"Do you know what the letter said?" Tala asked, leaning back in his chair to ease some of his tension away. It seemed like the only safe subject to talk about, the person they shared in common.
"It's not for me to know, Master Talamayas."
Tala chucked, but it was too late to take back the sound as he realized how cruel of a gesture it had been. No one had ever called him Master. That was truly something meant for the humans who served Angelus, and Silvia had said it with such spite that it had just been... charming. No wonder Neil liked her. This one was every bit as feisty as they came, and yet she had gentleness in the way she'd shown concern for Wren. She was also not so hardened that tears were out of the question on a mission.
"You are good at your act, Silvia Copse. Neil told me everything I need to know. You needn't force formalities. I know you're not sincere in your service to Angelus. Had I known that when you showed up, I would have listened to you. Anything related to Vincent makes my blood boil." It was a poor explanation, he knew.
"It wasn't your blood boiling," Silvia hissed, and it drew a small smile up his lips that had her seething again. There was just so much fight in her even though she knew who he was, what he was.
"I suppose not. No one in my service would dare go near Angelus, so you are safe to speak freely here." Tala paused with a tentative breath, eyeing her stomach "Lift your shirt."
"Over my dead and rotting corpse." Silvia leaned away from him, pulling the small shift they'd put on her down further.
Perhaps he could have worded that more gently. His impatience was not his best quality and it directed too much of how he said things. People obeyed his commands, so arguing or negotiating had never been needed.
"Just your navel," he tried to reason. "I need to see how bad it looks."
"Looks? Heaven forbid it looks bad," Silvia spat, crunching her hands on the gown shirt.
Tala was trying to figure out how to get her to acquiesce without breaking his blood pact when she lifted the fabric to look herself. The poor woman's hands trembled as she did so, and while Wren had done a good job of healing it as he could, magic could only expedited healing. It didn't rewind time. If something would scar healing at a normal pace, it scarred with magic.
A whine slipped from his lips, and it was not a sound he normally made. It took a great deal of anguish, and this qualified. They were smooth, but the skin was darker in an undeniable set of hand prints of either side of her slim stomach. He'd never considered how big his hands were before, but seeing his long fingers curl around to her lower back with his thumbs pointing inward and nearly reaching her navel made it clear.
Neil would kill him when he saw them... if he didn't know how outmatched they were. That made Tala more fearful of what the new Arc leader might do. A fight between them would end in nothing short of war, all because he'd been blinded by his rage for Vincent. There had to be some way to fix this, but he hadn't a clue how. Dropping his face into his hands, he gripped it so tightly that the flesh shifted before he wound them up into his hair and fell forward onto his knees.
"Please forgive me," Tala gasped, his face almost scraping the tile. Perhaps he might never see Neil again, but he needed it to stop there. It wasn't his decision to give his life up. His people needed him, and even if he had to spend an eternity alone, he would remain for them.
"Give me one good reason," Silvia said, her anger simmering much lower than he expected.
"I love Neil," Tala said the only words that came to his mind. How he loved him, and he'd messed up here, had no way to reconcile, not with him, with Wren, or himself. "Vincent brought him here when he was just a child to be reared into something better than he was. The man wanted to teach him what it was to be a vampire, and to... remove his softness. I taught Neil things, but only so that he had something to tell his father when he returned.
"Since that first day I met him, Neil and I formed a bond that was unbreakable. Vincent left him with me because he liked how little I cared for humankind, but he had no idea that behind closed doors, I cared for his son. Neil liked it here, spending time with me. I told him it didn't matter how he acted as a vampire. If he wanted to be soft, that was okay, and if he wanted to be fierce, that didn't mean he had to abandon his kinder side.
"As Neil grew and my hatred for Vincent and his cruelty became more apparent, Vincent pulled his son back from me. I haven't seen Neil in a few decades, as our houses are considered enemies, but we are the closest of friends. Neil trusted me with you, with the woman most precious to him, and I..." Tala lifted his crimson eyes to her, and his hand trembled as it wandered toward her. All he wanted to do was touch her, as he had Neil to comfort him, but Silvia would be like Wren, repulsed by his touch, fearful, and so he gripped the sheets instead.
"So, you really are Neil's closest ally," Silvia said calmly after a moment. "I wasn't sure if he was just saying that for Angelus' hearing." She sighed and leaned back onto the hospital bed as if she needed a moment.
Tala was so fearful of what conclusion she might come to that he couldn't keep himself from rambling more than he had been. "Neil will never forgive me for what I've done to you. I let my hatred of Vincent and his corrupt legacy cloud my better judgement. I know it's not looked well upon by my kind, but Neil is fragile. His trust in people is so heavy that when it's betrayed, it is not so easily mended. I should have never touched you, should have never harmed anything Neil holds so precious."
"What you're saying is that Neil's closest friend is a psycho that likes to burn people alive," Silvia said as a jab, but she wasn't spiteful as she turned toward him, rather trying to understand.
"Yes, sorry." Tala tilted his lips in a brittle smile, and she grumbled in frustration.
"Neil has few friends, so I don't want to drive a wedge between you two, but I'm likely going to have nightmares about you for a while."
