Debts - 26. Chapter 26

- XXVI -

He sat there for almost fifteen minutes, saying nothing. Sam and Gabriel didn’t say anything either, but to Desmond, it sounded like a very intense conversation that didn’t quite make sense.

“Holy hell, he can hear thoughts? How in the world is that even possible? He could never hear thoughts!” That was Sam.

“Goddammit, the spell worked! Son of a bitch, the spell worked! When that blast hit him... Oh, damn it all to hell...” That was Gabriel.

“Wait, does it mean he can hear everyone’s thoughts or is it just someone he knows...? No, wait, Sam, that was stupid...! Of course, he can hear everyone’s thoughts...”

“Hmm, I wonder if he is still going to say no to handcuffs... Dammit, why the hell am I even thinking about this right now? Crap, did he hear me?”

“...but can he hear just one person at a time or...”

“Shut up!” Desmond yelled. “Bloody hell on wheels! Both of you shut up! Yes, Sam, I can hear more than one person, and Rayhe, if you bring up the damn handcuffs again, I will murder you...!”

Sam made a small squeaking sound.

“Umm...” he said very carefully. “I’m gonna go now, okay...? I won’t call Blair,” he said with a quick nod. “I’m just gonna go... I’ll stop by your house tonight to see if you got cured or something...”

“It’s not a cold, kid,” Desmond said tiredly and waved his hand. “Go... See you tonight.”

“Holy hell, Des...” Gabriel said slowly after Sam made a hasty retreat. “Holy... Where are you going?” he frowned when Desmond suddenly got up.

“To find that fucking blond!” Desmond snarled. “He is the reason this shit is happening to me!”

Gabriel sighed, agreeing with him silently.

“Thank you!” Desmond nodded furiously at his agreement and stormed out of the room, ignoring the puzzled nurses.

He almost made it all the way to the stairs when he thought of something and turned back. Gabriel stepped out of his way just before they smacked into each other.

“Which room Salamander is in?” Desmond barked at the middle-aged nurse, who took a small step back and narrowed her eyes.

“First of all,” she said with dignity. “Keep your voice down, please... Second of all, this is private information, and I am not...”

Desmond narrowed his eyes, trying to ignore her voice.

“...right, like I am going to tell you that bastard kicked everyone off the seventh floor for the entire night... He will kill me probably, and do I look like I want to die...?”

“...so if you please, just...”

“Seventh floor,” Desmond muttered, and the nurse stared at him in disbelief. “Thank you,” he said poisonously and went towards the stairs.

“You won’t be in trouble,” Gabriel sighed, looking at the petrified nurse. “Believe me on that.”

Then he sighed again, noting that she didn’t even blink, and went after Desmond. He caught up to him on the seventh floor, thinking that Desmond moved very lively for someone who nearly died last night. He followed his fuming mate, who pushed open every single door.

“Ah!” he said finally in a murderous voice.

“I guess he found them,” Gabriel thought melancholically. Then he couldn’t help but think:

“Huh, wonder how far he has to be in order not to hear anything...”

“Farther than this!” Desmond barked at him and burst into the room.

Gabriel blinked. It was rather far – almost half of the floor. Then he frowned and walked faster.

“Des, don’t forget about his very unpleasant spell!” he thought desperately.

“Fuck the spell!” Desmond barked. “And stop yelling!”

“All he has to do is close his eyes,” Gabriel thought quickly. “Maybe not even that; and it hurts worse than you can imagine... Des, I experienced that!”

He expected another outburst and relaxed somewhat when there was none. He walked into the room and saw a puzzled Julian, who looked at Desmond with a silent ‘What?’ expression.

“You son of a bitch!” Desmond growled. “It’s your fault!”

“What is...?” the blond asked rather politely, and Gabriel could almost see Desmond’s narrowing eyes even though he stood behind the pissed off man.

“He can hear thoughts,” he said quickly, and politeness immediately transformed into sharpness.

Julian’s eyes darted towards Gabriel for a second, and then returned to Desmond. He didn’t say anything, but all of a sudden, Desmond barked:

“No shit, the spell worked! You think?”

Now Julian’s expression became thoughtful.

“No, I did not guess it!” Desmond raged.

“Huh,” Julian said. “What happened...? I regained consciousness right before that white explosion,” he explained patiently.

Desmond took a deep breath.

“I kicked her out of the circle... triangle actually... It was a triangle from the light beams,” he answered the blond’s silent question. “Right before I did, she said, ‘Exitus’...”

“That means complete,” Julian nodded.

“Figured that much... Anyway, I kicked her out right before she finished the word, and then I broke the mirror... Then all hell broke loose.”

Gabriel was relieved that Desmond didn’t seem to be in murderous rage anymore.

“I see,” Julian said slowly. “She completed the spell. You got her out of there right before it took effect, but you broke the mirror a second too late... Therefore, the spell concentrated on you.”

“Undo it!” Desmond said through clenched teeth, and Julian blinked.

