"Where’s Nicky?" Lucian inquired as he walked by Tashira, who was curled up on the couch, studying from a history book.

Tashira moved a clump of white silver hair from her eyes and tapped the heel of her foot against her ankle. "I’m guessing in his room, loathing your existence."

"Sounds about right," muttered the boy with a short laugh. He looked over the room, noting how the television was turned off and most of the lights in the other rooms had been dimmed. "Did Erik leave?"

"Yeah, she said that she wanted to talk to you so you can look forward to that. I said it was all right as long as she spoke with you in school, where nothing bad should happen."

"I’ll make a note of that."

"How’s Tyrell doing? Do you think he’s going to be okay? I mean, I know Angelique and him were really close. And this sort of thing must be tough on a boy who’s lived a normal life up until now. In a way, you could say that both me and you and even Dominic are lucky. We’re used to a bizarre lifestyle. We can roll with the punches. Tyrell must be facing some tough changes," Tashira said quietly, sympathizing with the youngest boy.

Lucian was used to this sort of reaction from Tashira by now. She felt some sort of pity for Tyrell because of his innocence. Tashira had always been drawn to the innocents. It was a mystery how she had ended up with him for a brother. He was many things, but innocent was clearly not one of them. His sibling had an almost maternal instinct around those who felt trapped within their own lives. Back when he used to freely share his real feelings, Tashira had been there to comfort him and tell him everything was all right. No doubt, that was what she wanted to do with Tyrell. Only Tyrell would never let her. He wanted Angelique and only Angelique. Tashira was simply his Guardian. Lucian wondered how much the girl regretted that truth.

While he was a notorious player when it came to lovers, Tashira rarely went out on many dates. Sure, she had plenty of guy friends and she would occasionally show off her amazing skill of flirtation. It was a natural born talent of the Ambroses and they both did it with flair. Tashira was also always going on about the particular gentlemen who had caught her fancy. Though she often swooned and exalted her obsessions in speeches dripping in purple prose, he had never seen her show serious interest in any. She seemed more into quick flings and casual affairs that never went very far. Tashira just seemed to prefer being single.

"I think Tye just needs more time, which unfortunately is something that he won’t be given. Fate has a nasty way of doing things her way whether you’re ready or not," replied Lucian, leaning over the top of couch.

"Yeah, such as pairing up you and Dominic," his sister jeered with a roll of her light gray eyes.

"Maybe that has less to do with fate and more to do with destiny," corrected the boy in a syrupy purr.

His twin made a ridiculous face and pushed into the back of the armrest. "Ew, Luce. That’s just...ew. Dominic is so..." She searched for the perfect word, but it continued to evade her. "He’s so...so...Dominic," she finished and turned her page, believing that she had adequately presented her argument.

"Excellent deduction," snickered Lucian.

"Oh, you know what I meant."

"Maybe."

"Luce," Tashira started as she sat up against the couch and took Lucian’s dangling hand, taking care not to touch his wrist. Lucian was grateful for her consideration.

Dominic had already aggravated the skin enough when he had dragged him around earlier. The older boy must have totally forgotten that his wrists were still in bandages and still very raw. It had hurt when Dominic had squeezed his fingers against the abrasions. But the pain had been much worse when he had realized that he was really fighting with Dominic and not just quibbling like they usually did. Dominic had been so mad when he had challenged his plan. He hadn’t meant to upset his friend, but he knew that is was necessary. Whether he realized it or not, Dominic needed his protection.

"Did you hear me?" asked the girl holding his hand.

It hit him that he hadn’t been listening to what she was saying. He had been too busy lamenting over the fight. That reminded him that he still had to give reasoning with Dominic another shot. He decided to figure out what Tashira had been trying to tell him and then check on his partner. "Huh?"

"I was just saying that I wanted to ask you something."

"Okay. Make it quick. I have to go argue with Nicky some more," Lucian urged, feeling as though Tashira was about to bring up something difficult.

"Tell me what you meant when back at the restaurant. Why was Dominic so upset?"

"Uh...." stalled the boy, shifting his eyes nervously.

Searching gray eyes brought his gaze back to his sister. "I heard you say something about a kiss. Did you kiss Dominic?" Her tone was flat, lacking any judgment or anger. At the same time, it was also firm. Tashira wanted an answer. She didn’t want a run-around. There was no point in lying to her.

He moved away from the couch, though he couldn’t get very far with Tashira holding his palm. With his free hand, he flipped his ponytail over his shoulder and brushed it out with his fingers, pretending to be preoccupied as he gave Tashira her answer. "Sort of. It was a joke. You know, a new type of game."

That sounded good and it wasn’t a complete lie. Dominic had said that his kiss was a joke and they had been playing the time when he had made the first move. He didn’t know if Tashira would accept his answer, but it was something to go with. It would give him some time so he could go upstairs and force Dominic to realize how ludicrous his plan was. He turned to his twin to see how she was taking his response. Tashira had raised her eyebrows and placed her hand upon her hip in a skeptical manner. Maybe, she didn’t exactly believe him.

"A joke?" she questioned, seeking more confirmation.

"Yep. Nicky is probably just embarrassed to admit that he knows how to have fun. That’s all," her brother continued, choosing his words with precision. They had to both sound believable and have some pinch of truth in them at the same time. He didn’t want to outright lie to his twin, but he didn’t want to share everything with her just yet. It wasn’t even all clear to him at the moment. He would be much more willing to tell her about it once he had enough information to work with.

"Seems strange that he would play along with something like that."

"There’s a whole other side to Nicky that not many know of, Shira. He’s just full of surprises."

"I’m not sure I like the sound of that," mumbled Tashira, still trying to tell if he was keeping something from her.

"Um...Shira, do you mind? I really need to go force some sense into Nicky’s thick skull. He’s going to get himself killed if he goes through with his absurd scheme. I’ve made it my personal mission to make sure that he gets the idea out of his head before it’s too late," Lucian detailed as he tried to pull away from Tashira without looking too impatient.

Tashira let go of him and gave him a cautious look. "Be careful with him, Lucian. Dominic and Wolf aren’t very far apart. He’s just as unpredictable as his feral counterpart. Make sure you know what you’re doing."

"I do," laughed the redhead as he bounded up the stairs.

He knocked on the door to Dominic’s room, knowing that the older boy was probably not going to answer it. The most he would possibly get from him was a sharp growl and a final plea to be left alone--and that was if he was lucky. Worst case scenario would be Dominic flinging the door open and cussing him out. He really didn’t think that Dominic would try to hit him again after his reaction upon shoving him. Dominic understood that he was still hurt, he would curb his temper. As much as everyone else believed otherwise, Dominic did comprehend the meaning of limits and he knew when to apply them. He could trust him to be careful. Dominic didn’t want to hurt him. He truly believed that, even if Tashira constantly tried to extricate that blind faith.

"Nicky, I’m not going to go away until you listen to me," Lucian declared as he knocked against the wood again.

His hand slipped a bit and smacked into the handle, pressing it down. To his surprise, it gave way, showing him that Dominic had forgotten to lock it. It didn’t seem like the type of mistake the older boy would usually make. He was too careful for something like that. Dominic had to have left it open on purpose. He must have thought that his final order would keep Lucian from making any more attempts to speak to him. Basically, he was either gambling on Lucian’s obedience or his fear. Neither was entirely reliable. Dominic should have known that by now.