Tala whined again, and it drew Wren's gaze but he couldn't look to the man to see what he thought of him right now, groveling on his knees when his prisoner had only seen him as a pinnacle of hatred and brutality.
"Please, I will never harm you again," Tala didn't like that she would be tormented by him, which struck him as strange.
He relished that he dominated every facet of Wren Song, even his nightmares. Why was it different here? If he cared for them both so strongly, why was there a different line for Wren? Should he feel terribly about what he'd done to Wren?
"That aside, Neil spoke quite... fondly of you in his letter," Tala couldn't help the gentle bubble of affection for the boy that rose to the surface. "I could never knowingly harm someone he cares so deeply for."
"That letter didn't have a lot of space. What the hell did he say? Did he even include the mission details?" Silvia sat back up, and Tala smiled at her resilience. It gave him hope that perhaps everything wasn't lost between him in Neil, but he expected that to take years to smooth over, if ever.
"Neil said little about your mission. Most of it was about you, but I know what he needs of me. We understand each other with few words needed when it comes to Angelus. You, however, I have never heard Neil talk so fondly of a woman. You two must be very close, which is why he will likely never talk to me again. Please tell him how sorry I am, though I know it will mean little."
"I'm expected back at the complex or it will blow both of our covers," Silvia said, brushing him off as she calculated practical things. Once her emotions were in check, she was a focused battleground mage. "Hopefully, I wasn't out for too long?"
"No," Tala said to the floor. "Only a short while. You were too injured to leave for longer."
"Well, isn't that lovely. Can I have my clothes back? Or at least similar attire? I need to return to Neil as a loyal blood slave. Will you support him?"
That wasn't a question.
"I will give Neil any support he asks for, Silvia Copse, but he will not accept it directly from me after finding out what I've done to you." Tala lifted his eyes, and Silvia huffed.
"Why are all you vampires so two-faced? You can't tell me you want to hear me scream and burn me near to death and then grovel on the floor the next moment."
Tala couldn't even give himself an answer for that. The switch inside of himself that flipped on a hair trigger was not one of his prouder points, and he'd give anything to understand himself.
"You are Neil's. I assure you, if you belonged to anyone else, you would be dead. I have a soft spot for him. I will be sending you back to him with my general, Vice Sol. He should be enough to lay waste to the remains of Angelus. Vice is adept at sewing discord and executing threats. He will tear them apart from the inside and slaughter anyone who thinks they can escape."
"One guy? Neil asks for help to destroy several house heads, and you are sending one vampire?"
"Some things are better solved without force. Internal strife will tear apart their organization. You'll find Vice more than adequate. Most vampire houses don't even know I have a second general, so it won't lead back to me."
"How would they not notice?"
"Vice is standing right next to you," Tala said, sensing his own energy lingering right next to the girl, as it had been since she'd awoken. His brother remained at his side as he always was.
Silvia looked around the room as if she could locate him, and he drew a smile on his lips. So few knew about Vice, only Shan, himself and Neil. Of course Wren as well.
"Is this a joke?" Silvia asked, her eyes near prying the floor tiles up to discover him.
"No. Vice's ability makes him completely invisible to both mages and vampires. The ability is quite unique, and it terrifies vampires when their own start falling like flies. Something interesting happened when he was changed, and he is able to completely hide himself. Vice, introduce yourself, so she believes I'm not making this up."
"As you command," Vice deep voice answered. The man obeyed his every command without hesitance, and he was silent unless otherwise instructed. He'd become a fine man over the years, just as he expected Neil had.
Vice nearest Silvia shimmered into view, and his brother had taken cover around the corner. Though one of them had been commanded, the other knew that only one was necessary to prove that. It was not important for Silvia to know there were two of him. Vice had gotten quite intelligent over the years, frighteningly so. The man was cautious, calm under stress, and powerful as they came.
It was also pleasant to see Vice's visage. The times Tala did so were so few, only when half of the man came to him to feed from his throat, and that lasted but minutes. The man's eyes had darkened to near black and grown in confidence over the years, and this half of him kept part of his pitch hair longer near one eye. The rest he had pinned up to keep it from getting in the way or risking any noise, and he was tanned as any of his own men of the dessert.
Since he was a vampire, Vice had grown no larger, but his form was imposing enough, muscled as much as one could be with as slim a form as him. It was also emphasized with the skintight elastic body suit Tala had gotten for him. It was silent when he moved, stretched with his muscles, and gave him the best range of motions, while also covering his mouth and nose to dull sensation regarding the scent of blood, fear, or lust.
It also didn't leave much to the imagination, and when Silvia Copse realized how it sculpted the area near his groin, she turned a bright shade of pink and looked away. Vice chuckled, not a noise he often made, but he too was quite fond of Neil so for just him, emotions were allowed to surface. As the noise faded, so did Vice back into nothingness and his twin returned to Tala's side.
For Neil, he had to send even his Vice away, and a chill rolled through him as he realized that he would have no one for a time. Vice would return, but Neil would never speak to him again but to spit in his face, and Wren would be gone forever.
Word Count: 2344