Fifty eight

"May I ask why you are visiting?" Arielle asked as she brought a cup of black coffee for David. "It has been such a long time Master David and I have an inkling you are here for something dire."

"I won't deny it," David replied, taking in the nostalgia of the manor. It was a vastness of paintings, mahogany, and marble but it didn't feel like home. Despite the fireplace burning red hot with coal, the house felt cold. It was devoid of love and the only emotions David could sense from the property he now owned were disappointment and dysphoria. "There are dire situations."

"And would you care to share them with me?" The sprite probed. Usually, David would be wary to divulge information like that to anyone. Telling the wrong person could lead to another war between every supernatural faction and David wanted to avoid that as much as possible. But Arielle was someone he could trust. She was of Fae origins and that meant the fights of this realm were not meant for her. When trouble came close, she could jump into her homeworld if she deemed fit but it wasn't like sprites like herself weren't prone to violence. Being bound to the Blossom manor meant Arielle was not at liberty to break the terms of the contract she signed with the Blossom household, the same contract that would end the moment David breathed his last. Her job was to protect the Blossom manor from intruders making her a pseudo guardian of some sort and over the years, Arielle had done a good job making sure greedy hands never reached one of the family heirlooms.

"Candice has defied death and it scares me knowing she is treading on dangerous waters. She currently resides in the body of Alpha Jason's mate."

"The human?" Arielle chipped in. "I see your sister hasn't let go of her spitfire ways. So what do you intend to do? Are you going to find her a body or attempt to exorcise her?" David's body tensed as she finished her sentence. His silence was deafening. To the ordinary eye, he would seem like a monster for not doing everything in his power to bring his sister back. He was the one trying to go send her back to whatever hell she slipped away from after all. But Arielle was no human who would let emotions get the better of her. She understood David's point of view so she let the topic die. Noticing how guilty David looked, Arielle rested a comforting hand on his shoulder and said. "Don't doubt yourself. Doing what is morally right sometimes hurts especially when it might affect someone you truly care about negatively but you have to remember that you are doing this for the greater good. Even I can tell her reappearance will upset some balance."

"I just don't understand her." David sighed. "Matter of fact, I never think I will. Her obsession with power. Where did it come from? We grew up together but somehow she has always remained a stranger. You know, today, I bumped into a guy whose parents might have been murdered by my dearest elder sister. You should have seen the way he looked at me. He saw me no different from a festering infection and it hurt."

"Your sister's obsession with power was borne from trying to earn your father's respect," Arielle revealed. "You might not have noticed it but your father has always held you in higher regard and it made your sister jealous. No matter how hard Candice tried, she could never meet your father's expectations. He always expected more from you and even when you weren't the one to give it to him, your old man would never turn Candice's way. If you want someone to blame for how fucked up Candice turned out to be, your father is to blame. It's almost a miracle you didn't turn out anything like him or worse." Arielle had a point. As children, David remembered Candice putting herself in a danger one time too many just to get their father to acknowledge that she was brave or knowledgeable. A particular occurrence that involved a malevolent wish-granting spirit came to mind. David snapped out of his internal monologue when Arielle walked past him. "Make yourself at home," She told him as she disappeared into the kitchen. "I have some brownies in the oven."

Once Arielle was out of sight, David made his way to the family library. The old library was a few tall walls of ancient volumes, though mostly they sat as some sort of decoration to set an eerie tone of the larger part of the manor. David walked past spine to spine of several books looking for the right topic. A book titled ọrọ ti ejo which roughly translated to the text of serpents. The skin of the book was made from rainbow-like scales and it looked old which meant it had been used numerous times. Following his guts, David pulled the book out and flipped it open. He noticed there were bookmarks placed within and out of curiosity, David peeked through. The first bookmarked page talked about the beautiful daughter of God pan and her children, the noble gods. There were scribbles David couldn't make out but he did notice something about the letterings. They belonged to his sister. His eyes drifted to an illustration on the second page and the picture that flashed back at David made his guts clench. It was the skull of a stag. One of the seven relics. David staggered for a seat before tearing away at the second bookmarked page. The second illustration showed a sketch of the trickster god. A kitsune with ten tails. There were scribblings next to the picture. David ran a finger through the letterings as he read the words he made out aloud. "Chase and Tora Tomoya." David's face tensed as he meditated on the names. That could only mean that Candice had found two relics. Could they have been Satake's biological parents, David thought. He didn't even have enough time to reflect on his theory when a fork of hot light shattered the window behind and whooshed past him, barely missing him.

"What the fuck!" David muttered as he approached the shattered window with caution. The engraved rune on his hand itched and upon looking outside, David could already tell why. Arielle stood by the front porch commanding the vines of the earth to cocoon Satake and of course eventually kill him. David stormed down with the text of the serpent in his hands.

"Stop!" David shrieked at the top of his voice. "He is not an intruder."

Arielle spared David a look before dropping her spell. The vines retracted to the ground and in doing so, the lightning storm immediately ended.

"He is a Crow Beta," Arielle said, defending her actions. David looked over her shoulders and noticed that Satake had slumped to the ground and he wasn't moving. Swearing heavily at the back of his mind, David ran for the Beta. He held on tightly to Satake and proceeded to mutter a rejuvenation spell. The complex magic spell took a bit of vitality from him but it worked. Satake was able to move and be his best possible self and that entailed being a thorn in David's side.

"Goddess, I make stupid choices sometimes." Satake hissed in David's ear. It was only then that David realized that Satake was too close for comfort. His heated breath against the warlock's hair made David's skin erupt with goose pimples. David had to break the embrace.

"What are you doing here?" David queried, avoiding having to look the Beta in the eye. It was an incredibly difficult job trying to hide his flushed face and terribly timed boner. "The last time we talked. You called me a two-faced demon you could never trust. Now, you are here. Are you obsessed with me, Satake?"

"You wish," Satake whispered. "I came to apologize. I didn't find you at the pub or your house so a little birdy told me that you might be here. I certainly did not expect to be attacked by an angry teenage witch."

"How dare you call me a young witch!" Arielle yelled with gritted teeth. "I'm a goddamn middle-aged tree sprite." Arielle then slammed the door shut behind them.

Satake's lip curled to the corner of his mouth while he maintained eye contact with a very lethargic David. The man had no idea what that innocent look was doing. "I guess that's all I have to say." Satake then tried to stand to his feet but before he could succeed, David grabbed his hand and pulled the jaded Beta close.

"You can't leave on this kind of state. The road is usually dangerous at this time of the night. I suggest you stay for the night. You can leave tomorrow."

Satake's long eyes fluttered. David could break move not to mention breathe when those doe eyes were fixated on him. "Why are you so bent on being sweet to me?" Satake began, slurring his words to emphasize them but David suspected it was because he was just magic high as a result of the healing spell. "If you don't stop, I might begin to get the wrong ideas."

David swallowed. Satake was definitely drunk with magic. Ignoring his further ramblings, David lifted Satake with ease onto his shoulder and into a vacant bedroom inside the manor. After carefully tucking Satake in, David retrieved the text of the serpent by Satake's side and proceeded to leave the room but Satake moved faster, pushing David on his back over the bed while deftly using one hand to quickly grab David's wrist and pin him down.

David's eyes grew wide in question and he clutched the book in his hand for dear life.

"What are you doing?" David demanded in a small, broken voice. "I can't stay..."

Satake blinked slightly before leaning his entire weight on David then scooting to the other side of the bed. "Please, stay."