Taking his chance, Lucian pulled the door open and quietly entered the room. He was puzzled when he didn’t receive any snarls telling him to go away. When he turned his head to the side, he realized why this was. A set of books was neatly stacked to the left of Dominic’s bed while his assignment list rested on the top of the pile. On the bed itself, a thick book was opened to a page full of highlighted passages and side-notes scribbled in legible shorthand. There was a brand new pencil in the center of the book’s spine and a loose sheet of paper that stuck to the left page. Lucian couldn’t make out the writing from the distance but he could make out the cloak of satin-like ebony strands that blanketed the edge of both the book and the paper.

Dominic was sleeping against his text, choppy bangs hiding his eyes and his one hand gripping the loose leaf as the other still held an uncapped ballpoint pen. The boy’s posture hadn’t changed from the first time he had gotten a glimpse of him during the night. He still kept his legs bunched close to his body and seemed to curl up against the mattress. It looked comical for someone his age to be sleeping in such a tense position, as a young child might. One might mistake it as a sign of submission, but Lucian knew better. It was probably just a habit he had picked up from the time he spent as a wolf. Wolves were known to sleep close to each other most of the time and when they couldn’t, they would curl themselves in a tight ball so that their fur would provide better insulation against the dangerous cold.

Whatever the reason for it, the sight of Dominic dozing in the midst of his homework, looking completely vulnerable and exhausted, chased away any thoughts that he had to wake him. Round two of their discussion would have to wait until the morning. He turned and flicked the room’s light switch off before leaving.

Though the gruesome change in his wings unnerved him, it was but a flicker in his mind compared to the smoldering conflagration that arose when the dagger illuminated his half-lidded eyes. Red. It was like a mystifying garnet shade that seemed to drag everything into its supernatural depths. The red hue flooded the irises of the figure within the reflection. It was his reflection. The red was coming from his eyes.

The red-haired boy sat bolt upright as his white-knuckled fingers scratched the sides of his bed. He panted in shock and then wiped his arm across his forehead, clearing away the freezing rivulets of perspiration. One of the frigid beads trickled over his eye, splashing the inner white in a red haze. The appearance of the red scared the boy and he felt at the liquid line over his eye. His fingers came away with a scarlet film.

Blood? Had he hit his head during his nightmare? He had sensed himself thrashing upon the mattress just before opening his eyes. Nervous, he swept his palm over his forehead, feeling the way the blood stuck to his hand as it glided under his tousled bangs. Deciding that it would be a good idea to get a better look from a mirror, Lucian pushed himself from the bed and let his feet fall to the coarse carpet.

He rose to an awkward stand as he felt a dull jab in his stomach. Reflexively, he grasped the inflamed area, his fingers slipping over the dark fluid that spread over the lean portion of his belly. It made his head swim with terror. He yanked his hand away from his stomach and reached to turn on the lamp. When his hand brushed across the lamp’s edge, it left a bloody trail upon the colored porcelain. Granted with the luxury of light, Lucian managed to gain enough control of his breathing to look down.

Most of his bandages were loose and the ones on his stomach were sagging from the blood. His earlier guess about his struggles irritating his wounds was most likely correct. Seeing blood flowing from his torso to his legs made him wonder if any of his other injuries had reopened. He gave a backward glance to his bed and grimaced at the dark smudges on the sheets. Damn! How long had he been bleeding?

Suddenly, his legs felt about as sturdy as rubber. He had never been hurt for more than a day. Tashira’s healing had always been able to eliminate any of his injuries in less than a few hours. These wounds had been too extensive for such cursory procedures. They would take longer to heal. That thought made him nauseous.

Lucian knew that his wounds needed redressing and tried to step forward to retrieve some medical supplies from the bathroom. But his body denied him that move, causing his unsteady legs to collapse underneath him. He fell against the bed, crashing upon his burning injury. It was by sheer will power that he restrained his scream and pushed back against the mattress, discovering his balance once more. He took a deep breath to steady his spasmodic nerves and then left the room in a hobbling walk.

His first stop was the bathroom, where he acquired some fresh gauze and a roll of surgical tape. Tashira and him didn’t own the type of bandages that Lorelei had used on his lash marks. He would just have to make do with what was available. Lucian tried to check himself in the vanity mirror over the sink, but it only displayed his chest and above. He could see that his head wasn’t really bleeding and that he had probably just smeared some blood on it when he had wiped his arm across it. It was a good bet that his arm had come in contact with his stomach during his sleep. But aside from that observation, it was impossible to see any of his injuries below. He needed a bigger mirror.

Just downstairs was Tashira’s full-length mirror. She always used it whenever she was deciding on a new style. Lucian had also taken advantage of the object several times. He was no stranger to vanity. Although he didn’t go too much out of his way to perfect his appearance, he did pay a considerable amount of attention to that aspect of his body. He knew how useful the mirror could be in examing the entire span of one’s physique.

Still, the thought of making his way down the stairs did make him a bit squeamish. His legs still felt weak and the throb in his stomach was making it hard to walk right. He just wanted to lie down again. But he understood the foolishness of letting pain control one’s actions. He needed to see to his wounds and the best way to do that was to make use of the mirror. If it was downstairs, then that was where he would go.

Cupping his oozing wound, Lucian staggered downstairs and stood in front of the tall object. He hit the light switch so that his section of the hall would have the proper illumination. Then he began to inspect his reflection just as he had done in his dream. His survey of his body caused him to note a few things that had changed within the past month. He seemed thinner than usual, but that was probably from his loss of appetite following Dominic’s disappearance. It wouldn’t take long to regain his normal weight, which was just under the average for a boy his age. His slight appearance was emphasized by the way his drenched crimson hair had glued itself to his spine, only fraying out a little along his shoulder blades where it ended. It managed to cover a few of his scars, but the rest were accentuated upon the form of his reflection. The marring bruises on his face, especially the large one surrounding his right eye, were beginning to fade back into his normal pale complexion and the dark fingerprints on his neck were disappearing as well. From the collarbone up, the boy didn’t appear much worse for wear.

However, the rest of his body told a different story. The way he was swathed in old bandages made it hard to see the lacerations, but he knew were there. He could still feel them. Their itching and their scalding pain. He could still remember the cut of Lionelle’s whip as it cracked across his skin, flaying layers from his battered body. Still feel the raw agony in his throat as his helpless cries were torn from it, as the pain worsened with every blow. Still hear the man’s chaotic laughter as he watched him writhe in torment, unable to separate his mind from the fragile shell that was his body.

Trapped in his horrific memories, Lucian tore at the cloth that enclosed his chest and back, ripping away each tainted piece. When all his bandages had been discarded, he stared back at the strange scarred figure in the mirror. Puffy white lines worked their ugly tapestry along his back, sloping up the curve of his spine and vanishing within his plastered mane. His chest featured the same design, only with more lines running over the original scars. The marks were still a light ruby shade and looked painfully tender. Around them spun the remnants of massive purple bruises.

It was the first time that Lucian had bothered to really look at himself following his capture. He was aghast at what he saw. Why hadn’t Tashira been able to fix this yet? How long was he going to have to face this revolting image whenever he looked at his bare body? What had Lionelle done to him? He had ravaged his perfect flesh and left him with nothing but an immovable imprint of his handiwork. Dominic had lied to him when he had said that nothing could ever make him look ugly. He was beyond ugly. He was a disgrace. Now, his body matched the wretchedness of the demon that rested within his soul. He was disgusting.

