Notturno (4 page)

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19

the hand holding his arm. He felt the whisper of Donte’s breath

against his ear.

“I’ve called you and called you, yet you only just now come

to me.
Stubborn.
”

“What do you want?” asked Adin, refusing to turn.

“Only that which belongs to me.”

“And what would that be?”

“What do you think, Adin? Of course I want my journal

back. And yet…I wonder if you recall how completely you gave

yourself to me.” Donte’s sigh lifted the hair on Adin’s nape.

“Perhaps I would like that back as well.”

Adin watched the flashing elevator lights and concentrated

on thinking clearly. He kept his voice even. “Does this kind of

thing work for you?”

“What kind of thing?” Donte stiffened.

“This whole,
I am Donte
thing.” Adin affected the accent,

giving it a little more Bela Lugosi than was strictly necessary.

“
Come to me, caro, and your blood will sing in the moonlight.
”

“Now, I know I have never said that.” Donte put a hand on

Adin’s shoulder.

“It’s only a matter of time, I’m sure.”

“I fear it loses a little of the
oompah
if you are not looking at my face.”

Adin snorted. “I gathered.”

“Turn around, caro,” Donte ordered.

“Nope. When I look you in the eye, things happen inside my

head that I don’t necessarily like.”

“I promise I won’t use mind tricks on you right now.”

Donte tugged at him. “I am a man of my word, if nothing else.”

“I can tell when it’s happening; it’s no use anyway.” Adin

turned.

“You would be foolish to assume that in the future. Just

because you can tell it’s happening doesn’t mean you can stop

it.”

20 Z.A. Maxfield

“What is it, anyway?” asked Adin. The lights on the panel

had stopped blinking maniacally, but the elevator descended in

a leisurely way, giving the impression they were hovering,

floating in the glass-enclosed space.

“What? Oh, I don’t know, a kind of hypnosis, maybe, a push

of thought that takes root in someone’s mind because they are

weaker.” Donte leaned against the round brass railing that

surrounded them like a skeleton inside the elevator car.

“I see.”

“You don’t like to think of yourself as weaker. I understand,

but Adin, you cannot hope to prevail against me as you are.”

“You can’t have the journal; I bought it with proper

provenance, but you may try, if you like, to dispute it in a court

of law.”

“Yes, well. That presents a problem, though, doesn’t it?”

“Do you really expect me to believe the impression you have

been constructing? The biting, the mind control, the Vlad the

Impaler accent.”

“Vlad—I’m
Italian
.”

“Do you expect me to believe that you are…? I can’t even

say it.” Adin raised his brows. “The undead. A creature of the

night. The prince of darkness.”

Donte pursed his lips. “I believe
that
was Satan.”

“Yes. Well. Do you?”

Donte’s eyes met his, and he was relieved to feel only an

attraction, not a confused jumble of painful desire and fear. “I

don’t care whether you believe it. Your belief doesn’t alter the

facts. The journal is mine: I drew it. I illustrated it. I
lived
it. It belongs to me, and I want it back.”

“You will have a hard time proving that in court.”

Donte looked out over the skyline. “Did you ever hear the

story about the brothers who were camping in the woods when

a bear crashed into their campsite, enraged, and began to chase

them? The first brother says, ‘I must outrun the bear,’ and the

second says, ‘I don’t have to outrun the bear. I just have to

NOTTURNO
21

outrun you.’” He shook his head. “You know I cannot take this

to a court of law, caro.”

Adin peered at the city and the darkness beyond it. “Fair

warning?”

“Yes.”

“I like you a lot better without the glamour, you know?

Whatever causes it.”

Donte’s teeth shone even and white as he smiled, and Adin

wondered about that, Renaissance dentistry being what it must

have been. Looking at Donte, he wondered about a lot of

things. His most immediate question, which he framed with a

smile of his own, crowded out all those other thoughts.

“So, how long do we have the elevator?”

