Chapter Six:
Tavi

 

If Desideria was to be believed, every moment brought them closer to devastation.

Tavi had no reason not to believe her. In her own way, she was always right, even if her words were as twisted and riddled as a horoscope. Or maybe he was putting too much stock in her words, excusing the parts that weren’t quite accurate and admiring her for what she did know.

But deep down, Tavi knew she wasn’t lying, and he had the uneasy, terrifying feeling that she was right. Everything he’d known had already come to an end, and it was an entirely different world out there. Now that he had been turned, nothing was as it had been before.

Death and rebirth had ensured that, and even though Rex was still by his side, Tavi knew it was only a matter of time until he had to watch his brother begin to age and wither away. Unlike Tavi, he wouldn’t be willing to feed on vampire blood to prolong his life, which meant… which meant that one day, his twin would be gone.

Tavi shied away from those thoughts, not wanting to think about what was still years away. Besides, if Desi’s visions were accurate, he might not have to worry about it.

Because the world was crumbling.

Even he could feel it, for all that it manifested as an odd sensation in the pit of his stomach. It was like he could sense it even though he couldn’t see it. Once she’d put it into words, everything in him had screamed yes. That was it, and there was no escaping the truth.

There was no escaping reality.

“Visitors,” Desi said in that soft, girlish voice of hers from where she lay on the leather couch.

Tavi tried not to remember it was made of cured human flesh. He peered up at her from where he sat on the floor with his book, his back leaning against a chair he was pretty sure was made from regular cloth.

Her eyes were closed, the expression on her face unchanged, but she lifted a hand to brush dark strands of hair from her face.

He hadn’t heard anything until she’d spoken, but now he did. The sound of feet crunching on gravel and bone alike sharply assaulted his senses now that he’d focused on it, and he winced. Everything was still loud, and learning to control it wasn’t nearly as easy as he might’ve thought.

If it was that hard for him to handle, how did Desideria do it?

“Who?” he asked, glancing at the page number before setting his book on the chair.

She shrugged without sitting up.

Tavi peered suspiciously at her, unsure of whether he believed her when she acted like she didn’t know. Then again, he did treat her a little like an oracle of old, a goddess incarnate, for all that she was utterly insane along with many of legend.

That had been one thing that had been confirmed early on, but it didn’t scare him anymore. It scared the fuck out of Rex, but then, she didn’t like Tavi’s twin. She did nothing to set him at ease like she did with Tavi himself.

He was, after all, her childe.

“You can get the door,” Desi said placidly, letting one of her arms fall loosely until her fingers brushed the floor.

“You can be so overdramatic,” Tavi grumbled as he got up when the actual knock sounded on the door.

Her soft peals of laughter followed him, and it warmed him, too. He’d been afraid to snark at her at first. She was, after all, not exactly the most mentally stable at the best of times. But as Elder Callia Odessa had pointed out during their brief meeting, Desi was excellent with him as her fledgling.

It made him wonder why she’d been so afraid when she’d found out he was on the brink of death, when she’d turned him…

He opened the door, blinking when he saw a human and a vampire standing on the doorstep. He glanced back at Desi, whose lips were still curved into a slight, smug smile.

“Little mouse, was it?” Desi asked, finally sitting up and opening her eyes. She focused her gaze on the door.

The human jerked his head in a hesitant, slight nod. The vampire next to him was stoic, expression utterly unreadable. He might as well have been a statue next to the human.

“Ashton,” the human said, radiating nervous energy as he fidgeted. “This is Noah. He’s—”

Noah snorted, shaking his head as he interrupted, “I’m just here to—”

Ashton shot him a look, and Noah stopped talking.

“To behave and look pretty,” Ashton interjected sternly. “You have one part down. Do the other.”

Noah rolled his silver-grey eyes, but he didn’t correct the human.

Tavi could feel it, the way something built up in his gut. He knew… something. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew it was there, hanging between them.

“Aren’t you going to invite them in?” Desi asked pleasantly.

“Do you want me to?” Tavi asked doubtfully, that uncertain feeling in his stomach only amplifying at the idea of these two entering their home.

Desi gave him the look she usually reserved for Rex, the one that meant she thought he was being an idiot, and he sighed.

Tavi stepped out of the doorway, giving the two room to enter the house. Ashton entered more readily than his companion, who cast a suspicious look around them before joining them inside. Noah closed the door, but he didn’t look like he wanted to. Of course, he didn’t look like he wanted to be there at all.

“Make yourselves at home,” Desi told them in a honeyed voice.

It sounded like she was laying out a trap meant to ensnare both of them — hell, maybe all three of them — and Tavi wasn’t sure how to react. He returned to the chair he’d been sitting by, this time sinking into it instead of sitting in front of it.

