Typical Gerome.
“Then he played us both, because he told me mine was the best.”
Gerome had never played favorites. Kensey stood at the window with his hands clasped behind his back, and I was struck by how similar his stance and clothes were to Gerome’s. Gerome had often gazed out of the window as though thinking of distant places. He’d stood the same way in the weeks before his death. I’d never gotten around to asking him what was troubling him. And then he was gone.
I couldn’t ever lose Kensey like that. Bringing him to Night was a risk, but I needed him here.
If Angelo was among the European resistance, as I suspected, Kensey would know more. I needed my brother in on this, even if I feared one man walking unarmed through a strange city to reach us might spark my brother’s adventurous spirit.
Rome.
Kensey would want to see the Coliseum. Etienne could convince him to stay within these walls until we knew what awaited us beyond. Kensey certainly wouldn’t listen to me. I’d have a quiet word with Etienne soon.
“Where’s Etienne?” I asked.
“Sleeping. He’s finding it difficult, I think.” He turned away from the window, but his gaze snagged on the covered mirror. “Any more signs from whatever was trying to come through?”
“No. We caught it in time, I think.”
All the mirrors in the station had either been turned toward the walls or covered. Large mirrors served as entranceways to the demon realm, and as I’d recently trapped some furious vampires there, I had no wish for them to reappear. One vampire, in particular, concerned me, but I wasn’t wasting time thinking about Jack. In the end, he had tried to do some good by saving me, but that didn’t negate the fact that his actions had brought the queen to my door. Hopefully Caine had killed him by now or the demons had. Demons and vampires famously didn’t get along.
“We need to discuss Etienne,” I began.
“Yeah, well… he is what he is.” He shrugged, tucked his hands into his pockets, and dropped his gaze. “What more is there to say?”
“Why didn’t you tell me he’s a Dark One?”
Kensey sighed and looked up. “You know why. You would have treated him differently.”
“Of course I would have. It was my job to train him, and he’s one of them—” Kensey started for the door, but I stayed hot on his heels. He wasn’t escaping this conversation that easily. “He’s a liability—”
My brother’s strides fast ate up the short walk to the lounge. “And that’s exactly why I didn’t tell you,” he said, forgetting he was here on the quiet. His presence in Night as a human dressed in Night Station clothing demanded attention, but luckily, dawn had caused most of the guests to retreat to their rooms. A few spotted us, but there was no reason to assume they knew who Kensey was.
“His elven parents will influence him,” I added, jogging to catch up. Only minimal staff worked in the daylight hours of Night, and those we passed dutifully pretended not to hear us. “He’s in a position of power by my side, and they know it. They’ll use him, and he likely won’t know he’s working for them.”
“Like Lilith uses you?”
“What?” His words struck like a slap. “She does not!”
His wry look cut off my denial. “C’mon. The incubus is her personal knight, and you’re sleeping with him.”
“That’s not—we’re not—”
He’d seen Rafe in my bedroom and assumed the worst.
I opened my mouth to explain and swallowed instead. Kensey had harbored a Dark One for years without telling me, and then he’d passed him to me for guidance and training and still not told me. We were supposed to be a team. Kensey and Lynher. Lynher and Kensey. He was all I had. I trusted him. But he hadn’t trusted me enough to tell me Etienne, his lover, wasn’t human?
“Lilith is playing you,” he added. “She wants our station. She’s always watching you. She’s always involved in any trouble. I don’t like how something as powerful as her has such an interest in you.”
“Do you think me so incompetent, brother? What Lilith wants doesn’t matter. They all want to get their claws in on the station, but it’ll never happen.”
“So, you’re not with Rafe? Because if you were, the vampires might see that as a station hostess siding with their enemy. It would unbalance—”
“I’m not with anyone. I have more important things to do than screw Dark Ones. Unlike you.”
He stopped and squared up to me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You and Etienne… you’re together-together, and you didn’t tell me about that either. I need to know these things!”
“You don’t need to know everything. We each have our world, and we do things our way within them. That’s how it’s always been. Who I sleep with is not your concern, dear sister.”
But who I slept with was! “Fine. Then you don’t need to know about Rafe and me.”
“You are with the incubus?”
“He has a name!”
The sound of a throat clearing cut us off.
Angelo Canali stood outside the breakfast room. His coat had been put away somewhere, leaving him in drab gray trousers and a wrinkled brown sweater. Something I hadn’t noticed before was the square of white showing from his clergyman collar. He was a religious man. That explained the strange hand gestures.
Throughout history, religion had complicated things, although it had lost its footing since magic had appeared.
“I couldn’t help but hear your arrival,” he said, admitting he’d heard every single word.
Kensey thrust out his hand. “Kensey Aris, and you’re Mister Canali?”
They shook like old friends. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Signor Aris.”
“You’re a religious man, Father?” Kensey asked, obviously as surprised as me.
“Ah, yes, but please, do call me Angelo. There’s no need for formalities among friends.” He touched the collar. “I tend to my flock and keep them safe. The city is mostly clear of Dark Ones, but the world is not kind to us, as I’m sure you have experienced.” He glanced at me, and his eyes held an unspoken comment, one I couldn’t decipher. I really was terrible at reading people. Demons, vampires, jinn, fae—I could read them, within reason. But Gerome had been my primary human contact for any great length of time, and he’d always been honest and level, leaving little room for me to learn the intricacies of human deception.
“How do you know of my sister and me?” Kensey went on, asking all the right questions.
“Let’s talk some more over coffee, shall we?” Angelo gestured at the table laid out for breakfast, inviting us to sit.
Fresh croissants and jam, yogurt, and fruit. At least, while here, the station ensured we wouldn’t starve. I poured Angelo a coffee and did the same for Kensey, trying to meet his eye, but he was engrossed in Angelo’s telling of how he’d heard of the station’s arrival.
“Your waystation is infamous,” he said, taking up a silver spoon to stir his black coffee. “I knew of it when Gerome was the host.” The spoon chinked repeatedly against the side of his porcelain cup. “A dark jewel in her crown.”