Donte’s bark of laughter caught them both by surprise.

“Caro, you imp. This is almost as unseemly as that airplane

bathroom. There are cameras…”

“Then in the morning we can google ‘gay elevator sex video’

and see if we get a hit on ourselves.” Adin approached Donte,

which seemed to be the last thing he expected, and touched

their lips together lightly. “I find I very much like tight spaces if they have you in them.”

“This is a
glass
elevator,” Donte countered, kissing him back hungrily. “I think you should know that whatever you have

planned needs to be accomplished before we reach the tenth

floor or everyone in the lobby court will be witness to our

passion and subsequent arrest for indecent exposure and lewd

conduct.”

Adin snorted. “I think you might be that quick off the mark,

at your age, but—”

“Invite me to your room,” whispered Donte.

Adin froze. “Ah, yes, well.” He backed up, regret in his eyes.

“Sorry. I can’t do that.”

“Superstitious? I could make you do it.”

“Actually, I don’t believe you could.” This seemed as good a

time as any to test it. If Donte could get Adin to do anything he

22 Z.A. Maxfield

wanted, then the game was over before it began anyway. A

tremendous wave of emotion washed over him, deep fear that

crawled up his spine like a vine. It was an interesting sensation,

but because he expected it, he could remain distant,

acknowledging and exploring it without letting the suggestions

touch him. Adin searched the fear, probing it like a sore tooth.

At its core was the desire to reach out to Donte for protection.

Donte watched him curiously.

“Hey, nice,” said Adin. “If you could make people think

they’d eaten, you’d be a remarkable diet aid.”

“I am the very apex of the food chain on this planet, Adin.

Try to have a little respect.” Donte’s mouth quirked, the

beginnings of a smile forming on his luscious lips.

“Nevertheless, it isn’t going to work on me now that I can

feel it coming.” Adin smoothed a hand over Donte’s jacket and

tie. Adin’s
own tie
, which Donte took from him on the airplane.

“The color suits you,” he remarked with asperity. “Trophy tie?”

“You spent on
my
tie, Adin. I’m having it cleaned.”

“Ah.” There didn’t seem to be much more to say. Adin

looked back at the numbers.

“Well. This is awkward,” said Donte.

“Give me a minute. I’m warming up to asking you out for

dinner.”

“Really?”

Adin looked up at Donte. “Yes.” Donte’s perfect mouth

formed in a small O of surprise.

“If I go with you, does that qualify as takeout for me, I

wonder.”

Adin laughed again.

“You seem remarkably calm in the face of what could be a

very short, very frightening night on the town. Do you realize

this?”

“Yes, I realize. You could probably kill me, then rent my

room and get your manuscript back. But you haven’t, yet.

Instead you’ve turned on your enormous personal charm and

NOTTURNO
23

turned off your mojo, so I have to figure I stand a chance, at

least, to greet the dawn alive.”

“You think my personal charm is enormous, do you, Adin?”

asked Donte, leaning in.

“As if you didn’t know you were
every
month in my Undead

Playmate Calendar.”

“I like you, Adin,” said Donte warmly.

“I hope you don’t mean that in the epicurean sense, love.”

“Of course.” Donte smiled. “First course, entrée, dessert.

Perhaps you could come between the cheese course and the

après-dinner coffee.” He lowered his lashes. “You were

delicious. A hint of Irish butter…a note of berry…a little sweet,

a little tart.”

“I must admit I have been called a little tart before.”

Donte tilted his head back and laughed. “Where shall we go,

caro? Someplace where you will sparkle for me all night, yes?”

“Oh no. Am I sparkling again?” asked Adin. “I have just the

place, Donte, but first tell me, do you eat? Or just drink?”

“I won’t be eating.”

“Ah, then no porterhouse for two at Table 8.” He sighed.

“Too bad, it’s rather wonderful. I think in that case we can head

over to Vin, my sister’s favorite.”

“All right, do you have a car?”