“I can’t...” he said, and Desmond snorted impatiently.

“Yes, you can!”

“Goddammit,” the blond muttered with sudden frustration, and Gabriel frowned at that. Desmond just rolled his eyes.

“I don’t care!” he said sharply. “Believe me, you are not a topic of any of my conversations! I am not going to advertise that! Even though anyone with a half-brain should be able to figure it out...” he shrugged. “If you can do one spell, you should be able to do something else...”

“Not as much,” Julian muttered, and Desmond shook his head.

“I don’t care!” he repeated. “Undo it!”

“I can’t,” Salamander sighed. “Nobody can.”

Now Desmond was speechless.

“What do you mean, ‘nobody can’?” he demanded finally. “It’s magic; therefore, it can be undone!”

“Not this spell,” Julian shook his head. “That’s why it is so dangerous and difficult to accomplish. Once it’s cast, it’s permanent.”

Desmond stared at him, and suddenly, frowned. The blond smiled.

“Stop trying,” he said in a low voice. “I have dealt with telepaths before; I know how to block my mind. You caught me by surprise at first, but it won’t happen again.”

Desmond made an annoyed, angry sound.

“Where is Raven?” Gabriel asked with a sigh.

“In the shower at the moment,” Julian answered in his usual manner.

“Where are my car keys?” Desmond asked shortly.

“Probably someone at the front desk has them,” the blond shrugged. “I left them with the security guard last night. I’ll call them and let them know to give you the keys...” He sighed when he saw Desmond’s expression. “They think the keys belong to me,” he explained patiently. “Now, do you really think they would give them to you...? We are even, by the way,” he added lightly.

“Don’t care,” Desmond snarled. “Make a call!”

Julian sighed and reached for the phone.

“Screw it,” Desmond muttered darkly when he stepped closer to Gabriel. “I’ll ask Tess to deal with this...”

Gabriel nodded, thoughtfully watching the blond and trying his best to keep his mind completely empty. It was a lot harder than he thought it would be. The door of the bathroom opened and Gabriel shifted his gaze.

“Oh...” Raven stopped wiping his hair and wrapped the towel around his hips instead. “Didn’t know you were here...”

“Hey,” Gabriel sighed, perfectly aware of Desmond’s peculiar look. “How are you?”

“Good,” Raven nodded lightly. “The plan was perfect, thank...” He frowned and stopped talking when he saw Desmond’s face. “What?” he asked and quickly made sure the towel was covering his hips completely. It seemed fine. “What?” he repeated with confusion.

“Seriously?” Desmond asked incredulously. “Seriously?!”

“He can hear thoughts,” Julian sighed after he hung up the phone, and Raven looked at him in disbelief. “Your friend’s spell worked,” the blond nodded. “On him,” he looked at Desmond.

“He got the powers...?” Raven frowned, and Gabriel blinked very rapidly at that.

“Powers?” he repeated quietly. “Powers? As in... Plural...?”

“Oh, that’s right,” Salamander looked rather entertained now.

“What else can you do?” Gabriel demanded, and Desmond blinked, and finally looked away from Raven.

“Huh?” he asked.

“Powers, Des,” Rayhe said louder. “Powers! The spell gives you more than one!”

Desmond’s eyelid started twitching somewhat violently. Finally, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, and when he opened them, he seemed calmer.

“I don’t know, Rayhe,” he said tightly. “Let’s go...” He paused for a second and glanced at Raven. “So, umm... Do you keep him on some special diet for him to taste...” he coughed. “...divine...?” he finished with restraint in his voice.

Gabriel frowned at that with confusion, Raven’s ears turned slightly pink, and Julian laughed.

“No diet,” the blond said finally. “It’s just the way I am.”

“Charming,” Desmond nodded. “Delightful, even... Let’s go!”

Gabriel sighed and followed him. Right before he left the room, he stopped and looked at Julian.

“How do you do that?” he asked hesitantly. “Block your mind... How do you do that?”

The blond shrugged.

“It’s not that difficult, really,” he said. “Takes a while to figure out though... You pull up a barrier... A mental barrier,” he nodded. “At first, it’s purely imaginative, of course, but you keep pulling it up and trying to make it more real...” He shrugged again. “As I said, it takes time.”

“Right,” Gabriel muttered and left the room.

He caught up to Desmond next to the elevators.

“Why did you react that way?” he asked while they waited for an elevator. “I mean, big deal, if he likes the way he tastes...!”

“He wasn’t thinking about that,” Desmond glanced at him. “He was referring to his blood.”

Gabriel coughed.

“Blood?” he repeated.

“Yup,” Desmond nodded and pushed him into the open elevator cabin.

“He gets off on his blood?”

“Yup,” Desmond nodded again and pressed the button with number 1 on it.

“Hold on... He actually drinks it...?”

“Yup.”

“Seriously?”

“Yup.”

“Oh... And it’s divine?”

“Yup.”

“Oh...”