Read Online Starlight(Pact Arcanum 4) by Arshad Ahsanuddin - Free Book Online Page A

year, but only if they kept their mouths shut the entire time. The first one of them that spoke to me would forfeit any opportunity to use the land to his own advantage.”
    Rory chuckled. “So you trumped bloodlust with greed. Clever.”
    Lorcan shrugged. “I learned from the best.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t have been half as successful as Imperator if Layla hadn’t taken me under her wing. I think it amuses her to believe that she’s got her claws firmly in Court politics as well as Armistice. If you hadn’t left it up to her to run the entire North American sector of the Armistice Zone, I’ll bet she’d already be angling for my job.”
    “You’re probably right,” said Rory with a sad smile. “She needed something to distract her after Toby died. It was a small gesture, but it gave her the votes she needed to take over as Archangel after Nick and I retired.”
    Lorcan’s expression grew somber. “That was a bad time. He was so young. It was unfair that he should be the first of us to fall.”
    “I don’t think Nick ever forgave me for not bringing him back,” whispered Rory, not meeting Lorcan’s eyes.
    Lorcan sighed. “Sentinels get only one lifetime. He found immortality in other ways.”
    “True enough,” answered Rory. He glanced at the pictures on the wall of the study. “Have you heard from Antonio recently?”
    “Yes,” said Lorcan, turning to look as well. “From his letters, I get the impression that life in the Centauri colonies really appeals to him when he’s not in transit between star systems. Still, he’ll be back on Earth in a few years. It will be pleasant to speak to him again in person.”
    Rory leaned forward and gently squeezed Lorcan’s shoulder. “How long have you been home?”
    Lorcan turned back to face him, unable to conceal a quick flash of guilt. “About an hour.” He looked up to meet Rory’s steady gaze. “The two of you were already pretty busy by then, and I didn’t want to disrupt your evening. I was just going to sleep in the guest room.”
    Rory looked past Lorcan at the portrait he had painted from Nick’s memories of the laughing, young Irishman who had been Lorcan’s former lover, a gift for the Daywalker’s six-hundredth birthday. “Ruarc, you never have to do that. It’s your bed, too. We would have been happy for you to join us.”
    Lorcan’s face grew sad. “I appreciate that, but as much as I love sharing him with you, I know you treasure the moments you have him all to yourself.”
    Rory leaned forward and kissed Lorcan on the lips, sliding his arms around the Daywalker’s neck as he extended a tendril of thought to his other lover. “When are you going to accept that Nick isn’t the only one who misses you when you’re not there?”
    Lorcan wrapped his arms loosely around Rory’s back. “We were just supposed to be partners for Nick’s sake,” he thought. “I never planned for us to be anything more.”
    Rory broke the kiss and laid his head down on Lorcan’s shoulder. “It’s been almost sixty years,” he said. “You’re as much a part of my heart as Nick is.”
    Lorcan sighed in contentment, and Rory felt him relax. “I know. It scares me sometimes, how much I love you both.”
    Rory nipped Lorcan’s neck lightly with his fangs. “Then stop acting like Nick and I deserve special treatment. He’s your mate, Ruarc, and so am I.” He stood up, pulling free from Lorcan’s arms, and held his hand out to the Daywalker. “Now come to bed. You know how he gets when he wakes up and you’re not there.”
    Lorcan took his hand and smiled as he got to his feet. “We can’t have that, now.”
    “Go ahead and get comfortable. I’ll join you in a minute.”
    Lorcan nodded, and walked into the hallway, slipping his suit jacket off his shoulders.
    Rory looked at the pictures on the wall again, finding a portrait of Nick’s mortal family taken before Toby’s wedding. He subvocalized to his AI. “He’s right, you know. It