Page 52 of Blood Stone

“You don’t know him well?”

“No one knows Patrick Sauvage well. Not even Patrick.”

Movement from the corner of her eye drew Winter’s focus. She looked up.

Like metal filings to a magnet, people were standing up and snagging Kate Lindenstream’s attention as she moved across the barn-like room. From her direction it looked like she was heading either for the bar or the washrooms, but she was making slow progress toward either, for every few steps she took, she was waylaid by someone else stopping her for a few words.

Winter watched a while, her admiration building, for Kate’s smile stayed firmly in place and not a hint of frustration or impatience showed in her expression or body language. Given the week that Kate had been handed, with the knotty problems Winter had seen her handle, the massive scale project she was coordinating and the lack of sleep she had to be suffering, it was amazing she was still standing upright. And tonight was supposed to be her downtime, too.

Winter turned back to Garrett and saw he was watching Kate, too. His expression was odd. Hard to categorize.

“Do you want to speak to her?” Winter asked, her voice very soft. She knew Garrett would be able to hear her, while the humans sitting at the tables next to them would not.

She glanced back at Kate, who had extricated herself from her current conversation and had finally reached the ladies’ washroom.

“I have Nial’s timetable to maintain. I’m falling behind.” His tone was sour.

“Trust can’t be rushed. He knows that. And with Kate, if you push it…” She didn’t bother finishing the sentence. Garrett was smart.

Sebastian leaned forward. “Although, if you’re deadlocked, as you say you are…” he said, just as softly as Winter.

“It’s been a week and her anger hasn’t cooled. Roman is feeding it.” Garrett shrugged.

“Then you need a dam breaker. Something to open her up and let it out. She’s not seeing you as you. She’s just seeing you as the object of all her problems. Her favourite punching bag. Change that.”

Garrett shook his head. “One thing I’ve learned about humans. They don’t change. Not really. On the surface they give the appearance of change, but down deep, they cling to their old ways. Life is too short for them to adjust.”

“You don’t have to change anything about her but her perspective,” Winter replied. “She just has to look at you differently.”

“Christ, how long is it since you seduced a woman, anyway?” Sebastian asked in an undertone.

“What has this got to do with seduction?” Garrett shot back.

“You’re trying to win her trust. It’s a seduction,” Sebastian said flatly.

“She’s human,” Garrett responded.

“So?” Winter asked, puzzled.

Sebastian leaned even closer toward Garrett. “Get used to that fact real fast, Garrett, and sweep her off her fucking feet or this whole show will be over and we can all go home and let the Pro Libertatis control the rest of our lives. You might find the idea of getting cozy with humans distasteful, but I’m betting Roman doesn’t.”

Garrett’s features tightened. “You’re quite the bastard, aren’t you?”

“When I need to be,” Sebastian agreed. “Nial has more empathy and patience for your archaic attitude, but I’m damned if I’m going to sit here and let you whine about humans a nanosecond longer. You’re being a hypocrite. You want to join the human race again, then join it properly and stop bellyaching.”

Winter let her gaze switch between the pair of them as they glared at each other, while she frantically sorted out the meanings and implications that had just spilled onto the table.

“Who is Roman?” she asked softly, the one fact she couldn’t couple up without more information.

Sebastian sighed and sat back, hunching down and into his role as an introverted geek. Winter watched Garrett, the one who was under the most pressure. He would give her the answer if she let the silence stretch long enough.

His gaze cut away from hers. Away and across the room. She followed the direction of his look.

Adrian Xerus, the man who was rumoured to be Kate’s boyfriend and living in her trailer, while he seemed to have no discernable role on the set, was standing by one of the big squared pillars, a Solo cup in his hand, the other pushed deep in the pocket of his jeans, watching everyone with his suspicious brooding gaze.

Roman.

Winter caught her breath as the last pieces of this small puzzle fell into place. Roman kept poisoning Kate against Garrett. He was in Kate’s bed. Sebastian had just implied that Garrett and Roman had a past.