All of the rage that he had felt toward the reflection in his dream flowed back into him as the marks on his body mirrored those from his nightmare, marks that had been meant as his punishment for being a monster. Unknowingly letting his mind slip back into what he had encountered within his dreams, he began to see things just as they had been in the nightmare. Every scar was identical. He could even almost make out an offensive pair of dark red wings dipping down from his back. The image filled him with an agonizing fear as well as a boiling rage.

His breathing turned erratic and he clutched at his stomach with one arm, poking his fingers into the tattered skin of his ribs. He swayed for a moment, then dropped to his knees as his other hand pawed at the mirror. His knuckles curled and he rapped the glass softly with his right hand. Its steadfast resistance felt good against his bent fingers even as it made them ache. The boy struck the mirror again, slightly harder. Pricks of pain danced around the reddened knuckles. Lucian didn’t register the pain. All he could see was the demonic reflection sneering at him, mocking everything he was and forcing him to believe the words from the dream.

‘You are a demon.’

"That’s not true," he whispered, hitting his reflection even harder.

‘Poor child, you see only what you want to see. That is why you are forever in the darkness.’

"Stop saying that!"

‘Demon!’

"Damn it! Just leave me alone!" Lucian moaned, smashing his fist against the glass. Broken shards rained onto the floor. They were immediately doused in a steady flow of blood.

A dull crash sounded in his ears as Dominic sleepily opened one eye and raised himself on his elbows. He jerked his head around the room to see if he could figure out where the crash had come from. It sounded like the noise made when he had dropped the goblet at the dance. That had involved glass. He was fairly sure that this present noise had to do with the same thing. But why was he hearing glass being shattered in the middle of the night?

Sleeping was such an elusive activity in the Ambrose house. If it wasn’t anguished screams from twisted nightmares, then it was falling glass. Since he was up, he might as well go see what had happened. It was possible that the sound could have come from a picture coming loose from the wall and colliding with the ground.

With a languid lurch, he crawled from the bed, knocking his book and paper to the floor. He was still thoroughly exhausted from the day’s events and kept stumbling as his groggy vision negotiated on whether to fade out or zoom in. It took a few minutes for his customary night vision to kick in so that he could see enough of the floor to follow it out of the room. He grumbled to himself about never being allowed to get any rest in this psycho ward as he felt against the wall to keep from tripping over himself. Why couldn’t one of the twins deal with this? He swore those two could sleep through the apocalypse.

As he reached the start of the staircase, he could hear the echo of husky sobs. Lucian must have had another one of his particularly nasty dreams. But what did that have to do with the broken glass? Had Lucian broken something in his misery? Such a lack of consideration was not part of Lucian’s normal character. He always took special care in making sure that his nightly episodes didn’t affect anyone else, unless he specifically sought out their companionship, such as he often did with Tashira.

The light from the section of the far hall caught his eye as he rushed down the stairs with less lethargy than he had shown a moment ago. He hit the bottom step and prepared to race over to the bright hallway. Then his recollection came back to him. When he had first burst in on Lucian a while back, Lucian had completely freaked out at him. Dominic knew now that he had been lucky that that was all that had happened. After being around the younger boy and studying him for some time, Dominic had realized just how unstable Lucian was after experiencing one of his nightmares. Too much excitement could send him into shock. If he wanted to help his friend out now, he would have to do things very prudently.

Dominic crept along the path leading into his desired section of the hall. He stopped just behind the corner to see the state that Lucian was currently in. The boy had yet to notice him and appeared to be holding up his right hand and spreading out his fingers as a thick river of blood poured from each of his knuckles. An impact that could cause that sort of bleeding would have had to come very close to breaking the fingers, which meant that they were probably really swollen. He tried to keep his eyes trained on Lucian’s hand so that his vision didn’t wander across Lucian’s barely covered body. It didn’t work. His eyes kept straying over the redhead, noting that he was clad only in his boxers while the rest of his body stood out in stark contrast to the dark blue clothing.

Every raised fold of flesh, every detestable bruise, every open scar was subjected to his gaze. He wanted to look away. Seeing those frightening wounds all over his partner’s body was not something that he wished to see again. Yet, he couldn’t take his eyes off the shivering body as Lucian slumped upon the floor. The younger boy brought his injured hand down and cradled it by his chest, hunching his back so each of his white-ridged welts was in plain sight. His unbound hair had fallen to one side of his shoulders, no longer providing his upper back with a cloak for the higher scars. It trailed down his neck and upper chest like a stringy rivulet of blood. Yet it didn’t frighten Dominic. He was alarmed by that fact. It was as though he had become used to associating the younger boy with the color. Lucian could almost make blood look beautiful, appealing.

Looking past the stream of hair, Dominic got a glimpse of Lucian’s arms, taking relief in the fact that the boy’s weeping wrists were still within their bandages. That relief was short-lived as he spied the crumpled mound of bloodstained cloth by one of the redhead’s arms. He had removed the bandages himself. Why?

This vision of the boy on his knees and surrounded by endless shards of glass was familiar to Dominic. He had seen it before, except that back then, that boy’s wrists had been bare and gushing blood. Moreover, the hair had been unevenly short and black, not dark red.

Dominic let out a gasp as the similarities between the two circumstances clashed in his brain.

On signal, Lucian’s head whirled around to him, garnet eyes savage and menacing. They seemed to soften as the boy realized who had sneaked up on him. He didn’t see him as a threat. That would make things a whole lot easier. Instead, Lucian dropped his searing glare and stared at the glass encircling him. He picked up one shard and tossed it to the side.

"Oh, it’s just you," he murmured in a barely audible tone.

Despite his growing concern for his friend, Dominic felt a scathing fury at the apathetic way Lucian had addressed him. "Are you disappointed to see me?" snapped the older youth, temporarily forgetting his decision to tread softly around the other.

"No. I was just startled. I thought I was alone," Lucian responded hesitantly as he started to get up. He looked troubled by the way Dominic was watching him. Dominic guessed that Lucian was embarrassed of his scars since Lucian had never shown himself to be shy.

"Be careful!" barked the other as he watched Lucian kick aside some pieces of glass with his foot so he could stand.

Lucian pressed his hand harder against the cut on his stomach and gave his friend a tired glance, bending down to gather up the gauze and tape he had lying next to the old bandaging. "Go back upstairs, Nicky. I’m fine. I just need to clean up this mess. He moved toward the kitchen, wincing as he stepped past another shard.

But Dominic was not willing to let him leave without getting an explanation. He took off after the other and easily intercepted his path. "Were you crying?" he inquired in a softer tone.

"No," sighed Lucian, pushing against him in attempts to continue on his way.

"You look upset."

There was a muffled growl from his friend and he jerked his head to the side. "Oh do I?" he replied as the sarcastic edge sharpened his words. "What gave me away? Was it the fact that I was covered in glass? Or was it the fact that my hand looks like I let a rabid dog get hold of it? It had to be one of those since pain seems to be the only thing you pay attention to."

"What’s wrong?" Dominic tried again, saddened at hearing the phrases pour from Lucian’s mouth.

