Kole stared at the window Carahya used to escape for a few moments and turned to Tibias. He cocked his head to the side, and looked as if he were about to say something and then decided it could wait. He turned on his heal and walked back into the office. At his desk he picked up the copies of the book that was taken from the rat's bag and handed them to Keera, who had followed him into the fast dimming office. She silently placed them on her desk, walking past Royal, who was laying on the floor in mostly what would be called a daze.
Tibias, cane in in hand, and indeed leaning his weight very heavily on it, approached the prone man and stopped just short of his foot.
"Thank the lord, I could use a doctor right now," the blond man said with a bit of a weak laugh.
"I do not understand what is so funny Mr. Holligan. I am no doctor, you know that, I know no more of the human body than the next bookworm," Tibias said, scowling slightly.
"Well, you've got the cane and the attitude, I think that should work for now," Royal tried to push himself up onto his elbows. He was stopped by the end of Tibias' cane pressed into his chest softly.
"I assure you Mr. Holligan, I am not quite as out of touch with society as you seem to believe, if I have to endure another joke about this," he paused and took a breath, "situation, from anyone," he looked directly at Royal, who flinched, "then be assured that there will most definitely be hell to pay. Do I make myself clear?" Royal nodded, right before Keera helped the man up.
"Keera, you are to take those books to Tibias' house, he will need your help tonight to get this cluster fuck sorted out," Kole said dryly from behind his desk, picking something interesting from under his fingernails.
"It would be greatly appreciated, Ms. Trean," Tibias said, turning to her with a smile, "That is if you do not object, of course," he added, making it seem as if she had a choice.
"I think I can suffer your company for the night," Keera said quietly grabbing the books from her desk and placing them in her bag.
"Mr. Tarrent, Mr. Holligan, I am taking my leave, I wish to go home and get started while my blood still flows, I assume you are to stay here and be on the watch?"
"Yes, Tibias," Kole said, glaring at Royal, "And Royal will work on his energy force fields while we keep watch," Royal flinched again.
Keera stayed behind Tibias as he exited the building, he glanced up at the sign that read "Marcus and McDowlle: Piano Tuners" and mumbled to himself.
"What?" Keera asked, looking up at the sign she never really took notice of.
"I said they should get the bloody thing fixed. It was for show back when the Council was underground, it was actually a piano shop back in the day..." he trailed off, turning the corner into the alleyway that lead into the parking lot.
"You drive?"
"Yes, of course, I do not live within walking distance, and while I do sometimes take the T, I find driving to be most enjoyable," he stopped behind two cars and looked at Keera, "You did not know I do not live in the apartment complex with Ms. Kinsley and Mr. Tarrent?"
"Is the black one yours?" Keera changed the subject, embarrassed she knew almost nothing about a man she had seen almost everyday for five years, and was embarrassed yet again when he looked at the black four door sedan with dismay and shook his head smiling. He limped on with the cane a few parking spots away and stopped next to a red 1969 Cadillac.
"This one is mine," he said, throwing her a wink, "Good ol' girl helped me with the ladies back in the day," he said while unlocking it and climbing in awkwardly, tossing the cane into the back.
Keera found herself surprised that Tibias would have gone around town in a Cadillac picking up women. She wondered what he had looked like ten, twenty years ago. He wasn't exactly bad looking now, just aging. She looked at him for a little while, trying to take off the glasses, the gray hair, the crows feet, and the look of weariness with her mind. He turned and caught her looking at him, she was caught off guard and averted her eyes quickly, looking out the window. She must have spent more time looking at him than she had thought, they were clearly not in Boston anymore, there were a lot of trees, for one thing.
"Where exactly do you live Tibias?" She asked, breaking the silence that had fallen.
"Newton," he said, "I have a few tricks for traveling stuck here and there, so it does not take too long getting where I wish to go," he looked to the road, "Here we are, home sweet home,"
The house was not too large, for only one man lived in it, but it looked roomy enough on the outside. The wooden paneling was painted a gray blue, and it had two windows peaking out from behind high flowers planted just to the front of the house. The whole thing was surrounded by trees, Keera took it all in with awe. How had she never been here before? The ivy climbing up the walls gave it a romantic feel, and the yellow light cast a warm glow over everything in sight. It looked like heaven to her, being stuck in Boston for so long, near Kole no less.
"Well, come along, I am the one with the cane, you know." Keera jolted herself out of her staring and stepped out of the car and followed Tibias to the front door and into the hall. The house was decorated much like the office, with deep reds and browns, but it was deffinatly the house of a lone man, for the only pictures on the walls were of portraits of family members, or who Keera believed were family members.
"Sod it all!" came a call from ahead, Keera rushed to see what the matter was and found Tibias standing in the middle of the kitchen, glasses off and on the table, with his hands on his face.
"What, what is it?" She asked, afraid something was off.
"The funeral is tomorrow morning," he said, voice muffled by the hand, he looked at Keera, "If you want me to bring you home now I can, I do not see how I could do it in the morning,"
Keera shrugged, "We need to get this done, and if that means I have to go looking like I'm ready for combat, then so be it,"
"Ah ha!" Tibias said quietly a few hours later, "It seems as if our little rat had the original copy, as well as the new book,"
"I could have told you that," Keera snapped a little, irked at the late night, at least the coffee was hot, the thought.
"No, I mean, an original copy, not just in Latin, but also penned at the time it was supposed to be, this is no remake," Tibias stood up excitedly, then promptly fell back into his chair, "Do you know what this means?"
"That she summons demons?" Keera asked half jokingly, half serious.
"No, it means that the young girl has access to very old books,"
"And?"
"And? And? And it means that there was no reason for her to have that copy. It just does not make any sense, why go through the trouble of obtaining the Latin version, when the English one is mass produced and easy enough to get?"
"So you're telling me that you think the girl had the Latin version to begin with?"
"I think we should inform Mr. Tarrent of that in the morning, but for now, I think we can get some sleep," Tibias smiled at the angel, and rubbed his eyes, "You must be tired, it is almost two in the morning,"
"You must be tired, I mean, after what happened today,"
"I will live, I usually do," Tibias replied, standing up slowly and grabbing the cane, "The guest room is too the right of the kitchen, I think you may be comfortable there,"
"I think I can find it Tibias," Keera yawned, also standing.
"Good night, Ms. Trean,"
"Good night, Hou-" Tibias snapped his head back to look at Keera.
"The warning was for all of you Ms. Trean, do not forget that," Keera's laughter was soon joined by that of Tibias' as he climbed the stairs to his room.
Keera rubbed the sleep from her eyes, it was still dark in her room, but judging from her watch, it was five in the morning. Time to get up. She did not particularly want to leave the warm heaven that was the bed. She was surrounded by lovely blues, a stark contrast to the rest of the house. She forced herself out of the bed and stumbled to turn on the light. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw something out of place.
On the chair in the corner of the room, the one upholstered in a fabric with yellow flowers, there was a black dress draped. She walked to it and picked it up, holding it to inspect it. It was a simple halter top, tying in the back, but what caught here eye and took her breath way were the millions of tiny beads interwoven into the fabric itself, spreading from the neckline and dissipating as they trickled down. The beads were all the exact same shade as her wings. It looked like it would fit. She placed it back down and tripped over a pair of strappy shoes placed quite near the chair. Keera smiled to herself and fixed her hair in the mirror. Looked like she wasn't going to be a forced warrior today.
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