Page 13 of Blood Stone

Garrett closed his eyes briefly, as pain flared in his chest and his gut. He let it subside. “We were not like you and Nial, Sebastian. We obeyed the tenants. We stayed apart and went our own ways.”

“But,” Nial added gently.

“Roman made me in 1542,” Garrett said. “And he stayed to guide me, in the beginning. That was the start of it. Then...” He realized his hand was tightly fisted and tried to loosen it. These were words he had never spoken. It was a challenge just to form them aloud. “It seemed like, every forty, fifty years. Maybe longer. One of us would find the other. A day or so. A week. Sometimes a month, if we dared. Until May 1832.”

Both Nial and Sebastian remained silent, simply watching him.

Garrett sighed. “The Greek Revolution,” he explained. “Roman is Byzantine — an Ottoman, born and bred. But he’s Greek to the core. We both were recruited by the British to fight for the Greeks...against the Ottomans. Roman was conflicted as hell. He’d lived so long time had turned around and bitten him on the ass. I don’t know what happened in clinical terms, but he went off the rails a little bit, and I didn’t know how to put him together again. Human psychology was virtually unheard of back then, and we were just as ignorant about our natures, too. I think Roman had simply had enough of living and time. He just...hopped off the bus for a while.”

Nial nodded. “I’ve been there,” he said quietly. “It’s not pretty.”

Garrett nodded. “I was the target for most of it. I was the only vampire around, so it makes sense.” He sighed. “Nowit makes sense. But I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. Back then, all I knew was Roman had turned into someone I didn’t know anymore. He drove me away and I never saw him again.”

“Until today,” Sebastian added.

“Did you meet, today?” Nial asked, and Garrett knew he was talking about a vampire meeting.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Risky,” Nial ventured. “What did you learn?”

“Nothing of value, except that Roman is Roman once more. He is bitter,” Garrett couldn’t help adding. “Of course, now he is determined to protect the woman.”

“Is that going to slow you down?” Nial asked.

“No,” Garrett replied. “He can’t stop what I have planned next. The woman, either.”

“Her name is Kate,” Sebastian said.

Garrett glanced at him, puzzled. “I know that.”

“Use her name, then,” Sebastian said shortly. He seemed annoyed.

Garrett looked to Nial, hoping his expression might explain Sebastian’s sudden prickliness. Nial’s face, however, was neutral.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Sebastian said. He leaned across the counter, dropping his voice. “You genuinely don’t know what I’m pissed about.”

Garrett looked from Nial to Sebastian, hunting for clues. Nial was silent and still. Sebastian’s eyes were narrowed, the sea-green suddenly darkened with emotion.

Annoyance stirred in his own gut. “Do you have any idea who you’re speaking to, boy?” Garrett said, anger making his accent stronger.

Sebastian wasn’t intimidated by an iota. He just nodded. “Yeah, an automaton who’s been moving through history for centuries, who wouldn’t know a real human emotion if it bit him on the ass.”

“By Christ—” Garrett swore, as something cold seemed to slide through his gut.

“You shook Nial’s hand last year,” Sebastian override him. “You said you wanted to re-join life. Be a real person, be yourself once more.” His lip curled in disgust. “You were lying through your teeth, Garrett.”

Garrett found himself on his feet, with no clear idea how he’d got there. He reached for Sebastian, who still hadn’t backed off from his lean over the counter.

But Nial was faster. His big hand slapped over Garrett’s wrist, and held it perfectly still, despite all the power Garrett was pouring into reaching for Sebastian’s throat.

Nial moved around the end of the counter, his hand still around Garrett’s wrist, and stepped up alongside Garrett. “Sebastian has a point,” he said quietly. “As much as you may dislike hearing it.”

Garrett let out the breath he was holding. “Name the point,” he demanded.

“Kate Lindenstream. She’s human to you.”

Garrett struggled to understand. “Sheishuman,” he said at last.