His partner was so hard to understand. All day the other boy had been doing everything possible to get him to talk to him again and now that he finally had the chance, he was showing him this sort of hostility. The younger teenager had to know that what he was saying was not the truth. He knew that his earlier insults had hurt Lucian, but he still couldn’t see how they would cause him to become so belligerent. Besides, Lucian had known what he was in for when he had undermined his decisions. He was aware of Dominic’s acerbic pride and understood the consequences for challenging it. If he had been prepared for the inevitable result, then why was he acting so resentful now?

For a second, Lucian appeared to be buying his try at compassion. He brought his face back to him and stared at him with an expression of meditation. Dominic could tell that Lucian was struggling with something that he wanted to say but was unsure of the reaction that it would bring. Those red eyes seemed intent on seeing straight into his thoughts as they bore into him, making him feel uneasy and eager to turn away. He rubbed his arm roughly as he felt an icy chill flow through his blood.

"Just tell me, Lucian," the dark-haired boy ordered in a low voice.

Trembling, the other began to speak. "I...."

Dominic’s amethystine eyes brightened as he gave complete attention to the younger youth. But his look of anticipation seemed to make Lucian lose his nerve as the boy broke off and glanced at the floor. "Nothing. It’s nothing. Go back upstairs."

Slightly annoyed at Lucian for changing his mind, Dominic clenched his fist and growled, "Another nightmare?"

"Yeah. But now I have to go get something to clean up that glass before Tashira comes down and has a nervous breakdown," informed Lucian as he nudged the older boy aside once more.

This time, Dominic decided it was better to let him go. He wasn’t getting anywhere with trying to bully Lucian into talking to him. Maybe he would have more luck if he allowed him to bring it up at his own pace. Of course, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t follow Lucian around and try to get answers out of him that way. He believed that Lucian would have less of a problem opening up to him if he didn’t feel trapped. So he would let him attend to the glass as he wished while he sought out more information.

The other boy entered the kitchen and located a hand broom and dustpan from underneath one of the counters. He shot an irritated scowl at the youth that was still waiting at the edge of the kitchen, resting against another counter. "What is your problem?"

"What were you doing in front of the mirror?"

"Gee, I don’t know. How about looking at myself? Isn’t that what people usually do with mirrors?" the redhead mocked as he slammed the counter door. "And why the hell should I have to explain my actions to you?"

"Why were you there in the first place? You’re bleeding. Did you hurt yourself?" Dominic persisted in a sedate tone.

"Yes! I smashed my damn fist into the mirror! Couldn’t you tell? While I’m at it, I also reopened one of my wounds while I was sleeping. I was using the mirror to help me rewrap it."

"But all your bandages are on the floor. What happened?"

"I got distracted."

Unsatisfied with his answer, Dominic gave him a grave look. "Why did you break the mirror, Lucian?"

"I wanted seven years of bad luck," gibed the other, taking the cleaning materials into one hand and shuffling back to the hall.

He set the dustpan on the carpeted floor and began to sweep the shards into a pile as he kept flexing the bleeding fingers on his other hand. Then Lucian stopped his cleaning efforts and lifted the sore hand to his face. He squinted his eyes and sucked on his knuckles for a minute, hissing in pain. When he opened them again, he saw Dominic kneeling in front of him and throwing the cracked pieces into the pan. He swung his hand away from his mouth and leapt to his feet.

"I told you to go away!"

"Yeah, you did," Dominic noted as he added more shards to the scattered piles in the dustpan.

"You’re still here," grumbled his friend, massaging the tender joints of his hand.

"Uh huh." There was another ring as a lofted piece of glass plowed into the rest.

"What do you want? Go away!"

"You don’t have to worry, Lucian. They’ll heal. Just give them some time. Tashira can’t take care of everything as fast as you may think she can. That’s a lot of work for her there," the older boy explained, lifting his eyes to Lucian.

After observing Lucian for a while, he had come to the conclusion that Lucian was definitely distressed by the damage that had been done to his immaculate figure. He could see why. Even though he had never taken much interest in his appearance, he knew that seeing his body looking like it had been set on by flagellants and wild cats would earn a similar reaction from him. For Lucian, who was unaccustomed to living with scars, it had to be sobering sight. Dominic wanted to make sure he knew that he had nothing to be self-conscious about. He didn’t care what Lucian look like and he doubted if any of the others would either, were they to see. Lucian didn’t need to rely solely on his looks to win people. He also had his bubbling personality and keen wit. The boy would be just fine even if the scars took a while to heal.

Lucian shook his head. "It’s not that."

"Then what is it?"

"It’s not the scars...It’s the...memory. It just won’t go away," the redhead spoke sullenly. "I...Never mind, you wouldn’t understand. No one can."

His companion didn’t know what to say. Lucian seemed so afraid, so lost. What did he mean by nobody could understand? The younger boy knew that he had been beaten as a child. Why wouldn’t Lucian think that he would be able to understand the pain of memories?

Putting aside his questions, Dominic got up from the floor and walked behind Lucian as if he was about to leave. He stopped as Lucian turned his head, regarding him in bewilderment. "You’re wrong. I can understand...all too well. But, now I also understand something else," Dominic whispered, leaning forward. His right arm curved around Lucian’s lower chest, grazing the delicate muscle structure there, and pulled the other boy close to him as he cupped Lucian’s raw knuckles with his left hand. Lucian froze in his hold and gaped at the other. Dominic rested his cheek against the youth’s tangled hair. "One shouldn’t have to deal with pain alone."

Lucian could hardly keep his heart from leaping out of his chest. Dominic was hugging him! He was hugging him and it wasn’t spur of the moment like usual. He knew what he was doing. Dominic was trying to comfort him. Even if he felt that nothing really had a chance of doing that, Dominic’s actions were giving his doubts a fair run for their money. It was hard to despair over one’s existence when one was being held in such a tender embrace. He didn’t want to move for fear of losing this delightful feeling that had fallen over him at the caress of Dominic’s clothed arms against his own naked flesh.

"Do you know who taught me that?" the dark-haired youth breathed into his hair.

"No."

Dominic lifted Lucian’s hand and ran his thumb over his throbbing fingers, wiping off some of the drying blood. "You did."

The grip on his chest eased a bit. Dominic probably thought that he wouldn’t be too comfortable with too much contact right now. He couldn’t be more wrong. For all Lucian cared, he could hug him hard enough to cause bruises. He wasn’t afraid of Dominic’s touch. Dominic was one of the few people in the world that he had ever granted complete trust to. Complete, if one emitted the little fact about him being part demon. But nobody but Tyrell knew about that and he only knew because Tavores had shown him so it didn’t really count.

It didn’t matter right now.

He didn’t want Dominic to be afraid to hold him as tight as he wanted to. This wasn’t bothering him. He had been held in much more violent ways before. No matter how painful Dominic’s embrace was, it felt great. Dominic’s aggression had never frightened him; it had only intrigued him. Why would Dominic think it would be any different now?

"I thought you were angry with me," he uttered, leaning against the older boy.

His friend moved his head away from his hair and drew his arm back. "I am angry with you. I’m furious! You...you’re so brainless sometimes. What you said, it...Look, you were right. When you say things like...when you...Whenever you act like you’re...flirting or whatever they call it, it bothers me."

"I know, but I was just playing."

Still holding his hand, Dominic walked back around so that he was standing in front of him. His expression was deathly serious and his eyes were glazed in grief. "Don’t play. I don’t want you to think of this relationship, the one we have, as anything other than what it really is. A friendship. That’s it. That’s all I want. That’s all it can ever be. Do you understand?" Dominic said grimly.

