* * *
A large, black SUV was parked outside the main house when Atlas pulled in on Thursday night. He’d barely gotten out of his car and checked the lines of his suit before the front door of the house opened. Cristian strode out, looking down as he fiddled with his tie. “Helias said you’d just buzzed in and I wanted to check with you before we—” He glanced up and stumbled to a stop. His eyes narrowed and his mouth opened slightly. “Oh.”
“You requested the blue suit,” Atlas said, fighting the urge to check his outfit for the flaw Cristian had found.
“Yes,” Cristian said, too quickly. “I didn’t expect you to actually follow orders though.” He snapped his mouth shut, but didn’t stop looking at Atlas.
“Is it okay?” Atlas pressed.
Cristian hadn’t moved any closer to Atlas or the SUV, but his uneven exhalation was audible despite the distance. “The suit is quite...tolerable.” He accidentally caught Atlas’s gaze and threw up a too-bright grin. “I had no idea you could pull it off,” he added.
Odd moment broken by the weak attempt at humor, Atlas took his place by the driver’s door. “Have you told them where we’re going yet?”
Cristian didn’t get a chance to answer. The rest of the group spilled out of the house. Dinu spotted Atlas first and slid out of Vasilica’s grasp long enough to lope over and attempt to crush him in a hug.
“Atlas!” Dinu cheered into his sternum. He must have started drinking early, because he didn’t notice Atlas’s sudden stiffness or the desperate look he shot Vasilica. “You didn’t have to dress up too.” He drew back and eyed Atlas’s suit. “But you look damn good doing it, so thanks for that.” Before Atlas could get a word in edgewise, Dinu craned his head back and smiled at Vasilica. “Doesn’t he look great, babe? He’s celebrating with us!”
Vasilica’s answering smile to Dinu was warm and fond. She corralled him and gave Atlas some proper breathing room before asking, “Where are we going?”
Atlas deferred to Cristian, who grinned and announced, “La Palourde.”
Dinu and Vasilica cheered and got into the car, followed swiftly by the rest of them. Atlas stole a moment to text Jasper as they settled in the backseats. On our way.
The vampires lost themselves in their own world of boisterous, cheerful conversation. Stories and memories flew back and forth, but Atlas only partially listened, too caught up in his own nervous thoughts. It wasn’t until he pulled onto the restaurant’s street and began looking for parking that the reality of what he was about to do sank in.
As he’d expected, Cristian had reserved the largest and most decadent private room. The ceiling overhead resembled painted glass, and the three walls surrounding the table were adorned with art nouveau tableaux, graceful women dressed in diaphanous robes and surrounded by gilded leaves and flowers. Only one door led in and out of the room, and Atlas settled himself there, where he could watch the main dining area for any sign of Jasper’s people. No one seemed to fit the bill. Maybe that was a good thing, since they had to make it look like Atlas was taken unawares before Cristian was snatched away.
“Atlas,” Cristian called. “Are you joining us?”
Everyone smiled at him, seemingly supportive of the unexpected invitation. Everyone but Andrei, who watched Atlas a bit too closely. No matter how nice an expensive meal sounded, he couldn’t accept it.
“Not tonight,” he replied.
Cristian frowned and Andrei leaned in to mutter something in his ear. Cristian shook his head and turned deliberately to banter with Vasilica.
Servers came and went, with only minimally surprised looks at Atlas as they passed. Plates and glasses danced in and out of the room as the group worked through the menu. With every course that passed, Atlas found himself focused less and less on Cristian and his friends, and more on everyone else in the restaurant. Rather than stepping to the side when servers arrived, he stepped out into the main dining room. He used the pretense of giving the servers more room to maneuver to see if anyone new had arrived, only to be disappointed again and again when Jasper’s people didn’t show.
He dared to text Jasper once, while Cristian was in the restroom. The only response he received read Taking care of it. He wanted to ask for clarification, find out what was being taken care of, but had to slip his phone back in his pocket when the restroom door opened and Cristian emerged.
“Something wrong?” Cristian asked him.
“No,” Atlas lied.
Cristian hummed and sauntered back toward their private room, Atlas following at a discreet distance. Cristian slowed as they neared the bar, checking the shelves the way he usually did before ordering his next drink. Atlas was about to urge him to move along when he caught movement at the opposite end of the bar. A man stood and began walking toward them slowly. He was perfectly average, the kind of person who would blend into any situation without a second glance. Atlas’s first instinct was to put himself between the man and Cristian, until he remembered Jasper?
??s response.
Maybe this was how Jasper was going to take care of the situation. Atlas forced himself to pause, giving the man an extra few seconds to close the distance to Cristian.
The man put on a charming smile and sidled up beside Cristian at the bar, ignoring Atlas entirely. “Can I buy you a drink?” he asked Cristian.
Cristian gave him a cutting glance before dismissing him out of hand. “No.”
He turned away from the bar, giving the man his back. No better opportunity would come to grab hold of Cristian. Except the man didn’t take the opening. He just shrugged at the bartender and headed back to his original seat, leaving Atlas on his own to face Cristian’s irritation.
“You’re an amazing observer,” Cristian remarked as he rejoined Atlas.
“Wasn’t sure if you wanted me to stop him,” Atlas said. “You dislike when I do it at Rapture.”