There was no reason to believe this chair was made of tanned human.

Noah leaned against the doorframe, one hand within reach of the doorknob, but Ashton stepped a little deeper in. He was cautious but still receptive, which Tavi was pretty sure would please Desi.

“Thank you for having us in your home, Lady Desideria,” Ashton said, bowing his head to her.

Oh, Desi was definitely going to be happy if the man kept talking like that. She liked those with manners. He had obviously met her before because she’d recognized him, and he seemed to know her enough to be wary — which was always smart around the vampiress.

“I’m so looking forward to hearing why you’re here,” Desi said, curling up in one corner of the couch. Her voice was breathless and eager, deceptively welcoming and interested. Then again, who knew with her? She might have been both.

“I… To ask for your help, Lady Desideria,” Ashton said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

“Do you want to sit down?” she asked him, tilting her head. Her eyes went to Noah, a smile blossoming on her lips again. “Either of you?”

“No.”

Ashton shot a look at Noah.

The vampire sighed, then amended, “No, thank you, Lady Desideria.”

“You’re a good influence, little lamb,” Desi said in approval, clapping her hands together once. “Now what do you need help with, precious?”

“Don’t you already… you know… know?” Ashton asked.

Desi laughed. “Maybe,” she said slyly, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

Ashton looked at him, and Tavi shrugged. There wasn’t much to be done when Desi was in a mood like this except to go along with it. Frustrating as it was, it was the only way to get anything done. Fighting it only slowed everything down more.

“If you can’t even say it, how can you expect to commit to it, child?” Desi asked, rising as gracefully as a cat and stalking toward Ashton. She stopped within arm’s reach of him, watching him intently as he squirmed. “Say it, little lamb. Tell me what you want.”

Behind them, Noah looked increasingly stony. Tavi had to admire that. It wasn’t normal for people to stay calm when they were dealing with Desi, especially for the first time.

Maybe Noah just didn’t know enough about her to be scared.

One of Desi’s arms looped around Ashton’s waist, drawing him closer to her. “Tell me,” she repeated, her voice little more than a whisper.

“Your blood,” Ashton choked out, tears springing to his eyes.

Noah’s sharp intake of breath was the only sound in the room. “Ashton, are you out of your damn mind?”

“He didn’t tell you, then?” Desi asked, peering over Ashton’s shoulder at Noah.

“If he had, we wouldn’t be here right now,” Noah said, his voice flat.

“But isn’t it his choice?” Desi asked, quirking a brow at Noah. Her voice sounded damn near mocking as she went on, “Would you deny him his free will, Noah?”

Noah flinched, but the words silenced him.

Desi smiled sweetly at Noah before turning her attention back to the human. “Oh, little lamb.” She kissed Ashton’s cheek. “You’re such a naive little thing, for all you’ve gone through, aren’t you?”

“I’m not naive,” Ashton instantly retorted, squirming and trying to draw back despite the firm hold around his waist.

Desi gave him one of those indulgent looks, not correcting him but making it perfectly clear she wasn’t buying what he was selling. “I’m not going to give you my blood,” she said matter-of-factly.

Tavi watched Ashton’s face fall, and his heart broke a little for the human. Didn’t Tavi know all too well what it was like to want something so badly and get denied?

Desi gestured with the other hand at Tavi. “I have a brand new childe, a fledgling to care for.”

Tavi shifted awkwardly as all the attention in the room shifted toward him. He started to get an idea of why he shouldn’t have been turned. It made him feel a little ill to wonder. What if he was the reason Ashton couldn’t get what he was asking for? He hadn’t been meant to be turned, and only Desi knew why…

“I don’t want to be turned,” Ashton protested.

“I know, little lamb,” Desi said soothingly, running her fingers along his cheek. “But accidents happen. The fates change their minds. The world…” She shook her head. “The world has gone mad. Why have you not asked your friend there?”

“Because when I tasted your blood, I… I saw things,” Ashton whispered. “I could help, if I knew things. Right now, I’m just some human.” So much self-loathing leaked from the human’s voice that Tavi couldn’t help but pity the man even more. “I don’t want to be.”

“Someone has to be,” Desideria said, cocking her head to the side. “We forget, sometimes, what it was like to be mortal and human. Those like you…” She hummed beneath her breath. “You remind us… if we remember to listen, no?”

“I don’t have anything useful to say,” Ashton replied.

“You have plenty that’s useful without a single vision of the future. Don’t be so quick to wish to see what is to come,” Desi warned, somehow in a motherly way. “You’ll experience it soon enough.”

“But if I saw it, I could prepare for it. We all could!” Ashton protested a little more hotly, right up until the point where Desi’s finger pressed against his lips.