“No, we’ll get a cab. It’s over on Santa Monica, in West

Hollywood. On the way, perhaps you can fill me in on the

whole garlic thing. Is it a dating do or don’t for vamps, and will

I get kissed if I eat it?”

“You are remarkably sanguine, no pun intended, for a man

in an elevator with a vampire.”

“Little reality check.
If
I believed in vampires, and I’m not saying I do, you haven’t proved you are one to my satisfaction.

You fucked me in an airplane bathroom, bit my neck, and tried

to steal a million-dollar manuscript from me. I think I’m being

remarkably optimistic about the whole affair. I’ll even pay for

dinner. No stakes, I promise, just poultry or fish.”

24 Z.A. Maxfield

“Very funny.”

The elevator started to move at its normal speed again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, how does he do it?” murmured Adin.

“I’m beginning to feel mocked,” said Donte sourly.

Adin caught his hand. “Apologies, Donte. Truly. If you are

who—and what—you say you are, then I apologize from the

bottom of my heart. I’ve read only a few pages of that

manuscript. It’s beautiful, the art and the entries. They were

highly skilled and lyrical.”

The elevator doors opened at the lobby. “After you,” said

Donte, ignoring the looks on the faces of the maintenance men

who had apparently been called in to deal with a rogue elevator.

Donte continued to talk while they waited for the doorman

to get them a cab. “I know what you think. When people of this

age look at that journal, all they see is sex. It is Boys Gone Wild, the Florentine edition.” He looked at Adin. “Don’t look at me

like that. I know what you called it, Renaissance pornography.

So thought de Sade, that
awful
little shit.”

“Do you dare,” asked Adin, stopping in his tracks, “to

compare me to the Marquis de Sade?”

“You collect manuscripts like mine, yes? You are the

quintessential American man who reads those glossy sex rags

for the articles. Certainly, it is compelling that Tanya enjoys long walks on the windy moor at night, needlepoint, and Labrador

retrievers. But is that why you read it? I think not.”

“I’m sorry,” said Adin quietly as the doorman opened the

cab door for them. Donte automatically tipped him.

“For what?”

Adin told the cabdriver the address, and the cab pulled out.

“I don’t think you understand my interest in that manuscript,”

said Adin, pulling his seat belt around and clicking it into place.

He raised his brows at Donte when he didn’t do likewise, but

Donte raised his eyebrows back as if to say,
Hello, already dead
.

“Oh, right, where was I? I’m a professor of literature, Donte,

and among other things, I specialize in antique erotica. In fact,

my credentials are such that people pay me to search out and

NOTTURNO
25

authenticate manuscripts for private collections, museums, and

academic institutions.”

Donte gave that some thought. “So this makes you the

Indiana Jones of what you call antique pornography.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Adin teased.

“All I see is an acquisitive man with a healthy disrespect for

authority.” Donte looked out the window. “Someone for whom

the private lives of kings and princes and priests are merely

fodder for prurient speculation.” He returned his gaze to Adin.

“Tell me that I’m wrong. Tell me that you see the authors of

your manuscripts as people, like you, with a tiny little sliver of

mortality to sustain or enjoy or endure in any way they have to.”

Adin was silent.

“I speculate that you cannot place yourself in the shoes of

these men, that you think you are far superior and above the

normal cravings and desires these books represent.”

“You can’t really believe that.”

“But I do,” said Donte. “I believe you have it all very neatly

sewn up. Tariq in Frankfurt, who offers the opera and his

perfectly lovely flat. There must be others, perhaps located in

major cities all over the world. Tonight, I am Don Giovanni de

Los Angeles. Will someone else be disappointed this evening?

Was someone expecting you?”

“No. Except my sister. We were going to have dinner, but I

asked her if we could do lunch instead.”

Donte rumbled with laughter. “In the daylight.”

“Yes.”

“While you dine, caro,” he said, “I will fill you in on what

you can and cannot expect from me, in the interest of fairness.