"Yes," faltered Lucian, silently trying to disregard the candor in Dominic’s tone.

"Good. I’ll take care of this hand and that wound on your stomach so you can go back to sleep. You have school tomorrow. Where did you put the medical supplies you had few minutes ago?"

"They’re on the counter by the fridge."

"Go get them while I finish sweeping this up. I can work with two hands so it’ll be faster if I do it," the other youth suggested.

Nodding his head, Lucian limped off and soon returned with the desired items. Dominic had done a decent job of clearing the floor of glass and was just emptying the dustpan into a trashcan. He caught the roll of tape as Lucian threw it to him and joined the younger boy in journeying to the den. Lucian hopped onto the edge of the armrest and waited for Dominic to approach him. He stuck some gauze on his knuckles while Dominic wrapped the white tape around his hand to secure it. Then Dominic took some gauze from his fingers and applied it to his other injury.

A strained whimper left Lucian as the gauze came in contact with some of his other scars. He saw the worry taking over Dominic’s visage and clenched his teeth, trying to relax despite the tiny ache. Dominic quickly added the tape to the bandaging and pulled back, giving Lucian’s form a thorough examination. As much as he hated to, Lucian turned away so that he didn’t have to see Dominic’s eyes. He didn’t like Dominic looking at him when he was decorated in such grotesque scars. It made him feel ugly. His skin flushed and he gripped the ends of the armrest.

"What’s wrong now?" asked Dominic, changing his scrutinizing gaze to one of gentle concern.

Free from the leering inspection, Lucian turned back around and slumped his shoulders. "I just don’t feel good tonight. Can you stay with me?"

"Downstairs?"

Lucian nodded. "Please."

"Why?" the older boy replied, dropping the unused gauze and tape onto the couch.

"I don’t know. I just don’t want to be alone right now and I don’t want to wake Shira. I’ve put her through enough today."

"I guess I could stay here if it will calm you down. Where are you going to sleep?"

"Couch. Where else?" quipped Lucian as he patted the furniture and gave Dominic a shadow of a grin.

Dominic reluctantly glanced at the couch and frowned. "Which means I...."

"Can take the other side...if you want," the redhead finished for him, noting the adverse expression on the other’s face.

It didn’t make sense for Dominic to oppose the idea to sleep on the couch when they had done it last night. They had been so tired after coming back from Lorelei’s that the trek up the stairs had seemed too arduous to attempt. So they had ended up passing out on the closest thing to them. That had been the couch. He had to admit that it had been a little cramped, but Dominic hadn’t seemed to mind sleeping so close to him then. Maybe he had been too out of it to care.

"The couch is uncomfortable. I don’t know how you can stand to sleep there night after night," griped Dominic.

Lucian couldn’t help but laugh. Dominic wasn’t worried about sleeping with him. He was just grumpy about not getting enough room the other day. The younger boy threw back his head in raucous laughter, falling back onto the couch and knocking off the items that rested on the cushions.

"It’s not funny!" the other youth snarled, placing his hands on the armrest and leaning over Lucian.

"S-Sorry, Nicky. You just sounded so whiny."

"That is a major insult coming from you."

"Don’t kill me, Nicky. I’ll...heh...I’ll stop laughing," pleaded Lucian, still hissing with laughter even through clenched teeth. "You probably only dislike sleeping on the couch because it’s cramped with two people. We could try the floor. There’s a blanket over there," he managed to choke out, pointing to the huge coverlet underneath one of the small table stands.

"We could also try a bed," Dominic muttered.

"I don’t feel like scaling those stairs again. I’m tired," the younger boy whined with dramatic flair, placing his hand on his forehead and leaning back his head slackly.

His friend sighed and walked over to the blanket, yanking it off the floor. "Okay, I’ll sleep on the floor. Anything to make you stop bitching like a little girl."

"I don’t know whether I should feel grateful or offended by that," stated Lucian, rolling off the couch and sauntering over to Dominic.

Before he could grab the coverlet, Dominic pulled it away and gave him a stern look. "Will you be good?"

"Why Nicky, whatever do you mean?" the other cooed innocently.

Actually, he had a perfectly good idea what Dominic meant. This was Dominic’s way of telling him to keep his hands to himself. Dominic wasn’t a touchy-feely kind of guy. He was probably afraid that Lucian would play his infamous seduction games once they were lying down. Dominic was becoming wise to him. Damn.

"No games," warned the older teenager

Whimpering like a scolded puppy, Lucian nodded his understanding and held out his hand. "I get the point. I’ll be a good little boy."

The dark-haired boy shoved the bedding at him then lied down on the carpet and shut his eyes. A minute later, Lucian had planted himself beside him and was pulling the cover over his stretched-out form. He yawned and began to close his eyes, rolling over and instinctively dangling his arm over Dominic’s chest. A fierce violet eye sprang open and rolled back to glare at him. Lucian thought about moving his arm before Dominic did it for him, but then a thought struck him. This was his first chance to test Dominic’s new boundaries. Both his wild side and his inner need for companionship jumped at the idea. He needed to know if Dominic would really push him away.

"Is this stretching the rules?" he whispered in a cautious tone.

He saw Dominic turn his head further into the carpet as the boy’s chest rose and fell in a deliberate fashion. "Don’t try anything else." The answer was gruff and hardly intelligible, but it told Lucian all he needed to know. He smiled and set his forehead on Dominic’s neck.

"I promise. Can you make me a promise, Nicky?"

"What?"

"Don’t follow Angelique tomorrow night."

"Lucian, we discussed this. I don’t care about the risks," argued Dominic, shifting a bit in Lucian’s hold.

"Maybe you don’t, but I do. I told you that I didn’t want you to get hurt. I meant it. I need you, Nicky. I don’t care how many times I have to say it. I do. You’ll get hurt if you go after Angelique. I just know it. You have to trust me on this," Lucian pressed, praying that Dominic would listen to him for once.

"I won’t get hurt," asserted the other, growing very tense.

Lucian tightened his grip, bringing Dominic back to him. "You don’t know that. Not for sure. I don’t want to take the chance. This is way different than just sparring with the Chimera, Nicky. They’re just the hired help. Vincient is the real deal. He could really mess you up if he caught you."

"How come you know so much about him?"

"I just do, okay! Please Nicky, promise me that you won’t follow her."

The tension in Dominic’s body increased and then dissipated after a couple seconds. There was a painful pause and then, "All right, you have my word. I promise I won’t follow Angelique tomorrow."

His companion was dumbfounded to hear his concurring statement. He had been desperately hoping that Dominic would agree to his demands, but he had never truly believed that he actually would. Dominic was beginning to trust him. This was better than he had ever imagined. He gave the other boy an elated one-armed hug and nuzzled the back of his throat.

"Thank you."

Dominic shook slightly at the contact and then bent his head forward, breathing heavily. "Lucian?" he panted.

"Hmm?" responded the other boy with another sleepy yawn.

"About the other day. When you asked me about Aiden. I never gave you my answer."

"Oh? So what is it?" Lucian mumbled, finding it hard to stay awake even if it meant hearing something important.

Slowly, the older youth turned to him with a half-smile. "Yes. You can be him. For now."

