Chapter 13
“Tina, towel.” Damon’s voice resounded from the first floor through the kitchen’s opened door.
Tina rolled her eyes and for a second turned off the milk frother, with which she foamed milk for Damon’s cappuccino. “I’m just making your cappuccino; wait or make it yourself!”
“Tina, towel,” Damon insisted, ignoring her.
“Uriel, could you, please?” Tina looked over her shoulder at Uriel, who sat behind the table, a newspaper in his hand.
“Nope.” Uriel without lifting his head turned the page of the newspaper. “It was your deal. And you demanded that Tristian and Irene leave and agreed to replace Tristian as Damon’s servant.”
“With Tristian and Irene here, there would be too much risk -- you said that yourself. And how could I know that he would be so high-maintenance?” Tina growled, her eyes on Uriel’s mouth that twitched at the corners as if he were trying not to smile. “You are enjoying watching him send me running around, fulfilling his stupid wishes, way too much. I really can’t understand how Tristian manages it without strangling him. He's a saint.”
“Tina!”
“It was your idea. You wanted him here.” Uriel now openly smiled.
“Tina!”
I was doing that for you and your brothers, you stupid idiot, she wanted to say but didn’t. “Yes, I’m coming!” She threw the milk frother into the sink and stomped through the door, up the stairs into the hallway. She stopped at the narrow closet in the hallway and took out two towels before she continued stomping toward the bathroom. “You should have taken them before you went to take a bath; you know where they are, I showed you.” She opened the bathroom door. And froze.
“I forgot.” Damon stood in the middle of the bathroom stark naked, his arms akimbo and water drops slipping down his hair and the side of his face and neck and his strong chest...
Tina swallowed and intently stared at Damon’s face, refusing to look lower than his neck. She slowly walked closer and offered him one towel. She cleared her throat before she spoke. “I was in the middle of foaming your milk just the way you like it and I had to stop because you refused to get the towels yourself.” Actually because he was behaving like a spoiled princess, but she couldn’t say that to him, could she? He might strangle her if she did.
Damon took it and wrapped it around his waist before he took the other one from Tina's hands and started to dry his hair. “You’ll just have to make new foam, won’t you?” He turned toward the high mirror above the sink.
Her brows descended low over her eyes, drilling holes in the back of Damon’s head. He was really something, wasn’t he? And she didn’t mean that in a good way. Her gaze slid over the curve of Damon’s neck, his wide shoulders and the black lines imprinted over Damon’s back. Bat-wings. She would have thought that with Bloodeaters’ healing powers tattooing wouldn’t work on them.
In the mirror Damon’s green eyes found hers. He gave her a half-smile and flexed his muscles. The black lines of the wings moved. They looked like wisps of black smoke becoming solid, the area between the lines filling with dark-grey, giving them a leather-like texture. The wings stretched, restricted by the white-tiled wall of the bathroom, before folding and becoming black lines on his skin again.
“You might have them too.” Damon stood behind her.
She blinked. How did he do -- She rolled her eyes. She had lived with him for more than a month; she should be used to his sudden reappearance somewhere else. “Aren’t any of your abilities restricted under the Damned’s spells?”
“Not in this house.” Damon’s hand slid under Tina’s shirt. “Those boys carry my DNA, the same restrictions that apply to them, apply to me too.”
“Hey, what do you think you are doing?” Tina tried to turn, but Damon wrapped his arm around her middle and held her immobile.
“Checking. Now be still and let me see.” He tugged her shirt up.
Tina gritted her teeth. “You could have asked nicely.” The brute.
“Can I see your back, please?” Damon leaned his chin on Tina’s shoulder while his fingers tiptoed over Tina’s skin, an amused twinkle flashing in his eyes.
The warmth of Damon’s touch seeped into her skin. It scared her a little, the warmth of the creature that had born before the fourteenth century. Shouldn’t he be ice cold? But they weren’t really vampires, they weren’t dead and brought to life as... what were they called -- Akilueteers, the Deadeaters.
