The Dreamtrap - 34. Chapter 34

- XXXIV -

...“Anything goes, Des... Don’t stop! Make that place to obey you! Enslave it... Anything goes...” Gabriel dug his fingers even deeper into Desmond’s temples, that serene expression driving his insane. “Desmond...”

Suddenly, Julian let out a shaky scream, and then he bolted upwards, staring into the wall without blinking, his eyes wild.

“Where is Desmond?” Gabriel demanded in a tight, desperate voice. “Where is Desmond? Julian...” he called when the blond wouldn’t react. “Julian...!”

Salamander blinked and looked at him, his eyes slowly returning to normal. He blinked again when he realized that there was a magic stream wrapped around him, sending pulsating, steady waves into his throat.

“Where is Desmond?” Gabriel demanded again.

“I don’t know...” the blond muttered, deciding to leave the stream alone for the time being – it did make his abused throat to feel somewhat better.

“You left him in there?” Gabriel’s hands rolled into tight fists.

“I didn’t stand a chance,” Julian said in the same muttering manner. “He lost it! He blew that entire place apart...” Suddenly, he frowned and turned his head. “Raven...” he called, placing his hand onto unconscious brunet’s shoulder. “Raven...!”

Raven’s face twisted in a torturous grimace, he groaned loudly, and then his eyes flew wide open, his entire body shaking.

“Raven...” the blond said with great relief.

“Holy hell...” Raven muttered and sat up, entwining his fingers with Julian’s. “Holy hell...” he said again. “I thought we were as good as dead... How the hell did he do that?” he glanced at serene-looking Desmond. “And what did it do to him?” he frowned.

“What are you talking about?” Gabriel asked tightly, one of his hands on the side of Desmond’s neck.

“He went nuts,” Raven said with the same small frown. “He looked like he completely lost it...! Like all that power made him go insane! Kept screaming, ‘Anything goes!’ and laughing like a maniac...”

Rayhe blinked at that and was about to say something, when suddenly, Desmond started laughing softly without opening his eyes.

“Wonder if he can do it in reality,” Raven said with tight worry in his voice. “Because if he can, then we are screwed...! He is nuts right now!”

“I don’t think he can do it in reality,” Julian said without taking his narrowed eyes off Desmond’s laughing face. “But he might unleash on us nevertheless...”

“Don’t even think of touching him!” Gabriel said warningly.

“If he is still in the insane mode, I will knock him out,” the blond muttered and threw a quick glance at Rayhe. “Believe me,” he nodded. “You will thank me later.”

“If you touch him...” Gabriel started saying, but stopped talking because Desmond started to laugh harder. “Des...” Gabriel called loudly.

“Aah...” Desmond breathed out, still laughing with his eyes closed. “God, that was better than...” He finally opened his eyes and looked at Gabriel without blinking, stopping his laughter. “No,” he sighed after a minute of silence. “I was about to say, ‘Better than sex,’ but then I saw you...” He smiled. “Definitely not better than sex. But it was amazing... The best high one could even imagine...!” He grabbed Gabriel’s hand, entwining their fingers together. “I am not insane,” he shot a quick sideways glance at the cautious-looking Julian. “Knock it off...”

The blond blinked, and then rolled his eyes, his shoulders relaxing somewhat while he pulled up his mental barrier.

“How did you do that?” Raven asked in quiet awe. “I thought abilities didn’t work in that place...”

“Yes and no,” Desmond looked at him without letting go of Rayhe’s fingers, absent-mindedly stroking his skin with his other hand. “That place wasn’t real; it was artificial, since it didn’t develop on its own. Magda designed it in such a way that it would block certain abilities; however, it would only affect the ones she knew about and not all of them by default.”

He smiled and sat up.

“She had no idea that I got powers thanks to her spell,” he nodded. “She firmly believed that it didn’t work, since I broke the mirror. She did block my lie-detecting,” he sighed. “Because she knew about that one... Was annoying as hell, by the way,” he nodded again. “I knew that I could do it, but it wouldn’t work... Anyway,” he sighed and slightly shook his head. “I realized that I could hear her thoughts, and that was when I figured out that nifty flaw in her design; the flaw she had no idea even existed! Well,” he sighed again, scooting closer to Gabriel just so he could rest his head on the other man’s shoulder. “At first, I didn’t even think of trying the manipulation, since I tried it once already...” He looked at Raven through his eyelashes. “I tried creating a ripple when we ended up there for the first time, but it didn’t work.”

“Yeah,” Raven nodded slowly, absent-mindedly running his finger over Julian’s bleeding throat. “I remember,” he finished and licked the blood off his digit.

