Exitus - 13. Part I, chapter 13

- XIII -

Next morning, Desmond felt like he could fall asleep while standing up. Rayhe’s ‘lesson’ last night (a few of them, to be precise) indeed expanded his horizons and definitely advanced his ability – he couldn’t remember the last time he would concentrate so hard on not losing all control. As a result, those ‘lessons’ drained him so much that he felt like he could literally fall asleep while standing up.

He slowly drank his coffee and absent-mindedly ate his mushroom omelet, barely even noticing the great taste it left in his mouth. He was replaying Vivienne’s thoughts from last night in his head. To his wary surprise, she never thought of Desmond, not even once. “What the hell is your deal?” he thought, poking a fat mushroom with his fork.

Finally, he sighed and pushed all those thoughts away for the time being, figuring that he was too tired to try figuring anything out right now anyway. “I’ll think about it later,” he thought and concentrated on the omelet. “Holy hell...” he thought a minute later. “This is good...! Will have to ask Rayhe if he could make something like this... Knowing him, probably yes...”

That last thought made him smile with satisfaction.

“Good morning,” he heard above his ear, and looked up without releasing the grasp on his fork.

“Morning,” he nodded at the blond who just came into the dining room.

This morning, Julian looked like his old self – impeccable. Desmond could think of several reasons for that.

“Tell me about her thoughts last night,” Salamander sat down, reaching for the coffee pot.

“Nothing spectacular,” Desmond shrugged, wondering whether he should tell the blond that he thought something wasn’t right. Then he decided against that – he was too tired to start a talk that would definitely last a while. “She kept thinking about Lucille...”

Julian’s mouth twitched when he heard that name.

“...and how happy she is that she is finally with you again,” Desmond finished with a nod and grabbed another forkful of omelet.

“You positive that it is her?” Julian ignored the last part.

“I am positive she is not lying,” Desmond answered somewhat cautiously. “The story she told was true; she hadn’t made up a single thing. I suppose that’s how Doriel escaped from Stratum Five... Wonder if they ever Locked him,” he pondered. “I mean, it took him a hell of a long time to do this; what if he finally managed to break the Locks?”

“A week ago, I would not even consider a possibility of someone being able to break all three Locks,” Julian replied thoughtfully, drinking his coffee and ignoring the omelet. “Right now, however...” He sighed and set his mug on the table. “I would accept anything. Did she think anything else?”

“No,” Desmond returned his attention to his plate. “What are you going to do about her?”

He realized lately that talking to the blond didn’t bother him as much anymore. He wasn’t sure whether this fact annoyed or amused him. It was a strange mix of both feelings, and Desmond wasn’t sure which one was winning.

“I am not going to keep her locked up in the room all day,” Julian answered evenly. “There is a very big chance it is indeed her. I told her that she was welcome to join us for breakfast.”

That statement woke Desmond up somewhat. “Join us for breakfast?” he thought warily, making sure nothing reflected on his face. “I am not sure if I want to sit here with her... No, let me rephrase that... I am pretty damn sure I don’t want to sit here with her.”

He finished his omelet and drained his coffee mug.

“I am going to take a nap for a few hours,” he said, and the blond shot him a quick glance. “I am rather tired,” Desmond nodded firmly.

“Certainly,” Salamander muttered, returning his attention to his coffee mug.

“Great,” Desmond nodded again and got up.

He headed towards the stairs without saying anything else, wondering if Rayhe was awake yet – Gabriel fell asleep while Desmond was getting dressed for breakfast. The ex-assassin just shrugged and left him alone, figuring that trading breakfast for sleep never hurt anyone. He, however, was hungry, so he decided to get food first.

He walked towards their room, yawning shamelessly, when he walked by Vivienne’s room, and then he came to a stuttered stop, a sudden frown sneaking its way onto his forehead.

“...doing here?” he heard suddenly, and the thought sounded almost furious in his head. He frowned deeper. “Bloody hell, what is he doing here? This is not just a coincidence, I am sure of that... Why is he here...? One would think he would be the last one who’d end up in this particular house... Goddammit, as if it wasn’t bad enough that...”