“What’s wrong?” Damon straightened. “Is it Trinity?” He put his hands on Tina’s shoulders and a hopeful expression for a second crossed his face.
He wanted so much to talk to Trinity, to make any sort of contact with her that he had accepted almost all of Tina’s conditions just to stay in her close proximity. Tina thought about putting her hands over Damon’s, but Damon seemed too proud to take consolation in a gesture like that. “No, I’m sorry.”
Damon nodded, his face expressionless. “Now, let’s see your back.”
“What?”
“Your back.” He pulled up the thin white shirt she wore and exposed her back.
“Hey, hey.” Her fingers curled around the front edge of her shirt, tugging it down.
“I did ask you nicely.” He smirked before he turned her so that her back faced the mirror. “Look.”
Still pulling down her shirt, she looked over her shoulder at her reflection. She could see a pair of thin, angry lines that ended in a V on her lower back.
Damon released her.
She stepped backwards and pulled her shirt higher, so that she could see the skin beneath the closure of her bra. The red lines formed wings similar to those that marred Damon’s back, just smaller. “What’s that?” No, she knew what that was. It kind of looked cool. “Are they the same as yours? Can I use them?”
“No. The lines have to be black for the wings to materialise.” Damon close the distance between them, he stepped before Tina, his fingers tracing the line on her shoulder blade. “They look like scratches. I thought you would have silver ones, like a bird’s, as Trinity had. But she couldn’t use them either.”
“Bird’s wings?” Tina pulled the shirt down and looked up into Damon’s eyes.
“Yes. She probably got them from Angelica’s life force.”
“What happened?” Tina stepped away from Damon. She leaned her hip on the counter. “I know that Abbas killed her and you revived her, but how does Angelica’s life force fit into all of that?”
“She was on the brink of dying, but she didn’t die, if she had she would have become Akilueteer.”
Tina leaned forward. “How did she end up with your blood and Angelica’s life force in her system?”
Damon combed through his damp hair. He turned his back to Tina. “I’m going to dress and then I would like my cappuccino, please.”
“Damon.” She reached out, but then he looked back, his face so blank and empty, and her hand curled and she withdrew it. “I’m going downstairs to make some fresh coffee.”
He nodded.
Tina went out on the hallway, softly closing the bathroom door behind her before she leaned against it, staring at the beige wall. She could hear the soft sound of music and murmur of conversation drifting from the living room. “What was that all about?”
It’s hard for him to admit that he isn’t all-powerful. Even if that was in the past.
Trinity? Tina sighed. Finally Her Ladyship resurfaced. She focused on her like she would have on Muriel when they spoke inside her mind. What are you talking about?
About how back then his blood was not powerful enough to push Abbas’s poison out of my body like it did with yours, Trinity said. He had to ask for the help of the strongest Bloodeater that was around, and that was Angelica.
He hates her. Tina pushed herself away from the door and went down the stairs. She still needed to brew a new pot of coffee.
No wonder, with the way things turned out. He was always wary of her, but before the fiasco with me, Angelica was a ‘dear’ friend of the family, the..., Trinity explained, murmuring something incomprehensible at the end.
Is Angelica good then? Tina had to ask, even though after everything that she had learned about that translucent, floating thing she wouldn’t believe an affirmative answer even if, even if... She wouldn’t believe it, period.
Angelica, good? That’s a good one. Trinity snorted. She doesn’t have any moral code that would help her tell good from bad. She probably sees everything from her point of view: everything that opposes her is bad and everything that helps her is good.
From everything that the Dumes told me, she wants power, but she’s afraid that in the end it will destroy her. Tina walked into the kitchen, which was empty, but the noise of the computer told her that Haniel was in the living room.
You better watch out for her. She is dangerous.