Desmond winced at that.

“Right,” he muttered. “Well, then all of a sudden, I am thinking, ‘You are in dreamland, which means you can do whatever the hell you want with it’...”

Gabriel stared at him when he heard that.

“Then I am thinking...” Desmond continued, not noticing Gabriel’s stare. “I am thinking, ‘You can’t get out yet, but you can manipulate the surroundings...! You are in a dream that is not even real, which means anything goes...! There will be no consequences in reality, all bets are off...’ So...” he shrugged. “I figured that I might as well try it...”

“Anything goes...” Raven muttered, licking his finger yet again. “You were screaming that nonstop...”

“Yeah,” Desmond grinned. “I know. Anyway, I tried, and when it responded, I felt...” He paused, half-closing his eyes. “Hell, I don’t even know how to describe it,” he sighed and opened his eyes. “But you have no idea how good it felt... Well,” he narrowed his eyes and looked at silent Julian, who tilted his head slightly to the right, giving Raven better access to his bleeding throat. “Actually, you might have an idea,” he nodded, ignoring Raven, who kept cleaning blood off blond’s skin with his fingers. “Recall the first time you realized how much you get off on hurting someone, and multiply that by fifty.”

Julian blinked at that, thoughtfully narrowed his eyes, and then he blinked again, more rapidly this time.

“Yeah,” Desmond nodded again. “It was amazing...!”

Suddenly, he stopped talking and frowned, as if intently listening to something. Then he turned his head and stared at silent Gabriel, his eyes wide.

“You did?” he asked incredulously, and Rayhe let out a small smile. “Holy hell...” Desmond muttered and tightened his grasp on Gabriel’s fingers. “Rayhe, I wouldn’t even think about that if not for you, you realize that, right?”

Gabriel let out another smile without saying anything.

“Holy hell,” Desmond said again and buried his face in his mate’s neck.

“Can you do that in normal dreams, though?” Raven asked with a small frown.

“Yes,” Desmond answered in muffled voice. “Now I know how...” he sighed without pulling away from Gabriel. “But I am not going to,” he said with audible regret. “I am not risking it; I don’t want screw something up just because I crave that high...” He sighed once more. “Who knows, though...” He shrugged. “Maybe someone will trap me in a made-up dream again one of those days...”

Gabriel snorted at that and lightly thumped him on the head. Desmond raised his head and smiled.

“By the way,” he said in a low voice and looked at Salamander. “You owe me again,” he nodded with a great deal of satisfaction. “If not for me, you’d be dead right now!” Here, he frowned slightly. “Well, technically, you owe him,” he nodded at Gabriel. “Since he is the one who gave me the idea... Nevertheless, you owe us!”

Julian’s eyes darkened when he realized that Desmond was right. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

“You know...” Desmond said thoughtfully a few seconds later. “You could leave our Blue Line on your credit card without canceling it... And I am not talking about just a few months,” he nodded when the blond opened his eyes and looked at him with great intensity. “Permanently,” he nodded again without shifting his gaze from Julian’s eyes.

“Would that make us even?” Salamander asked with forced calmness.

“Absolutely,” Desmond answered seriously.

“Done,” the blond said immediately, a small smile flashing across his mouth.

“Excellent,” Desmond muttered with a slight nod.

“We have Blue Line?” Gabriel frowned at that.

“Yup,” Desmond gave him yet another nod and buried his face in Rayhe’s neck once again.

“Nice,” Gabriel said with approval.

Julian sighed and ran his fingers through Raven’s hair.

“Let’s go on a test-drive,” he said, and Raven frowned at that.

“Test-drive?” he repeated.

“Yes,” Julian nodded. “I have to make sure that you are not going to fall asleep again when you are too far away from him,” he glanced at Desmond.

“I shouldn’t,” Raven said with the same small frown. “Magda is gone for good, and she was the one causing it... Well,” he shrugged. “She and that place, I suppose... However, the place doesn’t exist anymore, and neither does Magda. I should be fine.”

“I know,” the blond nodded again. “I want to make sure though. If everything goes fine, we will finally go home.”

“Like hell you will,” Desmond raised his head again.

Julian blinked at that with genuine confusion.

“Not until you buy the new set of sheets,” Desmond nodded firmly. “Actually, make it two sets,” he glanced at the sheets. “I am not using something that you bled all over!”

Salamander sighed and got off the bed.

“Fine,” he said mildly. “Let’s go get the sheets,” he looked at Raven. “How far is the store?” he looked at Desmond again.