"Ouch!" Tashira yelled as she banged her elbow against the tip of the car’s trunk. "This stupid plate won’t come off. Luce, give me a hand!"

"After this coat," her brother replied in a tone that made her feel as if he wasn’t really listening to her.

She could see why. Lucian was too busy applying layer after layer of gloss to the vehicle so that it shone as it would have on the day it was purchased. He had been trying to make the car’s appearance reach its finest level of perfection since three o' clock. Upon coming home from school, he had set to work on it and had only stopped to drag his sister out of her room when he wanted to change the license plate. He had just picked up a new one that afternoon after whining about having to drive his new toy around with a Chimera’s plate on its back. Somehow, he seemed to feel that it should be she to place the new plate, while he pampered the car as if it were a living thing.

Tashira groaned and worked at the stubborn screw on the top on the plate, jabbing the screwdriver as hard as she could against it. It still refused to loosen. Part of her wanted to jump up, snatch Lucian, and force him to take off the wretched plate himself. Then, she remembered how the knuckles on her brother’s right hand had looked that morning when he was placing his books into his bag. The skin had been broken and slashed with some jagged edge. He had trouble curling his fingers enough to hold a writing tool, a screwdriver would be asking far too much of him.

When she had questioned him on it, especially after encountering her favorite mirror in the hallway missing a huge piece of glass from its middle, Lucian had only given her a vague response, muttering something about an accident during the night. It had been quite an accident from the looks of it. She could see how it pained Lucian to flex the fingers on that hand and how he was very careful when picking things up. He had even asked her to drive the car to Carthala, a strange request since she had known how much Lucian liked to show off the vehicle while he was in the driver’s seat. Even stranger was the notion that Lucian wouldn’t let her heal it, saying that he would rather she devote her energy to handling his more pressing wounds such as those that were carved into much of his torso. They were more debilitating to him than an inefficient hand.

The girl had a guess as to why this was. A hand injury, even one as gruesome, as Lucian’s was fairly common while the rest of the wounds on his body weren’t so common. This one time, Lucian was choosing pride over necessity. He wanted to look good again. They had never been in a situation such as this before so Tashira couldn’t really find any fault with her twin’s decision. Had it been she, she was sure that she wouldn’t have focused on a bad hand either.

Clenching her fingers tighter around the handle, Tashira tried to apply more elbow grease to her efforts. After about a minute of excruciating twists and stabs, she had still gotten nowhere with the screw. It was stuck and obviously not coming out unless it was forced out by something much stronger than she was. Lucian was incapable of assisting her due to his injury. That left the only other male resident of the house. As usual, he was nowhere around when the twins had need of him. He had even declined to help with the care of the car, saying that he had more work to finish so that he could start school the next day. Tashira saw it just as his excuse to get out of manual labor. Some tough boys she lived with. One was more content to spend his hours submerged in books, while the other had rendered himself virtually useless in certain areas of vehicular maintenance.

"You know, your dead weight of a partner could really come in handy right now. Why don’t you ask him for some help?" she grunted to her companion as she fought some more with the license plate.

Lucian laughed at her suggestion, giving her a brazen look from his part of the car. "Shira, you should know better by now. You don’t ask Nicky for anything. You have to coerce him into helping you."

"Well, maybe I would have to do that, but I just get the feeling that he would gladly come out here if you asked him," Tashira replied flippantly, leaning against the screwdriver to get better leverage.

"I doubt it. Nicky’s big on the whole self-reliance thing," contested Lucian, rubbing his knuckles for a moment before resuming his glossing details.

"Your hand is pretty messed up, Luce. I think he should understand."

"I’ve pestered him too much already. He needs to study. Let him be," the boy said hurriedly as his face once again left Tashira’s view.

"Already? He hasn’t helped you since bringing you back. He could have at least restrained himself from jerking you around like that yesterday. I think he owes you for that."

"He doesn’t owe me anything, Shira."

His stern tone stopped any other words from leaving Tashira’s mouth. Lucian meant it. He didn’t believe that Dominic owed him anything. Why? Dominic had manhandled him in front of the others and hadn’t even apologized. He had even forced acquiescence from Tyrell, though it clearly couldn’t have been what the younger boy wanted. Lucian deserved compensation for that behavior. Why wouldn’t he insist that Dominic help him?

Dominic’s callousness toward the younger one’s condition had also been shown this morning. The first thing she had seen upon walking downstairs was Dominic sitting on the couch with one of Lucian’s schoolbooks in his lap. Her brother had been rolled up in a blanket on the floor, obviously his relocated sleeping quarters. What really irked her though was the way that Dominic had seemed to be glancing up at the clock at the time of her arrival. He had seen that it was getting late and still had not the curtsey to wake Lucian up. Dominic was so self-absorbed; he couldn’t spare a second for anyone else’s welfare. Still, it had seemed unusual for him to be downstairs when he was studying, especially with the state of his hair. It had been sticking out worse than usual, like he had just crawled out of bed. Her only conclusion was that he had slept on the couch again and had woken up when she had come downstairs.

"Why do you think...." started Tashira as she was cut off by the sound of a car pulling up to their driveway. She threw the screwdriver down on the ground and wiped her hands on her light purple pants. "I swear if that’s that bitch Erik, I’m going to get her to remove this damn thing."

Leaning against the car, Lucian bent back his head to see what his sister was talking about. His eyes widened and he jerked back up, bashing his right hand against the door. He cursed and snatched his fingers as he exclaimed, "Kathy!"

Tashira tried to make herself look presentable, pressing down her rumpled pants and fluffing out her silvery hair. She would have hated to have herself shown up by Kat. The old animosity she felt toward the girl for stealing her brother away so many times was still there, even though Kat had become less of an obstacle lately now that another had indirectly chosen to challenge her claim to Lucian. She felt that there was a certain level of superiority and decorum that she had to present around the younger girl in order to feel in control. Kat’s way of over-riding her sway over Lucian really got on her nerves and she was determined not to let that happen this time.

"What’s she doing here? I don’t recall you mentioning inviting her," she asked as politely as she could manage given her rising pangs of jealousy.

"Don’t know. I didn’t talk to her at school today. Maybe she needs to ask us something for Tye."

The girl kicked at the screwdriver and stared back at the car. "Or maybe she’s just here to see you. She considers herself your girlfriend."

"She is my girlfriend," corrected Lucian with a sharp snap, sending his sister an admonishing look. Then, his eyes grew distant as something caused his mouth to straighten to a narrow line. He exhaled swiftly and turned his head away from her.

"Then go and greet her."

He didn’t answer her as he set the cloth he had been using down on the hood and ambled over to the side of the vehicle that Kat was climbing out of. "Hi Kathy."

"Lucian! How have you been?"

Kat didn’t waste a minute before trapping the boy in a constricting hug. Tashira’s eyes darkened as she watched the braided girl squeeze the life out of her brother in her hyperactive display. Lucian seemed neither pleased at the action nor displeased. He just allowed Kat to embrace him while watching her with what appeared to be guilty eyes.

Somehow sensing his lack of interest, Kat let him go and gazed at him with critiquing sapphire eyes. She slung her strawberry-blond braid over her shoulder and let her arms fall to her stomach as her left hand caught her other wrist. "You don’t look happy to see me," noted the girl, her eyes losing a little of their usual sparkle.

"I have a lot on my mind. That’s all," her companion responded softly, moving past her to shut her car’s door.

