Page 31 of Resurrection
“Since you’re my Focus, it should be near impossible to manipulate your mind and give you pleasure that way. And without physical desire, or at least dreams to cloud your mind a little, it would hurt. A bite that deep is rarely pleasant. Though the lines between pleasure and pain can be blurred if done right,” Gabe said. “When I have you beneath my fangs, it will be pleasure I give you, not pain.”
When. Seiran thought maybe he wasn’t wrong. It wouldn’t be an if, but a when. They were bound after all. Until true death do them part. Would he rather be bound to someone he hated forever? Was at constant war with? Or a place to find warmth and refuge? He sighed, thinking it was all too much for a man as cynical and tainted as he’d become over the years. Trust had always been hard-won. And Gabe had stomped on that trust years ago.
“I need to go upstairs and question witnesses,” Seiran said after a minute. The golem sat still as stone in the chair in Seiran’s office. The wards of the space seemed to help keep it still. Or maybe that was part of Gabe’s power. “I’m not sure you should stay here by yourself? Maybe I should call you a cab and send you back to Max?”
Seiran had already sent Sam a long list of questions, along with the three dead vampire files he could tie to the golem. He hadn’t heard back, but suspected Sam was sleeping as he often did in the middle of the day like this. It made him wonder if Gabe should be resting, even if he didn’t appear tired or pulled by the weight of the daylight. Would lack of sleep make his control worse? Why did Seiran feel so lost when he’d spent more than the last decade studying vampires?
Gabe stood slowly, as though afraid he’d spook Seiran, and set the ice pack on the desk. “I’d rather remain close to you.”
“Why? Is it a blood thing?” Everything with vampires was about blood. That much he’d learned years ago. In fact, a lot of the darker edges of magic that Seiran had been investigating seemed to be about blood. He’d often wondered if it was its own branch of magic. An element unto itself, like earth or water, but hadn’t found anyone willing to discuss it with him. At the moment he had to keep himself from remembering the many times he’d fed Gabe in the past, almost all of which had been during sex. Seiran’s control was good, but to keep from getting hard if he thought too much about the past? That seemed impossible.
“A little,” Gabe agreed. “Though I am drawn to you. Like being close tickles my memory.”
“But you don’t remember me specifically,” Seiran clarified.
Gabe swallowed hard; gaze focused on Seiran’s lips. “I remember tiny things.”
Had the kiss jogged something loose? It hadn’t been much of a kiss really. Not even worth getting upset over. Seiran held his computer and the files to his chest as a shield, reminding himself he didn’t need all the answers right now. Not for this at least.
“Right, then, let’s go upstairs. Forest, come,” Seiran said as he headed for the door. The golem got up and followed along, moving so suddenly from complete stillness that the workers jumped back. They probably hadn’t thought it was a living thing, since the golem didn’t move or breathe for so long. “Sorry,” Seiran apologized to them. “We’ll leave you to your work.”
Gabe and Forest followed Seiran out of the lower level and back up to the main level. All the warded interrogation rooms were on the main level. But interrogation was used by every department, and often got overlaid with the idea of torture when it came to witches going rogue. Seiran hated the feel of the rooms. The strong cast of nullifying magic dampening the spaces. He could still pull magic, but it broke the null cast, and since a person had to die to create that magic, he tried not to fuck with those rooms unless he absolutely had to.
Director Han was in the hall outside of the main stretch of interrogation rooms talking with another older woman. When she saw Seiran, she turned his way, the disapproval clear on her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but Seiran held up a hand. “Don’t even. You know you overstepped. This is my investigation and an MI case.”
If a glare could kill, he’d have dropped dead right there. She finally said, “I’ve assured Ms. Weatherford, that this is just a formality.” She motioned to the woman beside her.
Seiran turned his attention to her, and beyond her to the window into the room, where a young man sat. Weatherford would be Kevin Weatherford, age twenty-one, a student majoring in computer science at the UofM. “He’s old enough to not need his mother,” he paused assessing the woman, “Or grandmother present for questioning.” He passed them both without acknowledging them and opened the door to the room. Both women erupted in a squawking protest that he ignored. Gabe and Forest followed him inside the room, but Gabe stayed near the door, his back to it like a guard.
Seiran pulled out a chair and directed Forest to it. At the sound of the name, Kevin looked up, examining the golem. Seiran set his stuff on the table and opened the file with his notes and the previous interview. Kevin was young, not a jock type as Seiran had expected. At least not unless his workouts involved video games. He was thin, and lanky, but didn’t come across as physically strong like Sam’s boyfriend, Constantine did. Kevin looked like the sort of guy who lived in his parent’s basement playing video games all day while complaining no one would date him. Maybe that was why he’d been in one of the non-magic dorms. Shoved out by a family annoyed with his lack of motivation for life.
“It looks better,” Kevin said. “Was coming apart for a while.”
“It was,” Seiran agreed. He pulled another chair over and sat down, giving himself a minute to adjust to the weird absence of power the room provided. He wondered if it would trouble the golem or the vampire, but neither seemed affected by the nullification. “How long had you had the golem before it started to unravel?” Seiran began, trying to gauge how much he’d get from the student before he clammed up.
“A couple weeks,” Kevin said. “Will this take long? I’m missing class to be here. Already answered questions today.”
“But you were using the golem to go to class for you,” Seiran reminded him. As he had accounts from this student’s teachers about the golem. Weird behavior from this student in class; inhumane, one teacher had reported. It was one of the things that had led Seiran to the dorm. “Doesn’t seem like you care all that much about classes.”
Kevin folded his arms across his chest and sat back, looking annoyed, and entitled. Was it sad that Seiran hated witches when he was one?
“Perhaps you’re misinformed about why you’re here,” Seiran began. “You’re currently being held for suspicion of death magic, which as you know carries a death sentence. This is not a simplewe ask you questions and you get to go home, scenario.” Seiran could sense the movement from outside the room, a burst of heat and rage, like he was overstepping. But he had no intention of letting this kid walk out. Kevin and his friends had let the golem run free and injure a half dozen people. Even if they didn’t make it, they hadn’t reported it, even when it began to unravel. That was at minimum a reckless attempt at homicide.
Kevin paled. “I didn’t make it,” he said hotly. “I’ve already told them that. I’ve already answered questions.”
“Not for me,” Seiran said. “I am the head of Magic Investigations.” He raised a brow, wondering if the kid had heard of him at all. His aunt had quite the reputation of being ruthless over the years before she had retired. He didn’t think he’d cultivated the same intensity. But part of that was because very few people saw him as really having power among the Dominion. He was, after all, a lowly male when it came to the matriarchy of magic. “I am also the Pillar of Earth. You may call me, Director Rou.”
Kevin seemed unimpressed.
Seiran had to hold back his sigh. There was no respect for pillars anymore. He wondered if that was because of him, or the many figureheads that had held the position before him. He pointed at the golem. “Did you know golems can only be created from death magic?”
“Death magic isn’t a thing. It’s just part of earth. The golem is a bunch of sticks and clay, and a handful of spells. We didn’t think it was a big deal,” Kevin began talking.
“You’ve taken some basic magic studies classes then?”
“It’s required for all witch families.”
“Have you tested?” Seiran wanted to know. He could reach out and feel the power of any witch, even in a nullified room like this, but he made it a habit to not touch suspects.