Suddenly, there was some weird skipping feeling in Desmond’s head, as if someone was hurriedly switching records.

“...missed him so much...” Desmond heard several seconds later. “Oh, God... I missed him so much...!”

Suddenly, Desmond realized that he wasn’t sleepy in the slightest; instead, he was wide-awake. He slowly made his way towards the room they occupied, pushed open the door, and walked inside, making sure he didn’t ignore the lock above the doorknob.

“Nex,” he whispered after realizing that Gabriel was still asleep. “Dammit, Nex... Where are you? You had your Fire feed on Tuesday; let’s say you got to the Air part on Wednesday... Let’s say that it takes a long time to get the damn Air refill... But it’s Sunday already! I doubt that even Air takes four days to take care of... Bloody hell...” He pushed open the window and lit a cigarette.

He was positive that those furious thoughts in Vivienne’s mind were about him, and not someone else. She started thinking of something entirely different the minute Desmond was next to her door, which meant...

“She knows when I am listening to her...” Desmond muttered and glanced at sleeping Gabriel. “Last night was nothing but a show... Dammit, I lost my sleep for nothing...!”

He tried to get angry about that fact, but became anxious instead. He frowned at nothing in particular behind the window, thinking intently. Finally, he turned around and walked towards the bedside table. He found a notepad and a pen in a little drawer, and quickly wrote ‘Out for a walk’ on the white surface of the paper. Then he ripped the page off, put it on the pillow next to sleeping Gabriel, and walked out of the bedroom, making sure he locked the door from the inside.

He made his way downstairs, determined to talk to the blond about his suspicions, figuring that Julian was still in the dining room. He paused for a few seconds at the bottom of the stairs, listening intently, and grimaced when he heard muffled, quiet voices from the dining room, realizing that Salamander wasn’t alone anymore – he was definitely talking to his miraculously resurrected first mate. Desmond let out an inaudible sigh and headed towards the front door. Talking to the blond would have to wait.

He went outside without producing a single sound and carefully shut the door. A minute later, he was heading towards the same park where they met Nex last Saturday morning.

...“She never had any abilities,” he thought, while absent-mindedly dragging on his cigarette, one of his hands shoved into his pocket. “I know that for sure... Can someone without any abilities tell if somebody is listening to their thoughts?”

He kept pondering silently for half an hour or so, and then his phone started to ring.

“Yeah,” he said after he flicked away his cigarette. “Rayhe, I left you a note,” he frowned several seconds later. “Yes, I am still out on a walk,” he sighed somewhat patiently. “Yes, something is bothering the hell out of me, and no, I am not discussing anything over the phone. I’ll tell you when I come back... Rayhe...” He frowned when there was sudden silence on the other end of the line. “Rayhe, you there? Gabriel...!”

He turned around, his expression alarmed, and started walking back towards the house when he stopped, frowned deeper, and then he rolled his eyes with annoyed relief.

“No, Rayhe,” he resumed his slow pace. “I can’t hear your thoughts over the phone... God...! Hold on...” he said quickly when he realized that there was another call waiting for him. “Gabriel, I will come back in half an hour or so; someone else is calling, okay?” He didn’t wait for Gabriel’s reply and quickly ended the call. “Yeah,” he said a second later. “Tess!”

He stopped and frowned rather deeply.

“Tess, you are breaking up like hell... What...?”

“What’s going... your message... in trouble again...?” was all he heard, electrical crackling of static making his eyelid twitch.

“Bloody hell,” he hissed and pressed the phone harder against his ear. “Tess, you are breaking up...! Just tell me if you know anything.”

“Doriel...” the phone crackled. “...not a bell, a goddamn cannon! How do you even know that name? He was... Stratum Five... a long time ago...”

“Long story,” Desmond said impatiently. “What about Hunters?”

“Nothing can shut down their sense,” Tess said quickly, and Desmond silently thanked her for not wasting time on useless questions. “However, there is a way around it.”