"Yes, Tyrell told me. You’re worried about our cousin," stated Kat in a rapid chatter, forgetting the anxiety that had settled around her a few seconds ago.

"Angelique is one of my concerns."

"And the other?"

"That’s a bit more complicated," Lucian mumbled, shifting his eyes from view.

"Well, it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me now. We have so much to discuss already," consented the girl, lifting her shoulders in a nonchalant shrug.

The boy seemed wary as he glanced back at Kat. "We do?"

"Yes," insisted Kat with a furious nod of her head. "Do you think we could go inside? I don’t like discussing this sort of thing out in the open."

"Whatever you want to say to him can be said here," Tashira informed casually, pushing down her urge to yell at the other girl. How dare she try to make her brother keep secrets from her? Lucian was willing to tell her anything. He would never agree to a private discussion. "Right, Luce?" she said, turning to her twin with an expectant smile.

Lucian avoided her eyes and showed Kat a smile of his own. "Sure, Kathy. We can go inside."

His sister felt her jaw drop in disbelief. Lucian took Kat’s arm with his left hand and the two disappeared into the house. Tashira was still livid as she watched one them pull the door shut. Since when was Lucian secretive around her? And with Kat of all people! She had thought that Lucian had lost interest in the girl long ago. He was just going along with the whole dating thing to make her happy. If so, then why had he just ditched her to go talk to Kat? What was her brother thinking?

She grabbed the screwdriver from the ground and drove it into the slit of the screw one last time. "Lucian, you really don’t know what you’re doing anymore," Tashira growled as she wrenched the tool to the side, not even watching what she was doing.

A loud clash of metal shook her as she turned around to check on the plate. It now lay on the pavement, bent along one corner, with a rusty screw rolling along its center. Tashira picked up the plate and sighed. "Figures."

Lucian didn’t have the slightest clue about why Kat wanted to see him. There were so many things she could have wanted to talk about: her brother, Angelique, a date or even the current state of their relationship. That last item was under a mountain of strain. It wasn’t like he had intentionally cheated on her. The night kiss had really been an unexpected thing. He had just been lost in the moment. But what a good moment it had been. As for Dominic’s stealing of a kiss from him the other day, that couldn’t be considered his fault in the least since he had made it obvious to the older boy that he had been joking when he had asked for it. Still, he couldn’t help feeling way more than a little guilty about the way he was treating his girlfriend.

He did care for her. She wasn’t like the other girls, even though she appeared that way to most people. Kat really did have an exceptional knack for devious plots and she did seem to be showing that she was interested in more than just his looks. Very few of his other girlfriends had ever paid attention to anything besides his sex appeal and of course, the actual sex. He supposed that since he and Kat were not actively engaging in anything like that yet that, it was giving a chance for their relationship to build upon emotional terms. That would have been great had he actually felt something for her.

Unfortunately, it was Tavores who felt anything. Tavores was forcing him to love Kat. He understood that now. All of the times he had felt so torn whenever Kat kissed him and his frequent anxiety attacks whenever she was too close all pointed to the fact that Tavores was trying to control his emotions. Tavores couldn’t expect him to fall in love with someone just because he forced an emotional reaction from him every time the girl came around. Even when he had told Kat that he thought he was in love with her, he hadn’t been sure. It wasn’t like he had actually been in love before. Though he had had an abundance of affairs over the years, none of them had ever amounted to anything other than decent sex and a quick call now and then. That was all either party wanted. They weren’t in this for commitment.

Yet, commitment seemed to be the exact thing that Kat desired. It was an impossible dream for her. To date, Lucian had yet to date anyone that he felt he could stay with for a considerable length of time. He just lost interest too quickly. Adventure and excitement fueled his blood and too much of the same old thing always seemed to cause his zeal to fade. Kat was sweet, but not even she had been able to overcome that statistic. Tavores had intended to trick him into making Kat a permanent girlfriend, but now that he knew that it was all Tavores’ malicious dealings, he just wanted to get out of this before he could hurt the girl any further with the ruse. She wanted a boyfriend, not a sporadic lover. It was wrong to deny her the chance to realize her dream.

At the moment, Kat was sitting on a wooden chair that she had taken from the kitchen. He had chosen to seat himself in his favorite computer chair, though it felt odd there, now that the computer was missing. A monitor would have to be added to the list of stuff that he had to buy later. In the meantime, he always had his laptop if computer resources were required. He probably wouldn’t have dwelled on this topic for so long if Kat would have just started speaking. Her silence was making him fear the worse from her conversation as was the way she kept folding and unfolding her hands in her lap.

"Shira will probably come up here and yell at me if I leave her out there too long, Kathy," Lucian uttered, believing that the statement would encourage Kat to hurry up and say something before his nerves imploded inside his skin.

"I’mgoingtobeaKeyagain," blurted Kat in a voice that was almost too rushed for Lucian to catch the words.

"Say what?" the boy yelped, his eyes widening in a way that he had thought impossible up until now.

Kat lowered her head and mumbled, "I said I was...going to be a Key again. I mean, I want to fight like I did before. Like when you first told me...when I first found out that you were a Guardian."

"Kathy, you’re joking right? You’re safer now that you don’t fight. The Chimera never bother you. They only go after Tye."

"Do you think that’s fair to him? Why should he be their target all the time? It is because he is the only Key whom they see as a threat because he can fight. If that’s the case, then why don’t you tell him to stay behind? Tyrell hates fighting. Why should he always get forced into it?" his companion argued as she pushed herself from the chair and stood up, her dark blue eyes blazing. "It is because he is a guy? Erik fights and she is still a girl, whether she looks it or not. And your sister is also of the feminine gender and I still hear Tyrell tell me that she has shown up once in a while."

So she was accusing the Guardians of being sexists now, was she? They weren’t. Besides, it wasn’t them who decided who would fight and who wouldn’t. Those tasks were already designated by Fate. It was just that Kat didn’t seem a fighter. She was even more reckless than he was and in a battle with a Chimera, that foolhardy way of thinking could get a person killed. Kat couldn’t understand real battle. To her, fighting was just another way for her to show everybody up. Things couldn’t work that way. Fighting was not supposed to be an ego trip, it was simply a necessity to ensure the group’s survival.

"I don’t like making Tye fight either, but he has to. It is his destiny," defended Lucian, already sensing the weak points in his argument.

"And the other Key has no purpose?"

"I don’t know. The Chimera don’t seem to care about you so maybe nobody is sure about your purpose."

"I don’t believe that! Fate does things for a reason. I was not granted the garnet Shard just so I could play sidekick to Tyrell until you people arrived. I have a purpose. I know I do. And the only way I’m going to discover it is to fight with the rest of you."

Her arguments were lucid and true. He didn’t know what to do. Kat couldn’t fight. There was no way he could let her. It was hard enough keeping an eye on Tyrell and the boy did his best to stay out of trouble. His much livelier sister would surely provide more grief for the Guardians were she to become an opposition to the Chimera once more. Though there were times when the Guardians had appeared to have needed another fighter, the risk was still too great for Kat. This wasn’t even truly her fight. She wasn’t an Alistar like her twin. If she did have some purpose that had yet to be revealed, it was better to keep her safe behind the sidelines until that purpose was made clear.

