Starlight(Pact Arcanum 4) by Arshad Ahsanuddin Page B

address that he had read on Rory’s note every Christmas for the last ten years.
     
    * * *
     
    It was a relatively small church to have such an unusual congregation. Nick pushed the door open and stepped inside. Immediately, he felt the tingle of holy ground, but only on the right side of the doors. The left side of the church remained free of spiritual power. He walked to the left side and scanned the pews for Rory and Lorcan, finally finding them seated together near the front, Lorcan’s arm over Rory’s shoulders. He watched them from the back of the church throughout the rest of the service, ignoring the words of the priest and the singing of the choir. Then the deacon dismissed the worshippers and they all stood to leave. Rory and Ruarc remained seated as the others filed slowly out of the church. Finally, when the crowd had thinned out, the two of them stood and walked down the aisle toward the rectory. Rory was talking as they walked, and he turned to face Lorcan a step behind him as he raised his hand to knock at the door.
    That’s when Rory saw him.
    In that single moment, while Nick watched him with his senses fully open, Rory’s shields slipped in surprise, just for a moment, and Nick saw the emotion that blossomed in his mind before his shields reasserted themselves.
    Hope.
    Lorcan turned around to see what Rory was staring at, and caught sight of Nick as well. The elated smile that creased his face seemed to burn through Nick, and the church seemed suddenly sweltering. He didn’t move, just broke into a sweat as they walked back to where he was standing.
    Lorcan reached him first, and swept him up in a bear hug. “You came!”
    Rory smiled as he joined them. “We’ve been trying to get you to dump the desk for ten years! What made you decide to come out with us finally?”
    Nick faced Lorcan. “Do you remember what you said to me in the double bridge?”
    Lorcan’s expression grew suddenly guarded, and Rory stopped smiling.
    Lorcan answered cautiously. “I said a lot of things that day.”
    “You made me a promise,” said Nick, his voice barely above audible to human ears. To the three vampires, however, his words were clear.
    Lorcan swallowed. “If your heart thaws, I will be waiting.”
    Nick met his gaze. “Someday, I might come for you.”
    Rory took a deep breath and let it out. “What are you saying, Nicholas?”
    Nick turned to him. “If I ask you a question, will you answer honestly? Please?”
    Rory glanced once at Lorcan, then nodded. “I will, if that’s what you want.”
    “Why did Jeremy give me to you?”
    Instead of answering, Rory extended a tendril of thought toward him. Nick linked to it, finding that Rory had already opened a similar link to Lorcan.
    Then Rory reached into his memory and drew out Jeremy’s voice. “Make him remember that he loves you both, just as much he loves me. I can’t love him forever, but you can. Please. Don’t let me die and leave him all alone.”
    Nick stood there frozen, not even realizing he was crying until Lorcan wiped his tears away with his thumb. Finally, Nick reached out along the link to both of them. “I haven’t forgotten.”
     Out loud, he said what was in his heart. “Let’s go home.”
     

C HAPTER 11
     
    April 2108, Court of Shadows Council Chamber Complex, Alexandria, Egypt
    “This is outrageous!” said Javier Magister Tervilant from the Challenger’s Lectern. “My lord Imperator, how can you even think of perverting a formal mating in this matter?”
    Lorcan stood from his place at the high table. “Prince Javier, it’s my mating to pervert, and Prince Sean never declared me his Leshir. He is perfectly within his rights to bestow his favors elsewhere.”
    Javier glared at Rory and Nick, standing together at the Champion’s lectern. “The three of you are making a mockery of one of our most cherished institutions. Formal matings are always monogamous. It cannot be otherwise.”
    Nick laughed. “Prince Javier,