“Do you think it’s that easy, little lamb?” Desi asked, her voice gentler than Tavi thought he had ever heard it. She shook her head. “Even if you see, it doesn’t mean you understand. Even if you understand, it doesn’t mean you know how to proceed. Even if you proceed, it doesn’t mean your actions are the best course.” She sighed, the sound so human-like that it surprised Tavi. She didn’t normally indulge in mortal mannerisms. “Knowing the future is a burden I wouldn’t wish on you, little lamb. You are special as you are, and you must remain that way.”

“Just a human,” Ashton said, bitterness dripping from his voice.

“Some want nothing more than to be human,” Desi said softly, touching Ashton’s chin and tilting his head until he turned to look at Noah, too. “It’s a gift as much as a curse.”

Noah’s stoicism had faded some, but it was clear from the way he finally fidgeted that Desi was right. The fledgling Ashton had brought with him longed to be human again… and Tavi couldn’t say he blamed him.

“There’s nothing wrong with being human,” Tavi spoke up at long last. “We need humans, good ones, in this world.”

Ashton’s shoulders slumped. “It’s easy for you to say,” he told Tavi. “You’re not human.”

“I was a magicless witch,” Tavi said softly, shrugging.

Ashton cringed.

Tavi nodded. “I never even got to be human, not really. Just…” He spread his hands, palms out, almost helplessly. “Just remember there’s value in what you are, like you are. You don’t need special abilities or to turn into someone or something else. You just need to be you.”

“How do you know that?” Ashton asked, his voice a little sharp. “You don’t know me.”

“No, but I know Desi,” Tavi replied calmly. He felt like he’d aged a hundred years in such a short amount of time. “If she sees your worth, it’s there.”

While they spoke, Desi crossed the room to Noah. Tavi winced. This had the potential to go badly if earlier was any indication.

“It hurts,” Desi said thoughtfully, reaching out as though to touch Noah’s temple. The vampire grabbed her wrist when her hand was halfway there, keeping her from reaching his face. Desi arched a brow. “Let go,” she said, words mild but far from a request.

Noah dropped her wrist. “Don’t touch me,” he snapped before adding, “Please. Lady.”

“You cry out with so much pain,” Desi told him, her eyes half-closing. “It’s as though you scream and no one hears you, isn’t it, pet?” She shook her head. “Screaming won’t get them to listen. Everyone screams. Sometimes… Sometimes you have to whisper.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Noah said bluntly.

“Join the club,” Ashton mumbled.

“May I?” Desi asked, ignoring them. This time, Noah nodded cautiously, and Desi brushed his temples. “You ache here, and here. A headache in a vampire,” she marveled. “Is that not strange, do you think?”

Noah hesitated then shrugged awkwardly.

That was a good question. Tavi didn’t remember getting a single headache since he’d been turned, even when he’d been starving. His body had always felt more than fine.

“Vampires are deceptive creatures by nature,” Desi told Noah, cupping his face in her hands even as he twitched and jerked back a little in his obvious desire to get away from her. “And some have secrets they’d carry to their graves. Do you think I should tell people what I can do, little Noah?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Some secrets are meant to be kept.” She tapped his temple again. “Some, like mine, are meant to be revealed. But you don’t have the slightest idea of what our kind are capable of.”

“I know enough,” Noah said, immediately defensive.

Desi offered an indulgent smile. “Do you?”

She wasn’t making any sense at all, and Tavi did wonder if it was possible for vampires to get headaches after this. He was certainly going to have one if she continued on this path.

But she didn’t. Instead, she turned, returning to the couch and curling back up. “You should get home, little lamb,” she told Ashton, “before your ‘wolf wakes to find you gone.” She placed a finger over her own lips. “Don’t worry. We won’t tell.” She glanced at Noah. “And you…” She smiled. “Go on, then. You’ve enough to face without complicating things.”

Like they weren’t already complicated?

Tavi cast her a look, but he showed the human and vampire out. They both still looked dazed, and he had a feeling they’d be on the porch for several minutes yet. Either way, Desi wanted them out, so he closed and locked the door behind them.

“Are you going to explain any of that to me?” he asked.

“No,” Desi replied without hesitation. “I won’t need to. Not before long. You’ll start to see, and then you’ll know.”

“But you told him that seeing doesn’t really mean anything.”

Desi met his eyes. “Perhaps I lied. Or perhaps I didn’t want to do it. Or perhaps it’s something more.” She shrugged. “Feeding time, Tavi. Let’s go see about clearing our heads.”

Well. They sure as hell weren’t going to do that here.

He nodded, hunting down his shoes. He had a lot to think about – and a lot of answers he wasn’t going to find.