Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:19:44 -0600
From: Katya_Dee <concertoind@gmail.com>
Subject: Debts, chapter 21

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction; all the resemblances are just
eerie coincidences. Everything in the story is owned by myself beloved,
everything is copyrighted. Contains descriptive sexual scenes between males
- don't read it if you shouldn't.

Note: This is a 3rd installment in the semi-series. The first story is
Specter's
Gamble </nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/specters-gamble/> and
the second one is The Year of the
Salamander </nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/year-of-the-salamander/>

I would recommend reading those first (at least Specter's Gamble)
otherwise, some scenes and characters are not going to make much sense,
since you wouldn't be familiar with the background and I didn't describe
much of the previous events in this story. Other than that, enjoy! Feel
free to e-mail me.

****


- XXI -

   Desmond stood by the back of the couch, watching Salamander explaining
Gabriel what he wanted him to do. Desmond didn't really care; all he knew
was that it had something to do with magic streams. Finally, Gabriel nodded
rather stiffly, and then both of them half-closed their eyes in the eerily
identical manner. Desmond watched them with mild interest, noting the fact
that they both stood completely still. Suddenly, Raven stirred on the couch,
and said without opening his eyes:

   "I am fine... You can stop now; I am fine..."

   Both men opened their eyes and stared at him. Raven slowly peeled his
eyes open as well and gave them a weak smile.

   "I have no idea what the hell it was..." he muttered. "Probably the
aftermath... I am fine now though..."

   "Raven..." Gabriel started saying slowly when the blond interrupted him.

   "That's not Raven," he said quietly without looking away from the
dark-haired man.

   Desmond blinked at that, as did Gabriel. Raven slowly turned his head to
look at the blond. He studied him seriously for about a minute, and then his
mouth stretched in a very slow smile.

   "I am impressed," he nodded. "Figured it out right away... You *do *know
him better than I thought!"

   "Magda..." Julian said in the same quiet voice.

   "You know my name!" The dark-haired man nodded once again. "Now I am
downright flattered...!"

   "I thought you can't control magic..." blond's eyes were very dark right
now. The man on the couch smiled somewhat smugly.

   "Well," he shrugged. "What can I say... I am a fast learner...!"

   "She can't," Gabriel interrupted him and frowned. "It's a `she,' right?"
he looked at the blond, who nodded slowly. "She can't," Gabriel repeated.
"She is channeling; that's not magic... You don't have to be able to do
anything in order to channel."

   Raven's eyes immediately narrowed.

   "Well, aren't you the smart one..." he muttered with annoyance. "Calling
my bluff...!"

   He looked at Rayhe more intently, then let out a low `Hmmm...' and slowly
shifted his gaze towards Desmond. His eyes immediately became even narrower
than before.

   "You...!" he hissed with dark hatred. "You are the one who ruined my
plan! Goddammit! I am finally able to attune the goddamn mirror; I am maybe
an hour away from the absolute completion... An hour at the most," he added
with a furious nod. "I am thinking all right, almost time to celebrate, and
what happens...? Both of my guys are knocked out cold by some asshole with
long black hair and ridiculously green eyes...! Do you have any idea how
frustrated I was on Sunday?"

   Desmond let out a very small smile.

   "I aim to please," he muttered, and Raven (Magda) snorted impatiently.

   "Asshole," the man repeated darkly. "Anyway," he looked at Julian again.
"I am too close to my goal now, and I am not going to stop. Now, before you
start calling your goons," he tilted his head to the right just a bit. "Let
me warn you that the minute I suspect that something is off, this body right
here..." he tapped his own chest with his finger. "Is going to expire," he
nodded slightly. "I am not bluffing this time," he shot a dark look at
Gabriel. "Yes, usually you would have to be able to control the streams to
do that, but not in my case..." He shrugged. "See, Raven here..." he stroked
his own cheek lightly. "Shares my blood now... A lot of it," he nodded
again. "I did it because of the ritual and attuning, but even though that
didn't go as I planned..." He shot another hateful look at Desmond. "It has
some really awesome perks. Like, channeling, for example... Makes it a hell
of a lot easier... Also," here he smiled. "Killing from the distance becomes
merely a child's game...! Believe me when I say it, I'll kill him if
something seems even remotely off, okay? Therefore, here is the deal," he
nodded again.