She’s not the only one. Tina rolled her eyes, picked up the coffee pot and emptied its contents into the sink. Even though Prva has seemed to be on their side, that Damned has her own agenda too. And what’s with you? Damon has been here for three days and you’ve refused to come out.
He will leave after I talk to him and he finds out that I won’t be anything else but a small spark inside somebody else’s soul, and I just want to give the boys time to get to know him, and him to know them.
Tina, cleaning the stainless steel, frowned. But it wasn’t just that, she could feel Trinity’s distress, she could tell that there was something else. It’s not just that, is it?
Yes, it is.
Come on, don’t lie to me. You don't need to.
Trinity sighed. You can feel it, can’t you?
Yes. Tina poured fresh water into the coffee maker, put it on the stove and turned it on. Now, tell me. I promise I won’t tell anybody.
It's just...
Yes? Tina washed the milk frother.
I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint him again. And I don't want to feel as -- It's hard already knowing that he's near, that he's in my reach, but I won't ever be able to be with him, and it's all my fault.
Tina’s shoulder slumped. She could feel the sadness embracing her souls -- Trinity’s doing and Trinity probably wasn’t even aware of it. She would have given Trinity a hug if she could, but instead she leaned her forehead on the cabinet above the sink and stared at the water, which she hadn’t turned off, swirling down the drain. It’s not your fault.
It is. All of it it’s my fault. If I hadn’t insisted on my revenge on Abbas I wouldn’t have died and Dume would be whole. I would have watched him grow up, I would have been with him. And with Damon.
You didn’t know. Tina frowned. She could feel a slight emptiness and melancholy inside her since she had moved into the Dumes’ house, but she thought that Trinity’s inability to surface as often as she wished was the reason for that. It seemed she was wrong.
I didn’t care. I was blinded by my hatred, and I thought that everything we had would just wait until later, but later never arrived.
Tina swallowed, searching for words that would hush the soft wisp of despair that started to wind around Trinity’s soul.
“Tina,” Damon’s velvet voice echoed in the kitchen before a hand descended on Tina’s shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” Tina turned off the faucet.
Damon wheeled her around. “Then why are you crying?”
“I’m not.” Tina frowned.
Don’t tell him about me. I don’t want to... I can’t face him now.
“Than what is this?” Damon’s thumbs wiped Tina’s cheeks.
Oh, Trinity. Tina sighed.
“It’s Trinity, isn’t it?” Damon brushed brown strands away from Tina’s face. “Isn’t it?”
Tina wrinkled her forehead.
Damon cupped her cheeks. “Trin, why are you avoiding me?” His clouded eyes stared into Tina’s. “Do you hate me so much that you can’t even speak to me?”
No, never.
Trinity? Tina asked.
I don’t hate you, I could never hate you.
“Trin?”
Tell him.
“She could never hate you,” Tina said.
“What is it then?”
What should I tell him? Tina wanted to slap Damon’s hands away, to turn away from his gaze that told of love and adoration. It wasn’t Tina that Damon saw, it was Trinity.
“Trin, what is it?” Damon caressed Tina’s cheekbones as he gave her a ghost of smile. “Are you playing shy? It doesn't suit you.”
You should talk with him, directly.
I can’t.
Yes, you can. Tina tried to remember how Trinity took control from her; she told her to relax and then took over her senses. Tina wondered if she could push Trinity forward on her own. She closed her eyes.
“Tina?”
She opened one eye and put a digit before her mouth before her eyelid fluttered close.
Tina, what are you doing?
Tina focused on the darkness, she imagined she was withdrawing into it, that she was stepping backwards and pushing Trinity before her. Pushing Trinity forward might drain Trinity's strength, but Tina felt that it would be worth it.
“What are you doing?”
It worked. Tina smiled and opened her eyes. She could see Damon before her, but as if she looked at him through a spyglass or a tunnel. You need to talk with him without a mediator.
“No. I’m not ready yet.”
