Change is sweeping through the world, as humanity fights for autonomy, discord tears apart the foundations of the vampire order, and dhampirs return to the world after centuries of war between two powerful peoples. Dhampirs, creatures known to heral...
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Tara spent the entire day locked in her room. On occasion, she looked at the doorknob and thought about shaking some sense into Jesse, but nerves kept her huddled in the bed or pacing to stretch her muscles. Some of it was physical therapy, since she was supposed to walk on her leg. They said nothing should tear now, but it still hurt like hell to put weight on it. It wasn't so bad in the bed, so she flopped there as the evening sun set behind heavy drapes on the western wall.
It was like that, with her face stuffed into her knees and the rest of her buried in comforters, that Silvia found her. The door opened and closed and magic flitted through the air, light but powerful as Silvia's was. Part of Tara wanted to ask about Jesse, about why he hadn't come for her in the last couple of hours, but the other half knew it was futile. Soon, she would cross into the void, and that would be the end of her life. It was better if Jesse thought of her as nothing.
"Hey." The bed dipped, and Tara lifted her swollen eyes reluctantly. She'd stopped crying an hour ago, but she always looked a mess for a while after.
"Can I ask you for a favor," Tara asked quietly, clenching her hands on her knees.
"Whatever you need." Silvia laid her hand on Tara's, and the vibration of light magic made her queasy despite how the gesture was meant to be comforting. The mage's skin was several shades darker against her pale skin, and it made her think of Jesse's smooth milk chocolate skin. Tears brimmed on her eyes, but she shoved them back in her tear ducts.
"He can't hear me, right?" Tara barely managed the words, but Silvia understood. Those deep, navy eyes were looking at her differently than they had the day prior. Perhaps she'd figured out that Jesse and she had shared more than just partnership as liaisons, or maybe it was just pity that she was about to die.
"Jesse passed out the moment you left him," Silvia let out a slow breath, and her face wilted. "They detained and tortured him in the Fleur dungeons for weeks, so he was lucky to be standing when he got here."
Tara felt like the worst person alive for how she'd treated him, but it didn't matter. "Don't tell him that I agreed to close the void with my life."
"If that's what you want." Silvia clenched her hand gently, lowering her eyebrows and sinking her lips lower.
"And when I'm gone, can you do that allure thing on Matt? The guy's a piece of work and I've never liked him, but he cares about me for some unfathomable reason. If I die in all this, it'll mess him up. Just make him believe I got a better job overseas or something. He's got a fiancé and a kid on the way to worry about. I should be nothing to him, but I'm not." The tears clawed their way back out of her eyes, and she sank her face into her crossed arms over her knees.
"We'd have sent him back already, but he refuses to leave you." Silvia ground out in annoyance that calmed Tara enough to lift her face and smile awkwardly. They shared a short defeated chuckle, but Tara's heart felt hollow. "We can find a way to close the tear without giving up your life, Tara. It's not worth it to us if we have to kill someone in the process. We were not told when instructed to find a medium that it would kill them."