   Desmond glanced at Julian; the blond stared at the dark-haired man on the
couch without blinking.

   "I want that goddamn rock," the man was saying meanwhile. "You can have
your thief back, I don't care anymore; you can fuck his brains out for as
long as you both shall live, have fun! But I want the rock, and I want it in
two days, counting today – that's how long I am willing to give you," he
nodded yet again. "If I don't have the damn thing by then, you can kiss your
little mate goodbye... Literally," he added in a few seconds. "I am going to
log off now, in a manner of speaking, because even though the channeling is
not as difficult as it would usually be, it is still rather draining. Don't
worry," he waved his hand somewhat lazily. "You'll get your thief back after
I am gone... And no, I am not going to spy on you two while you screwing
each other's brains out..." he yawned. "I am not much into male-on-male
action..."

   "You are lying," Desmond said quietly, and the yawn immediately stopped.
"You are lying," Desmond repeated after the dark-haired man stared at him
with disbelieving hatred. He frowned slightly. "About everything..." he
nodded slowly. "You are not going to leave him alone even after you get the
rock..."

   "That's for me to know and for you to find out," the man hissed without
even a shadow of a smirk this time. "Two days!" he shot a quick glance at
Julian. "Bye-bye now!"

   Suddenly, Raven's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed onto the couch
cushions, unconscious once again.

   "Well, shit," Desmond said very thoughtfully.



****



   "He is a thief?" Gabriel asked after several very long minutes of heavy
silence.

   "Yes," the blond replied shortly.

   "I knew that he was some sort of a criminal," Gabriel muttered, looking
at Desmond. "Didn't I tell you that?"

   "Shut up, Rayhe," Desmond said automatically, thinking about something.

   Julian pulled a phone out of his pocket and impatiently flipped it open.
He punched in the number and waited for an answer, tapping some bizarre
rhythm on Raven's knee with his fingers.

   "Anthony!" he said sharply after a minute. "I need you to get into my
office, the one on the Main Street... Yes, that one," he nodded
mechanically. "I will make sure they will let you in," he nodded again after
a few seconds. "I need you to get a dark-green rock from the safe in there,
get on the plane, and fly to the address I will give you in a minute... Yes,
there is a combination on the lock. Do you have a pen? All right, the
combination is..."

   Sudden ringing of the phone made Desmond blink. He pulled it out of his
pocket, pressed it against his ear, and walked into the kitchen.

   "Hello..." he muttered and opened the cupboard, reaching for the mugs.
Suddenly, he froze in his place, forgetting about the mugs. "No!" he said
sharply, and Gabriel, who followed him, gave him a questioning look. "No!"
Desmond repeated with more desperation this time. "Kid, do not come over...!
I am not joking!"

   Gabriel closed his eyes.

   "Kid, I am dead serious!" Desmond continued. "Yeah, yeah, that's it!" he
said quickly. "Wild, unrestricted sex, right now, and you are interrupting,
okay? Sam, seriously, do not come over! Umm, I'll call you, how's that...?
Yeah, well..." he hemmed. "You don't know Rayhe's stamina... But seriously,
kid... Okay, thanks...!"

   He slowly shut his phone and looked at Gabriel.

   "Please tell me, he is *not *coming over," Gabriel said quietly and
opened his eyes.

   "I hope he doesn't," Desmond muttered and rubbed his temples.
"Goddammit..."

   "...his name is Anthony Dane," Julian was saying in the living room. "Let
him in and do not disturb him, understood?"

   Desmond sighed and grabbed two mugs from the shelf.

   "So much for him getting the hell out," he muttered while filling those
mugs with coffee. "Hold on..." he said slowly and handed one mug to Gabriel.
"If whoever was channeling is unable to use magic, then how do you explain
the fact that he is unconscious...? Plus, Salamander was certain that magic
was involved..."

   "Oh," Gabriel sighed. "That's because it seemed very similar... To me as
well," he nodded and drank some coffee. "If they share the same blood, it is
much easier to inflict something on him and make it look like magic... Not
much different from channeling," he nodded. "Plus, if they are attuned to
the same object, as it seems they are, then it becomes even easier."

   Desmond became thoughtful again, noting the fact that the blond wasn't
talking on the phone anymore.

