Novák ordered. “I think we’re all still allies here?”
Jay’s face was tight. Terje’s gaze stayed on me but I couldn’t penetrate the steel curtain behind his eyes. He looked away and turned to Novák.
“After Alec’s message, I followed his scent and found the underground stronghold the Brassingtons have been using to hold meetings,” he spoke levelly, without intonation, but Jay gaped at me and I winced. “They held a gathering there last night with a number of their associates. There were haemophiles present.”
“Haemophiles?” Jay started. “Meeting with the Brassingtons?”
Terje’s cut-glass gaze appraised Jay, but Novák spoke before he could say anything, “As I feared. Go on, Terje.”
“The haemophiles have been given civilian targets to kill, with instructions to leave the bodies in conspicuous places.”
“What?” Jay paled. “Why?”
Terje’s icy gaze landed on him. “They plan to stir mistrust and fear and, off the back of that, announce their intention to run in the next election with a campaign to tighten haemophile restrictions.”
Jay’s face flushed. Novák’s didn’t change. “Did they mention the intended victims’ names? Or dates?”
“Some,” Terje said, holding out an envelope.
Novák took it. “Thank you, Terje. Hopefully we can stop this tide before it starts to turn.”
“That information needs to go to the authorities,” Jay started.
“It will be taken care of,” Novák said, tucking the envelope inside his jacket. “Terje, Lord Aviemore, thank you for all your assistance.” He glanced between our awkward gathering with a very human awareness in his eyes. “I advise you to return to Glenroe. I will be in touch if anything further comes to light that you should be aware of.”
Terje nodded and strode to the lift. I hurried after him but Jay called my name.
I hesitated, and in that moment, the doors of the lift slid closed between me and Terje. Jay stepped to my side.
“You could have told me,” he said in a pained whisper.
“I couldn’t,” I replied, intensely aware of Novák watching.
“You could,” Jay insisted.
“We all agreed to keep it secret,” I replied. “Novák had a campaign to build. Terje and I wanted to be left alone. And if that ex-Magister of his finds out he’s still alive—”
“That’s not why you didn’t tell me.”
Heat rushed into my face. “Look, Jay—”
“Everything you said,” he said bitterly, “and everything you didn’t say… Alec, can’t you see how twisted this is? Even forgetting the fact that we fucked—”
“Jay—”
“You lied to me. To everyone. Why?”
“I had to.”
“No, you wanted to. But for what? You’re in so much pain, Alec. I thought it was because you were grieving…” He gripped my arm. “Why? If he’s still here, why do you feel that way?”
I pulled my arm out of his grip and summoned the lift. He said my name again, but I stepped in without replying. The doors closed, hiding his pained look from my view.
Terje was in the driver’s seat of the Jaguar with the engine running when I reached the garage. I climbed in with my stomach tying itself in knots.
“Terje…”
“It’s okay,” Terje said, pulling out of the space and steering toward the doors.
I frowned. “Don’t you think we should talk about this?”
“About what?”
“About Jay.”
The garage door rumbled open. Terje pulled out into the streaming traffic. I shifted in my seat. “Terje—”
“It’s all right,” he cut me off, his gaze fixed ahead. “You don’t have to explain anything.”
Heat surged through my chest. “You can’t seriously—”
“Alec,” he said, finally looking at me, though his face was blank, “you’re overreacting. You had sex. It’s healthy. Natural. I understand.”
“I don’t want you to just understand.”
Terje frowned, pulling out into a faster lane. “Then what do you want?”
“I want you to be angry,” I said, my voice shaking. “I cheated on you. I…” I made a frustrated noise and ran a hand over my face. “Christ. I fucked someone else, Terje. Don’t you care?”
Terje raised his eyebrows. “He was human. You had a connection…and a need. Why should I care?”
“Because I want to mean something to you.”
“You do.”
“So haemophiles really don’t care about fidelity? Trust?”
“Look, Alec,” he said, the start of an exasperated smile on his smooth, pale lips. “Fidelity is one thing. Monogamy is another. Sex is different for your kind. You already know that. This hasn’t changed how I feel about you—or me wanting to have that experience with you again. I just think what you and I have…” He shrugged again. “It’s more than that, isn’t it?”
I stared at him, then out of the window. “If you really don’t care, then what was all that before?”
“All what?”
“When you first came in the room. When you saw Jay. When you…smelled him, smelled what we’d done. You felt something. I know you did. You looked like you were about to bite his head off. Literally.”
He was silent for a long, considered moment, his face blank. “I suppose I was just…surprised.”
“Surprised?”
“After what you’d said to me in Edinburgh,” he spoke, slowly, carefully, like he was weighing out each word, “I thought perhaps faithfulness of this sort was important to you. You often surprise me, Alec.” His voice had levelled out, “I suppose I just didn’t expect to be surprised in that way.”
“That was your reaction? Surprise?”
He drove for a time without looking at me. “I take it that’s not enough?”
I couldn’t find a way to reply.
It was a long, uncomfortable drive back to Glenroe, at least for me. I dozed some of the way but then just dreamed about arguing further. I would wake more frustrated and more guilty each time.
Terje didn’t appear to notice.
By the time I was bolting the front door of Glenroe behind us, I was aching, exhausted and sullen. Dawn wasn’t far off and Terje had already disappeared. I dumped my bag on the floor of the master bedroom and sat on the bed to pull off my shoes. I stared around at the room I’d loved so much when I’d left it. Now it felt empty…hollow.
I collapsed onto the bed with a weariness that went right to my bones.
Terje brushing his hand up my leg made me jump. I sat up. He was perched on the edge of the bed, his shirt and shoes gone, his hair loose on his shoulders and his cool, pale skin slightly warmed by a recent feed. He ran his hand along my thigh. My flesh tingled and my breath caught in my chest.
I opened my mouth to speak but he climbed on top of me and stopped me with a firm, hungry kiss. I whimpered, immediately hard, even as cold waves of guilt and thoughts of Jay threatened to douse my arousal.
As if guessing my thoughts, Terje pulled at my clothing, steadily, patiently unbuttoning and unzipping, stripping each layer away with slow, deliberate care. The snowmelt silver of his eyes glinted in the low light from the bedside lamp.
“You really want to? After what I’ve done?”
“You know I won’t give you the right answer,” Terje said softly into my ear, “so don’t even ask.”
A confused tangle of emotions rolled through my insides, but then Terje’s familiar weight rested across my legs and he was bending and taking my hard, aching cock into his mouth.
