Chapter Thirty-One

Theo

I was frustrated that I had missed Yamato’s ping. Being balls-deep in Pride and vampire drama will keep a guy from paying attention to World of Warcraft. It had been a simple text: Hey need to talk to you. Have a favor to ask.

I had passively noted that my satellite had not alerted me to any danger, so I didn’t actually check in on him. Of course he didn’t answer when I responded, ‘Sup? at 10:00 a.m. my time because it would be middle of the early morning for him.

Shifting into the Interface, I projected myself into the data streams surrounding Yamato so I could see what he might be asking about. His phone, laptop, and company’s information rushed around me like a vortex that my consciousness melded with, primed to pick out anything of interest. Indeed, there were two bits—a call to Aoki the night before that had lasted only a few minutes. It had come just before his message to me. There was also a large sum of cash withdrawn from Yamato’s account. Oh, man, what are you doing? I internally groaned.

The satellite data was constantly recording, so I looped it back to watch the video where Yamato called Aoki.

“Aoki, I need to see you,” Yamato had said in a fairly clipped tone.

“Time? Place?” Aoki responded.

Yamato’s eyes widened with surprise, though he quickly recovered. “Day after tomorrow? Ten o’clock in the morning. Your apartment?”

“Yes.” Aoki disconnected, leaving Yamato a looking a little shellshocked as he sat down hard and then nodded to himself.

Checking the current satellite feed, I saw Yamato and his new beau wrapped around each other in apparent slumbering bliss.

Shit, shit, shit. I did the math. That would put it right in the middle of a dinner with Maggie. I’d need to get out of it somehow.

★

“Happy birthday, honey!” Abi hugged Robbie tighter and longer than ever as we sat on the outdoor patio of our favorite seafood joint in Sausalito. “I love you so much.”

My mind was in Japan, and I had been more than passively scanning all day for Yamato to get on and ping me again.

“Thanks. Theo had talked about taking me to Lavender Shores, but with everything going on, we’ll do it next year.”

“Ooo, what’s Lavender Shores?” Abi asked, and I let Robbie tackle the question about the gay-friendly resort town much like Sausalito that was a few hours north of us.

Abi chattered on over dinner, and I chimed in occasionally, keeping my virtual eye on Yamato as he went about his rather mundane day. I took Abi’s cue when she whipped out a wrapped gift from her enormous bag and shifted full focus to the action in front of me, feeling like a heel because I hadn’t been present all night for my boyfriend’s birthday.

“Oh wow.” Robbie grinned, marveling at the tooled red leather-bound book depicting a serpent wrapped around it. It closed with a strap of leather around a large silver coin and was blank on the inside.

“Got it in the Castro,” Abi said proudly. “I have a couple that I use for journaling, but you can use them for school or whatever.” She grinned.

“Guess it’s my turn, huh, sugar?” I pushed across the Bvlgari watch box and inwardly beamed at Robbie’s eyes lighting up.

“I’ve felt so naked without one,” he said, eagerly snagging the blue-faced magically enhanced time piece and buckling it on his arm as Abi complimented it.

“I know you don’t need it anymore, but it does help with blocking out the mind-fucks, at least from vamps and Nüwa. Also has the force shield for physical attacks, just in case you are taken by surprise,” I reminded, trying to keep my tone neutral though the thought that he would need one when I wasn’t around was more and more present.

“I love it! Thank you, Theo. I feel safer wearing it.”

“I’m glad you like it,” I said, happy for the distraction when the waiter brought dessert and Abi started singing.

When we got back to the house, I said, “Gonna go Interface for a while, sugar. Why don’t you two hang and we’ll get an early start in the morning so we can catch our flight?”

“What’s going on?” Robbie asked, and Abi raised her eyebrows, looking between the two of us.

“I just got some stuff to do, sugar. Don’t keep him up too late, Abs. Get some sleep, birthday boy.” I kissed his cheek and took off before he could corner me.