The Year of the Salamander - 34. Chapter 34

Two weeks later

_________________

Desmond finished grading the last paper, shoved it aside, and grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. Gentle knocking on the door made him turn around.

“Come in!” he said loudly, and the door creaked open.

“Hey...” she said very carefully.

“Well, hello, Tess!” he said with a dark smile. “How are you?”

She coughed.

“Desmond, I am sorry...” she said in a small voice.

“What for?” his eyebrows flew up in sincere surprise. “For forgetting to mention the fact that you just happened to have an evil twin? Or for forgetting to mention the fact that she also happened to be the same crazy bitch who tried to pull off the same stunt almost a hundred years ago? Or for forgetting to mention all of the above? If those are the reasons, then don’t sweat it! It’s all good, no big!”

She winced.

“Desmond, the reason I never mentioned Leona, was the fact that I believed that she was dead...” she said in the same small voice. “When Reagan killed the sacrifice back then, she also killed the caster... Well,” she sighed. “So she believed... Desmond, I swear, I had no idea she was alive...!”

“I know,” he nodded seriously. “You suck at lying, remember? I know that you are telling the truth right now.”

“How’s Sam?” she asked a little bit louder than before.

“He is fine,” Desmond sighed. “He decided to keep the damn tattoo, can you believe it?”

“Well,” Tess shrugged. “It can’t harm him anymore, so...”

“That’s beside the point,” Desmond rolled his eyes and got up. “He says he likes the design... Likes it!”

“You have to admit,” Tess shrugged again. “It is a cool-looking symbol...”

“Aah,” Desmond waved his hand with frustration. “I’m gonna go home and take a shower.”

“It’s six in the evening...” Tess frowned.

“Our shower broke,” Desmond sighed. “Finally got fixed today. So I am going to take a hell of an advantage of that.”

“I see,” Tess nodded. “Enjoy your shower, and I am sorry again...”

“It’s all good,” Desmond waved his hand with less frustration this time. “Just tell me one thing...” He stopped and looked at her intently. “Do you have another twin?”

“No more twins,” she said seriously. “I do have a brother, however... Except, he knows nothing about magic...”

“Oh, thank God...”

“He is really good when it comes to shape-shifting though,” she finished as seriously as before, and Desmond narrowed his eyes.

“Nice try,” he said finally. “Nowhere near good enough however.”

“Damn!” she said with frustration.

Desmond grinned.

“Later, Tess! Lock the door when you leave.”

“I will,” she smiled at him. “Night, Desmond.”

“Night...”

...Gabriel glanced up from his book.

“Hey, Sam,” he said. “How’s Blair?”

“He is good,” Sam nodded quickly. “How long ago did he get home?”

“Fifteen minutes at the most,” Gabriel sighed.

“Excellent,” Sam muttered and went to the garage.

He came back three minutes later, and Gabriel closed his book and put it on the table.

“You turned the hot water off, didn’t you?” he asked calmly.

“Yup,” Sam nodded energetically. “I’ve been waiting for this, you know... Was driving around the block for the last hour... Then finally his car was here...” He filled up his mug with coffee. “At first, I wanted to do something different,” he drank some coffee. “But then I decided to let him know what cold water feels like... I think that he should get into the shower right about...”

There was an enraged shriek from the bathroom, followed by the sound of something falling.

“...now,” Sam nodded, and Gabriel just sighed.

“Don’t even think of running out of the house now,” he said warningly when Sam threw a quick glance at the front door. “Because if you do, nothing will help you. Not your dog and Blair combined, and you know that!”

“I know,” Sam sighed and finished his coffee. “See, this is not just about revenge! This is about justice and...”

“I am going to murder you!”

Desmond marched into the kitchen wearing nothing but a towel around his hips, his wet hair sticking to his neck and shoulders.

“Feels refreshing, doesn’t it?” Sam grinned.

“I am going to murder you!”

“Hey, hey, hey... Desmond, don’t... Ow! That’s wet!”

“No shit!”

“God!! This is cold!”

“You think?”

“Oh, no, you don’t... Sam, don’t get me into the middle of this...!”

“Get back here, kid, because I am...”

“Goddammit, Des! Did you have to do that? Now my shirt is all wet...”

“He is right behind you, blame him...!”

“Desmond, knock it off! It was a fair and square payback...! Ow!”

“Shit, Sam! Get away from me, seriously! It’s not my fault that both of you act like two teenagers! Let go of me! Desmond, if you spill that on me...”

“Kid, I am giving you one last chance... Let go of Rayhe and come out of there! Because if you don’t, he will get all wet as well, and I’ll be damned if I take the blame...!”

“Spill that on me, and both of you are dead!”

“One...”

“Desmond, I never...”

“Two...”

“...spilled anything on you! I didn’t even...”

“Three...”

“...touch you! Desmond...”

“Oh, goddammit!! Okay, that’s it...”

“Ah, crap...”

“It’s your fault, you know... Ow!”

“How is that my fault... Rayhe, knock it off... If you wouldn’t let go of him?”

“You started it...! Ow!”

“Get your ass here right now!! Now I am completely wet!”

“I hope you are happy, Desmond...”

“Getting there... Oh, look out...!”

“Ow! Gabriel, that was heavy!”

“Kid, I told you to duck!”

“No, you told me to look out, that’s different, you know...”

“Ugh, fine... Duck!”

“Ow...! Gabriel...!”

“What’s your excuse now? Ow, Rayhe, knock it off... No, seriously, knock it off... Rayhe...! Ugh... Rayhe... Mmm...”

“Ugh, I am still here, by the way... Hello...? Oh, God, never mind, I am leaving... Please don’t take it off him while I am still... Oh, God...! That’s it, I am gone...”

“Bye, Sam...”

“Ugh...”

“You know, this is actually...”

“Shut up, Rayhe...”

“Mmm...”

********

THE END

A-aand... 
 
...happy end!
To this story, that is. There is more. Speaking of that... The next story belongs in the cycle, but has different characters who are in a hetero relationship (there is that whole "...making a baby" thing that would require both sexes -- the process works the same even in that universe), but I don't know if it's ok to post m/f stories here. However, that story is not crucial to the entire cycle. So if I skip to the 3rd story, there would be no "WTF is going on??" conundrum (different characters). 
However, that story does explain (in more details) how things work in that world: Guardians, Claudia/Reagan, how abilities work, etc. So if m/f thing is not against the site's rules, let me know if you want me to post it here or if I should skip it & jump to the 3rd one.
I am re-eeally happy that you guys like my writing! God, I love it!!