“You wanted to see me?” I asked.
Elliot Winters took note of my request and returned with bottled water. Settling down across from me, he balanced a steaming cup of coffee atop a small China plate and watched me from over the rim as he drank. “Yes,” he said as he lowered the cup. “I did.”
The Kaldr set his drink on the table and crossed his arms over his chest, examining my presence. I’d experienced such scrutiny only once with Guy, and even then, I’d adapted to the myriad of gazes that had fallen upon me on the property, when the other Kaldr had turned to look at us. But this—this was something completely different. This was like looking up at the stars and wondering if we were alone.
When the moments began to drag uncomfortably long, I settled back into my seat. “Sir?”
“Jason, please be honest with me when I ask you this question.”
“Of course,” I said.
“Are you the victim of a hostage situation?”
“No,” I laughed, almost out of reflex. His narrowed gaze clearly displayed his emotions. “No, sir. Not at all.”
“And you’re being perfectly honest?”
“Yes. I am.”
Elliot leaned forward. “You’re aware of our powers,” he said.
“Yes,” I replied, unnerved by how bright the outer rims of his eyes were.
“So you know that he could make you do things against your will?”
“I know, sir.”
Elliot stared—scouring my face, objecting my reasoning, examining possible motives. The radiance in his outer irises were too complex for me to tell just what was happening in them, but they appeared to be moving—shifting, slightly, like the gems within Guy’s room. While I could feel no present affect, I was sure he was doing something to me. “You’ve been Glamoured only once,” he said. “Days ago, even, but not for personal gain.”
“He was healing me, sir.”
“Beg pardon?”
I stood and lifted the tail of my shirt, tilting my body to display the fading remnants of a bruise. “I was attacked by an armed robber while I was in your son’s apartment,” I said, settling back down on the couch. “He slammed me into the counter, held me at gunpoint. If Guy hadn’t done anything, I’d be dead.”
“And you believe this excuse enough?” Elliot shook his head. “You are but an unfortunate casualty in all this. My son, however, has risked the safety of our entire people. What do you have to say to that?”
“There’s another one out there.”
“So he says.”
“It’s true! What reason would Guy have to kill all those people?”
“To feed,” Elliot said.
“Sir,” I said, unable to hide my smile as I leaned forward. “Trust me when I say this: Guy wouldn’t have any trouble feeding in a city like Austin. I mean, come on. The men practically couldn’t keep their hands off him.”
Elliot was not amused. That much was for certain. “Now,” he said, as if disregarding everything that had just transpired. “There’s the matter of what to do with you.”
I shrunk at the man’s words. This was what I’d been waiting for. Now I was going to hear my fate.
“Normally,” Elliot said, but this time did not lean forward, instead taking note of me as if I were some ancient curiosity by placing a thumb to his chin, “we would not even consider letting humans in, let alone someone who’s been so intimate with the knowledge of our kind. However...” This he stressed by removing his hand from his chin, then settling it on his knee. “Under the current circumstances, there’s no reasonable way we could allow you out into the world. The mind is mighty, but the things they give you can be worse.”
“Sir?” I frowned.
“Drugs, Jason—I’m talking about drugs. Drugs that affect your mind and will make you answer any question truthfully if it’s injected into your bloodstream. You wouldn’t be able to lie if such a thing were to happen.”
Which meant… what? That I was in the left field, about to hit a home run?
“You will remain here for the time being, until it is determined whether or not anything can be done for you.”
“Sir,” I said. “What about…”
“What about… what?” Elliot frowned.
He seemed to know the answer before I’d even said it—because his eyes darkened and his lip curled into a disapproving smile—so when I said, “Guy,” short and simple, Elliot Winters merely sighed.
“What about him, Jason?”
“I know what you’re asking him to do. It isn’t right.”
“My son will do what is right for his people, whether he wants to or not.”
“It’s not fair!”
“To what? Keep our bloodline from dying out?”
“It’s not even your bloodline anymore! It’s a deviation. It’ll be gone in a hundred years.”
“Silence!” Elliot barked.
“Elliot,” Adameo said from the other side of the room.
“It figures my son would bring home a man as stubborn as he is,” Elliot said, the smirk on his face twisted in its amusement. “Do you know my son’s past, Jason? How promiscuous he was? How many men he’s slept with?”
“I don’t care.”
“Why? Because he’s not human, because you’re open-minded… because you have feelings for him?”
A knot tightened in my stomach. He waited me to respond with that same leering gaze and sinister grin, as if tempting an answer beneath the weight of his judgment. I imagine he expected me not to respond, otherwise he wouldn’t have been trying to goad feelings out of me. I wouldn’t fall for that game. I wasn’t going to let some manipulative asshole tell me what to think or feel.
“Yeah,” I said, the defiance in my voice far more than I’d intended. “I have feelings for him.”
Elliot chuckled. “Good luck,” he said. “Amadeo—show our guest the door, please. And take him back to my son’s room. I don’t want the poor boy getting lost on my account.”