“There are a couple of them,” the ex-assassin said slowly as if trying to figure something out. Then his eyes lit up. “There is a great one approximately ten miles from here. It’s called ‘Heaven’s Scent,’ and it sells everything you can possibly think of for home and garden... They carry the most...”

“Fine,” Julian interrupted him. “Let’s go,” he glanced at Raven.

“Wear a turtleneck,” the brunet nodded and got off the bed.

“Yes,” Julian sighed and they left the bedroom.

“So,” Gabriel said several minutes later when he heard the front door close. “That power-high... Not better than sex?”

“Absolutely not,” Desmond said seriously and wrapped his arms around Rayhe’s neck, running his tongue across Gabriel’s lips.

“Then I’d say it’s a good replacement,” Gabriel nodded and caught that tongue in his mouth.

“Uh huh,” Desmond agreed without pulling away.

Gabriel briefly let go of his tongue, glancing on the bloody sheets.

“Just stay on this side of the bed,” Desmond murmured and dove into Rayhe’s mouth again.

Gabriel immediately agreed with that, and he didn’t pull away any time soon.

****

Julian listened to the mechanical voice, frowning slightly, memorizing the directions the voice was giving him. Finally, he sighed and snapped his phone shut.

“We should be done in an hour at the most,” he said and started the car.

“Good,” Raven muttered and rolled down the window. “I want to go home finally.”

“Makes two of us,” the blond nodded seriously and threw the car into gear.

…Ten minutes later, Julian narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw the name of the street on the traffic light ahead of them – Emerald Court. He threw a quick glance at Raven, noting that the brunet seemed just fine. Then he remembered that he seemed fine the first time they were this far away from that light. He sighed when they got closer, and then the light promptly turned red.

Julian brought the car to a smooth stop and looked at Raven. Then he froze in his seat – the brunet was asleep.

“Raven…!” he called sharply. “Are you kidding me?!” he exploded when Raven didn’t even stir. “Oh, bloody hell!”

He called Raven’s name several more times, and when there was no reaction, he swore through his clenched teeth and glanced in the mirror, making sure he wouldn’t crash into someone’s car before he performed another desperate U-turn. The road seemed to be clear, and Julian was about to step on the gas pedal and jerk the wheel to the left when he heard soft laughter. He blinked and looked at Raven.

Brunet’s eyes were wide open and he was laughing as if he just witnessed something extremely amusing. Salamander stared at him without blinking. Raven saw that look and stopped laughing.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, the same smile still trembling in the corners of his mouth. “Couldn’t resist…”

Julian kept staring at him, his face emotion-free, his fingers digging hard into the steering wheel.

“It was funny,” Raven said, and let out a small cough when blond’s eyes started to turn some bizarre color – it seemed like they were about to turn white. “Sorry,” Raven said again, quicker this time.

Julian took a very deep, slow breath and slowly shifted his gaze towards the green by now light. He managed to unlock his wrists and stepped on the gas pedal as gently as he could possibly manage. The car meowed and leapt forward.

“Sorry,” Raven sighed several minutes later, and his intonation lacked any regret whatsoever. “But you have to admit – it was fu…”

“Stop talking,” Julian said evenly without looking at him.

“Come on,” the brunet said with a satisfied intonation, which made Salamander grit his teeth. “You have to admit,” he continued as if not noticing Julian’s tightly locked jaw. “It was funny…”

“Stop talking,” the blond said again, as evenly as before.

“Well, I guess it isn’t really funny for you right now,” Raven shrugged, ignoring those words. “But believe me, you will laugh at this later…”

Julian gritted his teeth harder.

“Seriously,” he still wouldn’t take his eyes off the road. “Do not talk. Let’s go get those goddamn sheets and go home. Until we get home, do not talk…”

Raven sighed and looked at him silently for a few minutes. Then he sighed again, after noticing that Julian’s jaw would not unlock.

“Pull over,” he said without a smile this time, and blond’s fingers dug deeper into the steering wheel. “Pull over,” Raven nodded even though Julian wouldn’t look at him.

“Stop ta…” the blond started saying again, and Raven interrupted him.

“Please,” he nodded once more.

Salamander took another deep breath and glanced around. A minute later, he pulled to the side of the road, stopping underneath some old trees.

“What?” he asked shortly without releasing the brake, the car still in gear.

“Park the car,” Raven said as seriously as a minute ago, that laughter of his forgotten. “Please.”

Julian gritted his teeth and threw the car into ‘park.’

“What?” he asked in the same short manner without looking at the brunet.

