Shadow's Fall by Dianne Sylvan

bowed, said that no, she required nothing, thank you, and went back to her business.
    “I wanted to invite you to a private reception in my study,” David said, returning his attention to Tanaka. “The West, the Plains, India, and Eastern Europe will be there.”
    “I shall be happy to attend,” Tanaka replied. “I need to speak to Varati anyway to finalize a business transaction. And I am anxious to hear the latest news on your network progress—as are the others, I imagine. I know that as soon as you have the system ready for distribution, we will want to purchase a license.”
    “Absolutely. Of course I’d give it to you for free, but I’m sure we can strike a deal that will satisfy Council propriety.”
    “I look forward to it.”
    “Two A.M. , then. I’ll have Faith come to escort you to the study.”
    They bowed to each other again, and David left the suite with a nod to the Japanese Elite who stood guard.
    Once in the hallway again, he paused.
    The next suite to visit was California’s.
    David steeled himself. There was no reason to be nervous. They had talked frequently over the last three years, and as far as anyone was concerned, the whole horrible incident was behind them … but he knew, as did they all, that in reality it would never be done.
    Just get it over with.
    The door opened before he could even knock. “There you are,” Jonathan said with a grin. “Come on in.”
    They shook hands, and the Consort ushered him into the room. He gave David a sidelong glance. “Relax,” Jonathan said. “I’m here to chaperone.”
    Normally David would have been embarrassed to be so transparent, but really, it was something of a relief not to dance around the subject. He’d had no idea how this was going to go; phone calls were one thing, but face-to-face … but Jonathan’s expression held only acceptance.
    It had been three years since he’d seen Deven in person. Three years—and the last time they’d been in the same city, they’d surrendered to the demons that still bound themtogether. David wouldn’t allow it to happen again … but he would never have believed it would happen in the first place. Nothing he had ever been sure of about himself held true anymore, and that was the most terrifying thing he’d ever had to face in his life.
    The Prime stood at the window, watching the splendid view of the night; as David approached, he turned toward him, unsmiling.
    They stared at each other.
    “My Lord Prime,” Deven finally said, bowing. “It’s good to see you again.”
    David took a deep breath and held out his hand. “You, too. Welcome back.”
    Deven looked down at David’s hand, then back up at his face; slowly, he offered his own, and they shook, neither one willing to draw any closer. David realized that Deven was as afraid of this as he was.
    “Oh, for God’s sake,” Jonathan said. “You two are ridiculous. Just kiss already and let’s move on.”
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Deven said quietly.
    The Consort made an irritated noise. “If you start humping each other, I’ll turn the hose on you. Cross my heart. Now stop acting like you can ignore all of this and it’ll go away—we all know what happens when you do that.”
    David couldn’t help but laugh a little. “All right, all right.” Carefully, he moved closer and leaned down to bestow a kiss on Deven’s forehead.
    Dev raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious?” He put a hand around the back of David’s neck and pulled David’s lips to his.
    The contact was electric … but David found it easy enough to keep the kiss brief and light, and when he drew back, they both breathed a little easier. He did, however, notice that Deven’s ears were a little pink.
    “There,” Jonathan said. “See? We’re all adults here. You were perfectly able to be friends before and nothing went wrong. You’ve got to trust yourselves.”
    Deven smiled. “All the same … thank you for putting us in a different room