“What way?” Desmond turned around, trying to catch a better reception signal.

“It’s very rare though,” she said, and this time, the connection seemed to be better.

Desmond froze in his spot, trying not to lose it.

“There is one ability that can...” Crackling swallowed the rest of the sentence, making Desmond helplessly grit his teeth. “...so it erases everything...”

“What?” Desmond said loudly. “What erases everything? Goddammit, Tess, you are breaking up again... Where the hell are you...? Oh, never mind! What ability?”

“It’s a very rare occurrence... once in a blue moon... shape...”

The phone went dead, and Desmond cursed loudly and desperately. He dialed her number, but this time, there was no answer. He made several more frantic tries just so he could get the same result.

“Goddammit!” he growled and suppressed a very strong desire to throw the phone into a tree. Then he took a deep breath and was about to try calling her again when the phone let out another shrill ring. “Tess!” he yelled into it after he snapped it open with the speed of light.

“No,” he heard a semi-patient voice. “It’s me.”

“Nex?” he asked incredulously. “You are using a freaking phone? Oh, never mind...” he shook his head. “Where in the bloody hell are you? Did you get your damn Air?”

“No,” she said, and he became furiously-speechless. “I got distracted. I sensed him and took off. I didn’t get a chance to warn you.”

“You sensed him?” Desmond finally remembered how to speak. “You got him?”

“No.” This time, Nex sounded frustrated. “The son of a bitch slipped through several layers of reality. I went after him, but unlike him, I need the streams’ aid to do that. By the time I finally got there, it was too late. Then it took me a while to get back.”

“Dammit...” Desmond closed his eyes for a few seconds. “Nex, you need to get your ass back here as soon as you possibly can!”

“What happened?” she asked sharply.

“Vivienne showed up last night; live and kicking.”

“Vivienne?” Nex sounded confused. “Who is...”

“Julian’s first mate,” Desmond interrupted her.

“I don’t understand...” Nex said slowly. “His first mate died ten years ago... You should know,” she added after a second, and Desmond snorted at that.

“I do,” he nodded to no one in particular. “Here is what I think happened...”

He quickly told her about his speculations, and she was silent for a bit.

“But Nex, you need to get over here, okay?” Desmond pulled out a pack of cigarettes and cursed silently when he realized that it was empty. “There is something I don’t want to discuss over the phone.”

“I’ll get my Air and I will come,” she answered calmly, and Desmond sighed.

“Fine... Oh, by the way,” he added a second later. “You were right; nothing can shut down Hunters’ sense...”

“I know that,” she said in an almost bored tone of voice. “Desmond, I need to...”

“...but there is a way around it,” Desmond finished, and boredom was gone from her voice in a flash.

“What?” she demanded sharply, and Desmond sighed and turned around, heading back towards the house.

“I don’t know what it is,” he said gloomily. “I was talking to Tess, and she was breaking up like hell. She said, ‘It’s a very rare occurrence. Once in a blue moon... Shape,’ ” he quoted and sighed again. “That was all I got before the line went dead.”

“Shape?” she repeated slowly. “What shape?”

“I don’t know, Nex,” Desmond said in a slightly louder voice. “That was all I got.”

“Shape...” she said again, this time even slower. “Shape... Oh, shit...!”

Desmond frowned at that sudden, pissed off exclamation.

“Stabbed your toe?” he asked, and she spat out another obscenity.

“He is a goddamn shapeshifter!” she hissed, and Desmond froze in his spot. “That’s why...” She took a quick breath. “Desmond, do not get that mate of his out of your sight, do you understand me? I will be there as soon as I can, screw the Air! And Desmond, do not leave that woman alone with him!”

“With Raven?” Desmond started walking fast, his phone-free hand clenched into a fist.

“With Julian!” Nex said loudly. “It was all about him... Ah, shit...” she hissed. “Goddamn streams... Desmond, do not let her out of your sight!” she finished, and the line went dead.

Desmond cursed and walked faster, regretting the fact that he couldn’t stop by a smoke shop on the way back.