“Sorry,” Raven said in a low voice, leaning closer so he could run his fingertips over that very tight jawline. “Sorry,” he said again, pressing one of his hands into the plush divider between the seats so he could avoid hitting the gear stick as he leaned even closer. “Sorry…” he whispered and ran his mouth over that jawline, which wasn’t as tight anymore.

Julian’s eyes darted towards him for a few seconds even though the blond still wouldn’t turn his head.

“Sorry,” Raven ran his fingertips across Salamander’s chin, to the other side of his face. “Really…”

Julian let out a short exhale, and finally, turned his head, his eyes almost back to normal.

“You are…” he started saying, but Raven shut him up with his mouth.

“I am,” he agreed without pulling away.

“You will…” Julian’s hand blindly turned the keys in the ignition, turning off the engine.

“I will,” Raven agreed again.

“It wasn’t funny,” the blond pulled away just a little.

“It was,” Raven nodded and pulled him closer again. “Maybe not for you though,” he added quickly and cupped Julian’s face in his palm.

“I am going to…” the blond growled without pulling away this time.

“Okay,” Raven agreed immediately and made a small grimace when his knee hit the gear stick. “Get in the back,” he said in the same quick manner. “Please,” he added with a small smile.

Julian didn’t say anything this time, smoothly relocating into the back seat.

****

They got back to the house almost three hours later, and Julian threw two plastic-wrapped bags onto the couch when they walked inside, shutting the door after them.

“Couldn't care less about the color,” he said after Desmond looked on the couch, trying to see the bags without getting off his chair.

“I am not much into color-coordinating,” Desmond shrugged and leaned on the back of the chair with a satisfied look on his face. “Took you a while,” he said. “Got lost?”

“I don’t get lost,” the blond replied absent-mindedly, swiftly putting his laptop together and unplugging all the cords.

Desmond narrowed his left eye and looked at content Raven who was leaning onto the wall, his hands in his pockets. Suddenly, the ex-assassin let out quick, loud laughter and stabbed his cigarette in the ashtray.

“Hell, yeah, it was funny,” he said, grinning widely.

Raven blinked at that, and Julian threw Desmond a dark glance without saying anything.

“What was?” Gabriel came out of the kitchen, absent-mindedly licking something off his finger.

“Nothing,” Julian said shortly.

“Raven played dead on the Emerald Court light,” Desmond completely ignored the blond. “Apparently, he was quite convincing!”

“I thought you said you didn't eavesdrop,” Raven said in a strained voice.

“Unless I want or absolutely have to,” Desmond nodded energetically. “This fits into one of the categories. But yes, it was funny,” he grinned again.

“Well,” Gabriel said in a somewhat thoughtful voice. “I can see it both ways; I wouldn’t find it funny if you did it to me, for example,” he nodded. “Which, knowing you,” he added pointedly. “You would!”

“I won’t,” Desmond shrugged and reached for another cigarette. “I don’t do a copycat routine,” he still wouldn’t look away from Raven; it seemed like he wasn’t even trying to be subtle.

Raven let out a short, annoyed sigh and stared into Desmond’s green eyes without shifting his gaze, a small smile playing on his mouth. Suddenly, Desmond blinked somewhat rapidly and broke eye contact.

“Ugh!” he said and got up, heading towards the coffeemaker.

Raven let out satisfied laughter.

“Two can play this game,” he called after frustrated Desmond. “I have a hell of a lot more images, believe me…! That one was the mildest, just so you know!”

“Ugh,” Desmond said again, emerging from the kitchen with a coffee mug glued to his mouth.

Gabriel sighed, deciding that he really didn’t want to know what image Raven just flashed in Desmond’s head.

“Let’s go,” Julian walked towards the door, a black bag across his shoulder. “Goodbye,” he said in his usual manner, glancing briefly at both men in the kitchen.

“Please, do not come back,” Desmond said sincerely.

“That’s the plan,” the blond sighed and left the house, his arm draped over Raven’s shoulders.

“Do you wanna know what he showed me…?” Desmond started saying when the front door finally closed.

“No,” Gabriel said firmly. “And if you dare describing it to me, I am not cooking until the very end of August!”

“Damn…” Desmond sighed, knowing that Rayhe meant it.

“I guess Magda is gone for good,” Gabriel said thoughtfully several minutes later.

“Spirit or not, but that spider meant business,” Desmond nodded with satisfaction.

“Holy hell,” Rayhe sighed and took the mug out of Desmond’s hands. “This is finally over…” he placed his hands on either side of Desmond’s head, pressing his forehead against the other man’s without looking away from the green eyes.

“Could be a beginning of something new…” Desmond said with a small smile.

“Stop talking,” Gabriel winced and helped him to do just that.