   "What are you thinking about...?" Gabriel started asking when suddenly,
there was someone's rather loud voice:

   "Desmond...? Gabriel!"

   Both men stared at each other for a few seconds with identically huge
eyes. Then they said, "Fuck!" at the same time, and rushed into the living
room. They both came to a screeching halt when they saw a slim young man
standing by the couch. The man had dirty-blond hair, fair, slightly freckled
skin, and dark-blue eyes. Those eyes were perfectly round right now, and
they stared at the blond without blinking, reflecting disbelief, terror, and
pure hatred.

   "Hello, Samuel," Julian said in his quiet, purring manner without getting
up. He was kneeling by the couch again. "I was wondering what happened to
you..." He cocked his head slightly to the left. "Now I see... You look
well," he nodded slightly without even a shadow of a smile.

   The young man kept staring at him without saying anything or even moving.

   "Sam..." Gabriel called quietly, and the man blinked and turned his head
slowly to look at him.

   "I told you not to come over, kid..." Desmond said desperately.

   Sam kept staring at both of them without saying a single word.

   "I am not here for either one of you," Julian said, and Sam slowly turned
his head towards him. "As a matter of fact, I gave my word to your..." the
blond glanced at Desmond and Rayhe. "...friends that I am not going to..."

   "Go to hell!" Sam interrupted him in a quiet, ringing with hatred voice.

   He turned around without saying anything else and walked outside,
slamming the door after him.

   "Shit!" Desmond hissed and shoved his coffee mug into Rayhe's hand.
"Sam!" he ran after the young man. "Sam!" he called again when he was
outside.

   Sam ignored him and got into his car.

   "Kid, wait...! Sam, wait...!" Desmond ran to the car and slammed both of
his hands onto the passenger's window. "Sam...!"

   Sam threw the car in gear and drove off with a squeal of tires without
looking at Desmond.

   "Shit..." Desmond squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds. "Shit..." he
repeated in a softer voice and opened his eyes. He took a deep breath and
slowly went back into the house.

   Gabriel was still holding both mugs, his expression tortured. He gave
Desmond a silent, questioning look.

   "He took off like bat out of hell," Desmond muttered and took his mug
from Gabriel's grasp.

   "Can you blame him?" Rayhe asked quietly, and Desmond shot a quick glance
at Julian, who wasn't paying attention to either one of them; he was
whispering something into Raven's ear.

   "No," the black-haired man answered slowly. "Not really..."

   "Do you think he is going to get out of here anytime soon?" Gabriel asked
in a low voice.

   "No idea," Desmond said tiredly and glanced at the blond again.

   Suddenly, Raven shifted on the couch slightly, moaned, and opened his
eyes.

   "Fucking hell..." he muttered, and Julian narrowed his eyes for a few
seconds.

   "It's you..." he said finally and planted a kiss on Raven's mouth.

   "This is unreal..." Desmond muttered, watching the blond caress the
smaller man's mouth slowly. "Oh, hell, no...!" he said louder when Raven's
hands started making their way under blond's shirt, trying to tug it open.
"You are not fucking on my couch...! You can give me all the nasty looks you
want," he nodded firmly after Salamander shot him a very dark look. "But you
are *not *fucking on my couch!"

   The blond let out an exasperated sigh and stood up. He wrote something on
the piece of paper and handed it to Gabriel.

   "This is where I will be staying," he said. "Give it to Anthony when he
shows up; it will be a few hours."

   Desmond sighed with relief.

   "Finally!" he muttered. "By the way..." he added somewhat unwillingly
when Julian was pulling Raven up on his feet. "I have an idea on how to get
you out of this mess," he looked at the dark-haired man. "I don't know if it
will work or not though. If it works, great...!" he nodded and drank his
coffee. "If it doesn't..." he shrugged. "I don't want to be held
responsible," he finished with another slight nod.

   "What is it?" Julian's arm wrapped around Raven's shoulders in possessive
fashion. "You will not be held responsible," he said when he caught
Desmond's look.

   The green-eyed man sighed with `I-can't-believe-I-am-doing-this' look on
his face, and then he started talking.

****

A little of shameless self-advertising. You can find all of my stories
(including
Debts) here <http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=3895328>