The Consort's Fate

Chapter 12

Bogdan

Time is nothing more than a magician creating illusions with its sleight of hand.

For centuries I was immune to its tricks. While I waited to be reunited with Finn, however, time became both friend and foe. Now it twitches with indecision, a true performer as it slows minutes in some moments, while hastening in others.

I glance out the window, and gray clouds stare back at me, yawning with lazy indecision in their release. Thunder rumbles in the distance. It mirrors the hunger building in the chasm of my being. It has been days since I fed, not since my hunt with Finn. The thought tugs on an array of memories before stilling on the image of Finn holding the buck in his arms. His immortal strength was unwavering, and yet a glimpse of his former humanity bled into his pupils as he whispered a plea of forgiveness to the animal.

The moment slipped away with time's quick hands, but it clings to the back of my mind. It perplexes me and haunts me. In all my centuries as a vampire, I have never witnessed a thread of humanity remaining intact when a human crossed over into immortality. Does he still hold a piece of his humanity? How is it possible?

Tendrils of wind carry the first drops of rain to the window. They bead against the glass pane before trailing towards the windowsill. There's movement outside the front door, and I tense until Kelly makes his graceless entrance.

"Honey, I'm home!" he says to no one in particular.

The quiet conversation taking place between Douglas and Finn in the next room turns to silence. At first, I strained to listen to their exchanged words whenever they got a moment to themselves. They are still struggling to grasp their realities, meticulously parsing the truths from the lies. If they only asked us, we could shed the light they so desperately seek. Kelly reminds me it will take time. Ah, and there it is again. The illusionist that is time.

I find myself unnerved by their closeness. It is not a romantic bond, but instead the type of friendship that is formed over the course of many, layered memories. Since reaching our latest checkpoint, I have tuned out their conversations entirely, counting the seconds to distract from time's endless deception.

I silently retreat from the room and make my way to the foyer, stepping over bits of rubble and broken glass. The wind whines through the various cracks of the abandoned home. Kelly nods in greeting when I approach and unpacks the small parcel on the table.

"When did Tegan say she'd meet us again?" he asks, taking care to whisper our ally's name.

"She didn't," I respond. "We merely agreed on this checkpoint. She'll meet us when she's able."

I choose to refrain from adding that when she meets us, she will be expecting an answer from me. The window to decide whether I will become the leader of The Force is closing in on me.

Kelly's features pinch into a scowl. "That miserable Secondary would pick a place like this as a checkpoint. An abandoned house in a town demolished by the war. I swear, that woman enjoys raising my hackles every time she gets the chance."

I shrug. "She knew it was unlikely Reyo would venture to a town so close to the mountains of the old fortress. I hear he has quite the aversion to his old home."

Kelly sniffs. "Be that as it may, His Royal Dumbass has done nothing to heal these towns. They still smell like death, Bogdan. Hell, it hangs in the air like a constant noose. And don't get me started on the ghosts."

"Ghosts?"

Douglas' question announces his entrance. He moves into the room and takes a place beside Kelly to unpack their necessities. Kelly quirks a brow at his unlikely ally, someone to finally show an interest in his delusional ghost theories. Kelly begins to explain the gazes of ghosts that follow him around, but I tune out their conversation as Finn enters the room.