Taste a Thousand Deaths (Marionettes of Myth #3)

Chapter Seven

Saturday morning, Tian showed up with a backpack of everything he owned and his bike and helmet. We hadn't seen much of him since the hospital, when he had made sure to leave a vase of pink tulips in my and Jason's hospital room window. But, we'd made sure he knew how to find us. After helping everyone locate Amon and Ares in the city, the least we could have done was to make sure he had a place with us, if ever he needed it.

With all of us perched in chairs at the kitchen table, with all of us to bear witness, he explained, "The voices of the devils are loud, but I've been praying louder."

It was a good thing Zia hadn't joined us that morning. I could just hear the groan of absolute torture she'd have at that.

He continued. "And God has told me the Coalition is not a place for me anymore. I'll be sixteen in May, and I understand I need to pick a path for myself, and the Coalition is no longer the right path."

Jason, slouched over the table with his head in his hand and his black hair askew from another restless night, rolled his eyes. Rajy had told us that newly changed vampires often clung to old habits from when they were humans, a natural coping instinct. For Jason, that meant cereal every morning, even though his body absorbed none of it. Today's choice looked like miniature cookies, turning the milk beige, but he lost all appetite with Tian's beaming rays of light in his face.

Nekane wrapped an arm around Tian's shoulders. I was honestly shocked when he didn't react in any way except to look at her as she touched her head to his and said, "Tian, sweetheart, you don't need to worry about your path quite yet. You've a long life of different paths to take, and even if you take one wrong route, I'm sure you'll end up where you need to be."

His slanted eyes widened. Pink spread to his cheeks and he dropped his gaze to his lap. "Oh. Er. Um. Thank you...Nekane. I appreciate your wisdom."

She swelled with a thousand watts of affection, dark eyes twinkling—and then she looked to Yuuhi, for some reason, with a face of, 'Can we keep him forever?'

I crossed my arms atop the table. "Tian, do you need a place to stay?"

His eyes widened even more. "O-O-O-Oh, no, Kali, that's—"

Toivo shrugged his big shoulders. "Tian, you've done a lot for us already. I don't care if you think you were acting under God's will. I highly doubt we would have made it to Amon and Ares in time otherwise."

Carmi's arms slithered across the table as he hissed, "And then I can debate you properly."

A little smile pinched Tian's cheeks, so innocent and disarming. "You'll lose, Carmi."

The most indignant of all indignant gasps swelled in Carmi's chest and a rod sailed through his spine. Jason and Yuuhi both collapsed into their own laughs as Toivo landed the gavel of his fist on the table. "It is law."

I warned Tian of the arrest warrants and the likely siege in the house's future. Tian nodded gravely, combing his fingers through his closely-cropped black hair, and said he'd set up protection around the house come Sunday night.

I wasn't sure what 'protection' entailed. None of us did, but he seemed pretty certain about it.

Carmi volunteered to show him to one of the still mostly unfurnished guest rooms so he could initiate stage one of his debate. Tian accepted the challenge with practiced stride and they talked all the way upstairs.