When my eyes will themselves to open, Lore stands atop charred ground. Donning his usual grin, he looks at me and laughs, "I must admit, that was much stronger than I expected."

"Are you... are you insane?!" I scream, scrambling towards him.

There's heat all around, enough to suffocate, but my unsteady breathing has barely little to do with that. I can't look away from his hands, the ones I can't clearly see through the smog. Lore stares wide-eyed when I grasp said hands to inspect the damage. Dhampiri cannot use divinity. They cannot absorb divinity! It's never happened. There's a chance he won't heal from the damage. What if he lost his hands entirely? This damn foolish fool! Doing something so ridiculously stupid--

There's nothing. No damage. His hands are obscenely warm and trembling, but there's no blood, burns, or any sign of a broken bone. He's fine.

"Is there a reason you're groping my arms?" Lore questions after I've thoroughly touched and pinched his hands and arms until I get to his shoulders where I do the same. He stiffens uncharacteristically and eyes drift from left to right like he's searching for someone to stop me.

I heave a long, steady breath. He's okay. He's really okay. Praise the Mothers, if he wasn't okay I'd--I--I don't know.

"How...?" I rest my hands on his shoulders, continuing to eye him suspiciously. "You shouldn't--that should have killed you."

"While I am thoroughly touched and somewhat aroused by your concern, as you can see," Lore outstretches his hands. "I am more than alright."

"But how?"

"My trait is power absorption, which I can contain and use later in terms of things like electricity or even heat. Magic, on the other hand, I can only absorb momentarily and send right back out." Lore observes his own hand. His gaze darkens.

"The first time I tried absorbing magic didn't work out so well. The bones in my hands and arms were shattered. A maid had to spoon feed me for a month," he adds, making the previously dark expression disappear with a grin. "But now I've gotten used to it. As long as I get the magic out immediately, I'll be fine."

Immediately. He could have still got seriously injured, this idiot!!

"That's lucky for us," Jaryl says. He glances between us, his eyes lingering on Lore's shoulders that I now remember I'm still grasping. The very firm and strong and wide shoulders that I should be letting go of. Please, for my sake, let go.

Clearing my throat, I retreat and ask, "Where... where's Ikehn? Did he..."

"Perish," Lore finishes for me. "Absolutely." He nods ahead to a few ashes fluttering in the wind. "You can look for a few pieces of him over there, if you'd like."

"Well, we at least got proof that Ikehn was an unregistered mage," Jaryl says. "Although now we don't know whether he killed Ayden himself or ordered someone else."

"He definitely did it himself."

"How are you so sure?" I ask Lore, who stares at me like I asked a dumb question.

"Do you remember his office? Ikehn was an obsessive perfectionist."

I recalled the same observation earlier.

"A job like that, getting rid of someone who knew too much, I highly doubt Ikehn trusted anyone else to finish the job," Lore explains. "And, as a mage, I hear it's unbearable hiding their magic. The scene at Ayden's, all that power he used, was likely due to holding his magic in so long. He lost it, like he did here today."

"That would make sense, but we still don't have concrete proof," Jaryl reminds him. "Regardless, we all thank you for your help today, Your Grace. We can handle the rest from here. I'll let you know if we find anything else."

"Officer," I call, earning his attention prior to leaving. "I haven't seen anything during our investigation, but do let us know if there's any evidence linking back to the Red Moon group." They are who I'm meant to be pretending to investigate, but all I have is that pin from the vampire attack a while back.

"Do you suspect that they are?" Jaryl asks.

"Not really, but you never know. They hide themselves well and use what they can to get what they want. Ikehn may have nothing to do with them or perhaps he did business with the group. We have to check every angle."

Nodding, Jaryl promises to do just that.

After saying our goodbyes, Lore and I head back to the car that was, thankfully, parked far enough away not to be burned to a crisp. Then again, maybe it'd be better to walk back to the estate than suffer through Lore's driving. However, when we get in, he doesn't immediately step on the gas.

"Is something wrong?" I ask around a yawn. Now that things have calmed down, exhaustion's settling in. I never thought I'd be so eager to return to the estate and get a good night's rest. The bed here has grown on me.

"Thank you, for earlier," Lore replies, puzzling me.

"What are you talking about?"

"You tackled me," he explains, wearing a softer expression than usual. "You could have let the pipe hit me. It would have done more harm to you than me had it hit you instead."

"How weak do you think I am?" I chuckle while leaning my head back. My eyes are almost too heavy to keep open. "I'm not going to let you get hurt because I know you'll heal. You'd still feel the pain."

"Implying you don't want me to get hurt?" Lore leans in to whisper against my ear, ensuring that I am now very much awake. "That's very sweet of you. It almost makes me think that you care."

He retreats to rev up the engine. Surprisingly, he carefully drives out onto the street, at least as careful sa he can be. The soft jostle of the car makes my eyes droop again, but I have something to say. I don't know why. I'm being foolish, but the words won't grant me rest until I speak them.

"Lore," I call quietly, so softly I barely hear myself over the engine. "Listen, I know you taunt me. I know you hate me for what I do, what I stand for, what I believe in, but believe me when I say; I will never cause a vampire or dhampir any harm who hasn't already harmed others. Even if I believe the day will come when you too will lose all self control, until that day comes, I will not hurt you nor do I want to see you, or anyone like you, hurt."

Lore's hands tighten on the wheel.

"I also know that you think that is very dumb," I continue. "Knowing you, you'd tell me I'm a brainwashed idiot who tells myself that to help me sleep better at night."

Lore chuckles, though it doesn't sound amused. "You know me so well. I'm flattered."

"And I know you tease in an attempt to hide yourself from serious conversations you aren't ready to face yet."

He doesn't reply to that.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'd do it again, even if I knew I'd get hurt in the process. Interpret that however you like." I finally close my eyes, barely hearing Lore's quiet words.

"You're a strange one. Has anyone told you that?"

"Maybe once or twice."

When I was younger, during my training, I remember being told I'm too soft. That one day it'd get me killed, but I never actually minded that. If it's wrong to be kind even to those I hate or fear, then I rather be wrong. Maybe that does make me a fool. Maybe that will get me killed, but it's the path I choose and I'll accept the consequences.

I must have fallen asleep in the car because when I next wake I'm laying in bed. My clothes smell of smoke. They're hot so I groggily toss them off. Curling beneath the blankets with nothing but my undergarments, I fall back blissfully into slumber without considering how I got into bed.

- - ┈┈∘┈˃̶༒˂̶┈∘┈┈ - -

Hello, hello friends! Quick announcement. If you aren't already aware, I have a new novel available on Tapas called The Matchmaker Prince. It's an adorable romcom between a fairytale prince brought to the modern world and the fumbling author who created him. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, use the external link to find it or go to my wattpad profile. I left a link on my dashboard!

Back to the story! Wow, Lore completely annihilated Ikehn. My, oh my, Seren was pretty concerned about him, tehehehehe! And they had a moment in the car! I always find Seren fascinating, how deep down it's like he knows he wants everyone to live together peacefully, but he's so frightened and brainwashed that he can't let go. Maybe Lore will help with that, hmm? ;D