Kid entered Treycore’s chamber, a substantial room, though not as large as Vera’s. An orange-glowing chandelier hung from the ceiling, filling the room with more light than Kid was used to seeing in the rest of the house.
Treycore had set up a table before his king size bed, which had an iron frame with a mirrored headboard.
On the table, Treycore had set a dinner of steak and mashed potatoes—an apparent dig from Vera, who seemed to be mocking Kid’s mortal tastes.
Just seeing Treycore seated at the table was torture. He wanted to run over and throw his arms around him. He wanted Treycore to force him onto the bed and fuck him until he bled.
How can I reach him?
Kid entered the room slowly. The parasite within him was obviously driving home the fact that he had no control over his appendages.
Treycore rose from his chair and headed around the table, pulling out a chair for Kid.
Kid sat and Treycore returned to his seat.
He poured white wine into a glass set before Kid.
“This wine is from Heaven. It’s from a grape that would make those of your world look like turds.”
He glanced at Kid uneasily. “No offense.”
Asshole, Kid thought, knowing perfectly well that he was referring to his scent.
But that sort of comment is what made him love this immortal.
“How has Vera been treating you?”
“Just fine.”
Lies! She’s been awful!
Treycore grabbed his fork and picked at a salad in a bowl beside his plate.
“You can feel free to eat,” Treycore said.
“I’m not particularly hungry.”
You fucking ass.
Did you think I was going to make this easy on you?the creature asked.That’s not what I’m here for.
“Oh, okay,” Treycore said, his expression shifting to that same disappointment Kid had seen earlier in the corridor.
Treycore, I’m here. I’m here and I love you. Please know that. Help me! Help me, please!
“It’s hard to have a discussion with someone you don’t really know,” Treycore said with a smirk. “I mean, you would think I’d be able to sit here and try to remind you about all these things, all these wonderful things about you, but all I ever saw was a glimpse of something magical. I saw a light in a dark world… in you.”
His words were like a dagger entering Kid’s heart.
“I’ve felt a lot of things over the eons that I’ve existed. I’ve felt those impulsive sensations—those that are so easily mistaken for something grander. I’ve felt those lustful passions that are usually confined to sexual gratification. I’ve felt so many things, and it’s why I know that the things I felt for you are so different. It’s why I’m so confident that what we have is so much more than all of that.”
How could Vera do this to them, knowing that Treycore felt like this? Surely, if she had really ever loved him, she would have wanted him to have been happy. And yet, he knew very well from her sadistic treatment of him and even Treycore, something dark guided her… something twisted convinced her to enact the sort of tortures she chose. Maybe she had been a good creature at one time, but that time had clearly passed and left behind it this fallen that Vera had become.
Treycore eyed Kid’s food and set his fork beside his plate.
He rose from his chair and walked to Kid, kneeling beside him and looking him directly in the eyes.
“Kid, I know you’re in there… somewhere… you have to be.”