Tina could feel the tugs that tried to pull her forward but she embraced the darkness and refused to let it go.
“Trin?”
“Damon.” Trinity’s voice broke.
Tina could feel Damon embracing her body -- Trinity -- and pressing her against his chest.
“I missed you,” he whispered against her ear. “You put me through a lot.”
“I’m sorry.” Trinity wrapped her arms around Damon’s neck. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to... I didn’t want to... I messed up everything.”
“It’s fine, now. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.”
“You are here now.” Damon’s fingers caressed Tina -- no, Trinity’s shoulders.
“But just for now, though. I can’t use Tina’s body.”
“You are using it now.”
“It’s just temporary. I can’t...”
“I don’t see why you couldn’t use it in the future.”
Tina frowned. Damon better not be insinuating that her body was up for grabs. As much as she liked the love-birds and felt sorry for them, she might have even offered her body, but would regret the decision as soon as the offer left her mouth. Yes, she would rather keep her body for now.
“I can’t use it for long and not just because I don’t want to steal somebody else’s body. You woke me up too soon and I can’t... I’m not strong enough. Even now, talking to you like this, it weakens me so much.”
“There has to be something we can do.”
“There's nothing.” Trinity's voice was low. “I’m sorry. If it hadn’t been for my stupidity, nothing would have happened to me, to Dume, and I wouldn’t have put you through all this... I have been regretting things for so long now. We had something special and -- I ruined it. I’m so sorry.”
Tina sighed. Being in the middle of their intimate conversation made her feel out place, but at least Trinity was able to put to rest any fear of Trinity taking her body that might still linger at the edge of her mind.
“We will figure something out.” Damon's hand slid over her back. “I promise.”
“I need you to promise me something else.” Trinity leaned back so that she could look at Damon. “Will you promise me something?”
“What is it?”
“Will you take care of them?”
“Them?” Damon’s face grimaced. “They are --”
“Mine. And yours. And it doesn’t matter if there are three of them instead of one. I love them, they are my children and I need to know they have you to turn to for help. Please, Damon. I know I’m asking so much after everything that I have done. But please, I need to know that they and Tina can count on you. Please.”
“You are talking as if you are dying.”
“I am, sort of. I don’t know how much time I have before --”
“What’s going on?”
Damon and Trinity turned, and Tina could see Haniel and Muriel standing at the opened door, which led into the living room.
“Nothing.” Trinity stepped away from the circle of Damon’s arms as she with the back of her hands wiped her cheeks.
“Mom?” Haniel stepped closer, Muriel followed.
“Hey, darlings.” Trinity spread her arms and wrapped them around her boys. “Let me give you a hug while I still can.”
“Don’t talk like that.” Muriel wrapped his arms tightly around Trinity’s middle, and Haniel hugged them both.
“My darlings.” Trinity tussled first Muriel’s hair and then messed up Haniel’s ponytail before she leaned her head on Haniel’s, looking at Damon, who stepped forward and leaned his hips on the table. “Promise me, Damon, please.”
“I promise.”
“Thank you.” Trinity gave him a smile.
“Promise, what?” Haniel asked.
An alarm pierced the air followed by a buzzing sound.
“Somebody is coming.” Haniel stepped away from Trinity and Muriel and turned toward Damon. “You better hide.”
Since it was still daylight, it could only be one of the Numuns, Tina thought.
Damon crossed his arms. “I haven't had my cappuccino yet.”
Tina felt the tugs and this time she didn't fight them. She closed her eyes and when she opened them she was in charge of her body again.
You were right, I needed to talk with him, Trinity said. Thank you.
You are welcome, Tina's lips curved in a small smile before her face became serious. The thought struck her that now that Trinity had resurfaced, it would be good to discuss Uriel’s plan with her. She hadn’t decided what she was going to do, but she would have to, and soon. But first things first: She focused on Damon. “You will just have to get your cappuccino later, princess.”