Free Sunrise(Pact Arcanum 2) by Arshad Ahsanuddin

between us.”
    “I’m not a kid, Rory.” Nick looked away and toyed with his food.
    “I never said you were. You’re smart and you’re mature for your age. But I’m not the one for you. Find someone who can see life from your perspective. You deserve someone who can meet your stride, and that isn’t me.”
    Nick mulled over Rory’s words for a moment. “It doesn’t have to be that serious.” He grinned again. “Maybe I just need a little one-on-one coaching.”
    Rory laughed. “You never give up, do you?”
    Nick propped his head on his hands and smirked. “Not when I see something I want.”
    “Nick, I’m kind of taken,” Rory said, smiling at Nick’s enthusiasm.
    “Oh. Oh, crap. Sorry.”
    “No problem.” He waved away Nick’s discomfort. “I should have mentioned it before, but it was fun to watch you try to hit on me.”
    Nick reddened. “Fun?”
    Rory grinned. “I liked it.”
    Nick sat back in his chair, mollified. “So,” he said finally, picking up his glass of ginger ale and taking a sip, “rain check?”
    Rory laughed again. “Definitely.”
    “I should get to work on my homework, anyway,” Nick said with a grimace. “What good is getting out of going to school if you still have to do all the work?”
    “Are you going to tour through your senior year, as well?”
    “Nah. Mom thinks I need to experience it for real, so she’s already enrolled me in a prep school in New England. I had to go there for an interview and everything.” He paused. “The student they detailed to show me around was actually pretty cool, though. We really clicked. He’s a musician, too. We jammed a little when we were supposed to be having lunch. His name’s Scott, and he invited me to start a new band with him and some of his buddies once the school year starts. It might not entirely suck after all.”
    Rory smiled at him. “I’m happy for you then.”
     
    * * *
     
    “So you’re sure this is Jiao-long’s stronghold?” asked Takeshi once Rory had rejoined the other Sentinels in their hotel suite. A holographic map was projected across the table in front of them, and although Ana and Antonio had looked up when Rory entered, Take was so intent on studying it he hadn’t even acknowledged Rory’s entrance.
    “As sure as we can be,” Antonio said. “We’ve hit all of his bases in Asia and the Western U.S., but we don’t know the exact location of the last fortress. So far, Jiao-long’s spells have prevented us from locating his personal sanctum, but from past experience we think those protections are tied directly to his physical presence. If we find him, we find the base.”
    “What makes you think it’s in Colorado?” Ana asked.
    Antonio smiled. “Negative space. It has the usual density of vampires in the major cities, but we haven’t yet located any large nests. We think they’re all based at a central location. And then there’s Liang—there must be a reason he surfaced in Denver.”
    “He went down like all the rest,” Take said belligerently. “If that’s the best Jiao-long can do, he won’t be as hard to take out as I thought.”
    Antonio frowned his disapproval. “Don’t get overconfident, Takeshi. Jiao-long is the only one of the Firstborn left, other than Luscian himself. He didn’t survive for tens of thousands of years by being a pushover. You may be the strongest fighter I’ve met in my career, but your best weapon is that they don’t know you well enough to predict your movements or attacks.” He glanced at the map then tapped the projector on the table to shut it off. “In any case, we’ve got Air and Fire Sentinels canvassing the state remotely to see if we can narrow down our search area. I’ll let you know what we find out.”
    Take nodded. “Keep me informed.” He turned to Rory, finally, and smiled.
    Over the link, Rory could tell it was an honest smile: just the smile of a friend pushing the war to the back of his mind. Sometimes it seemed like