"You’re not like Tye, Kathy," the boy explained, forcing his shaky eyes to connect with Kat’s resentful gaze. "Tyrell has something in him that he doesn’t even understand. He was meant to fight. He may hate it and rebel against it with all his being, but that gladiator spirit is still there. Fighting allows Tyrell to show the world that he is not the effeminate boy he appears to be. Somewhere deep inside him lies the urge to rebel against the conventional world. He wants unconformity. He wants to escape reality. Why do you think he would choose something like Maren, who is his polar opposite, for a best friend? Yes, your brother detests conflict, Kathy, but he also knows that fighting is his only way to prove himself to those around him. It’s a vicious cycle, but that’s life. Tyrell is forced to embrace the thing he hates. Such a thing is not required of those like you."

The girl seemed to bristle as she paced in front of his chair. "I am not weak, Lucian. I am not just another girl. I have power in me too. I am a Key!"

"But you don’t need to fight. Why would you want to?"

A look of despair crossed Kat’s eyes and she fell to her knees, resting her hands in Lucian’s lap. "I too need to prove something to myself. I need to know that I deserve the power I was given. I don’t want to think it was just some fluke. I need to believe I have a purpose. Faith is one thing, but truth is even better," she answered wistfully.

Warning Tavores not to pull anything, Lucian reached down and lifted Kat’s chin with his thumb. "I believe you deserve your gift, Kathy. I also know you deserve it. You are a special girl," assured the older youth, smiling warmly at the other.

"Then why won’t you let me fight with you?" Kat demanded, clutching his hand and staring into his eyes.

"I don’t want you to get hurt. You mean a lot to me," answered Lucian through a partially breaking voice.

It was true. Kat did mean a lot to him. All his friends did in their own way. If he could have made it so that they didn’t have to fight either, he would have. Pure Tyrell didn’t deserve this, nor did his clever sister, or the bitter Erik, or even his cursed partner. It would be great if he could protect them from their fate. But since that action was beyond his reach, all he could do was protect this one last innocent. Kat didn’t have to fight. She shouldn’t be forced into this if it was at all possible.

"I mean a lot to you? What about the others who mean something to you? I’ll let your sister slide because she would of course want to be by your side and I’ll even forget about Tyrell since you claim he has an ulterior motive. But what about the eldest Guardian? What about Dominic? You seem to care about him. He is your friend, right? Yet, you don’t try to stop him from risking his life," the girl challenged, taking her hands away from his. "Why?"

Ow! She was good. Kat knew just where to attack to reap the most damage. He never would have thought that she would be able to retaliate so strongly. No, Kat wasn’t like other girls at all.

He pushed his back against the chair, trying to get far away from those imperious eyes. "Nicky is a Guardian. I couldn’t force him away from his task if I wanted to. It means more to him than anything else in the world. He promised someone that he would protect the Keys. Breaking that promise would be worse than death for him."

"That’s not it. You trust him more than you do me. You have no problem with him fighting by your side because your respect him and have faith in his strength."

"Don’t be like that, Kathy. I respect you," claimed Lucian.

"It’s not the same," Kat debated, closing her eyes as she stood up.

"Why do you say that?"

Kat paused and then threw herself against the older teenager, bringing her arms around his neck and half-climbing onto the chair. It was lucky that the chair was braced against the computer desk otherwise, Lucian was positive that they would have tipped over. He opened his mouth to speak but Kat stilled him by pressing a finger against his lips. "No need for words, Lucian," she whispered as her eyes lidded and she lifted a thick strand of crimson from his ear. The girl leaned close enough to the ear for Lucian to feel her relaxed breathing against the flesh and then she added, "If you truly want to show me that it is the same, then show me the look that you so often so Dominic. I bet you thought that I never noticed how you look at him when you’re not fighting, especially at school. For once, I want to see that gentle trust and know that it is for me."

For a second, Lucian considered the prospect of Kat being jealous. But her tone was not that of jealousy, it was more of yearning and speculation. She had seen the way he seemed to give all of himself to his partner when he was around and wanted to know why he never showed her the same sort of devotion. Her reasoning rested on the fact that he granted more respect to Dominic than he did to her. In a way, she was jealous. Only she wasn’t jealous of the affection he was showing, she was jealous of the attention he was showing the other. Kat must have thought that he simply looked up to the older boy and idolized him. It wasn’t too far from the truth. All she had failed to notice was the depth of that hero-worship. It was much more than mere idolization.

When Kat pulled her head back to receive his answer, Lucian attempted to bring his eyes to hers. He averted them in less than a second. "Kathy, I..."

< Love you,> prodded Tavores from within his conscience.

Rankled by the intervention, Lucian pressed his mouth closed and turned his head completely away from the girl. Tavores was not going to control him anymore. His life was his own! If he ever fell for anyone, it was going to be due to his feelings, not some lovesick prince. Tavores was just going to have to accept this.

"I c-can’t," Lucian stammered, knowing that Tavores would pick up on the double meaning of his words. "It’s hard to explain. Things are just different between you and him."

"Such as?" asked his girlfriend, blinking at him in wonder.

"It’s...complicated."

Instantly, Kat scrambled off him and leapt to her feet, crushing her arms to her chest. "I knew it! You don’t have faith in me! You’ll never see me as anything other than just Tyrell’s sister, another one of your hapless girlfriends!"

Hating how he had made the other youth feel, Lucian got out of his chair and placed his hands on her shoulders, shaking his head frantically. "No, it’s not like that, Kathy! It’s...It’s...."

His companion grabbed his wrists and held him away from her. "It’s what, Lucian? Tell me! Tell me so I can fix it. I want to feel like I’m just as important as your partner. I don’t want to be second to Dominic. I want you to see me as an equal."

"There’s nothing to fix. Nicky…he’s...he’s...my partner. We look out for each other. I can count on him when the chips are down. I can depend on him."

"Then, I guess I am just another pretty girl to you. Just another shallow princess for you to woo and then forget about the next week. Is that how it is?"

"No! That’s NOT how it is. You’re much more than that. I think you’re a fiery, independent, and astonishingly clever girl. You don’t let people push you around and you stand up for what you believe in. That makes you a very unique person. That’s why you’re one of my best friends."

Kat’s sapphire eyes dulled. It was as if someone had taken the priceless blue gems and stripped them of their entire luster so that every blemish in the color stood out against the whites of her eyes. Every tremble running though them brought the presence of heart-broken tears and chipped away more of the glossy sheen. Shutting her eyes before the tears could spill over her eyelids, Kat yanked Lucian back to her and rested her head under the crook of his neck.

"I’m supposed to be more than just your best friend, Lucian. I’m supposed to be your girlfriend. Or are we even that anymore? Do you even see me as your girlfriend?" she cried as the tears ran under his shirt.

Lucian pulled his wrist away and touched her hair softly, unsure if he should drop the caress to her face. He didn’t like seeing her cry, but there was nothing he could do. It wasn’t like he could just take back what he had said. That would be lying. Kat didn’t need to be lied to anymore. He didn’t know what to say to comfort girl so he settled for not saying anything as he brought his cheek against hers.

She continued to sob, grabbing his shoulder and squeezing it hard enough to pinch the skin. "You said you loved me. Was that even true?" The boy tried to lift her off him but she clung to him tenaciously, almost screaming this time. "Was it true!?"

"Kathy, it’s not what you think. I didn’t mean for this to happen."

"Just answer the question! Do you love me, Lucian?"

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