Exill was breathing heavily as well, absorbing the sensual curves of her figure. The way the dress was precariously slipping off one shoulder and the soft thighs surrounding her underwear nearly made him ignore the warning in her voice.

As it was, it took nearly all his willpower to look away while she made herself presentable again.

“This is… wrong” he finally acknowledged the tension in the air.

They sat for a while until Tsarra shyly shifted over and embraced him from behind, her fingers lightly brushing his broad chest.

“Um, we… don’t have to go all the way.” She whispered, coaxing him gently.

A pleasant shiver ran down his back. For a few seconds he was tempted to return to exploring her body, but in the end, he shrugged her off and stood up.

‘Just a few hours ago, I was prepared to leave her behind and start a life on the run. What the heck am I doing right now?’ he thought, realizing the magnitude of his hypocrisy.

“Pretend this never happened. If you do this again, I will ask you to leave.” He instructed in a frigid voice. Exill’s emerald eyes lit up, feigning anger at her, but it was mostly directed at himself for falling into a state of mindless lust.

Tsarra opened her mouth as if to speak, confused by the sudden reversal, but he quickly stormed out, closing the door firmly behind him.

She sat despondent in the lamplight. Over the span of a few minutes she had felt the heights of passion followed by the depths of despair.

Burying her head in the pillow, she tried to erase the memory imprinted on her lips.

***

Over the past couple weeks, Envy and Exill had gradually resumed their feeding schedule. This did not mean he had completely forgiven her, but there was a practical bend to it – blood potions cost time and money to make. That night, Envy knocked on his door and entered in her usual loose-fitting black dress.

He lowered the clay tablet on the nightstand and shifted back in bed, trying his utmost to pretend that nothing had happened earlier that day. She lay beside him and latched on to his forearm as usual.

Over the past few weeks, his blood had grown markedly sweeter as his strength surged faster than ever before. She was finding it embarrassingly difficult to conceal her squirms of pleasure while feeding.

However… something tasted off today.

The sweetness was still there, but it didn’t taste as refreshing as before. ‘Is it because of that incident at the Guild Hall?’ she wondered, while wiping the blood from her lips.

At the start of the Royal Procession, she had watched from the sides as Exill held Tsarra from behind. It had stirred an unfamiliar emotion that was only broken when they were forced to kneel before the passing King. It was towards the end of the event when the colour had abruptly drained from Exill’s face, and he fled, not even looking back. She had tried to follow him down the stairwell, but he swiftly disappeared into the crowd.

Faced with the dilemma of pursuing him or protecting Tsarra, she had chosen the latter. After all, the Witchdoctor was more than capable of defending himself. She had come to grow fond of the diminutive woman anyway and had begun to think of her as a little sister. It all began when she returned from lockup in prison… their bond had grown in leaps and bounds, especially after the party at Iris’s house.

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That wasn’t to say she didn’t feel suspicious when the girl spent time alone with Exill, but she trusted her to do what was right. She wanted to believe that Tsarra could keep it in her dress. Envy finally turned around to face his emerald eyes, whose gaze still made her feel unsettled.

“What happened at the Guild Hall?” she asked.

“It’s complicated…”

Exill had previously told her that factions within the Church believed he had fraudulently claimed a Spirit Blessing, but had never told her about his strange powers, or that he might be an Aberration. He knew she suspected something, but as a fellow hoarder of many secrets, she had carefully respected his privacy.

However, the truth would have to be revealed soon if he intended to leave Ark. Further complicating matters was that he didn’t fully trust her just yet. Releasing a great sigh, he slid his arm out from under her and sat up.

Moving to the side of the bed, he smoothed the sleeves of his tunic while the Vampire watched impatiently. There was so much to his story that he didn’t even know where to begin.

‘Do I tell her I’m from another world, is that the beginning of my story?’ he wondered.

‘Or does it start when I was first enthralled by her at Diallo’s warehouse?’ but promptly dismissed that as well. No, there was another start to his tale. He faltered for a few more seconds before he finally began his narration.

“My name is Exill of Lindtree, and almost everything you know about me is a lie…”

He detailed key facts and abilities about himself, chief among them, his ability to see threads of fate and the number of jobs simultaneously available to him. Also described was how the various limitations of the world didn’t apply at the cost of further Rejection. Finally, he elaborated on Rejection, and how events suggested it was turning him into an Aberration.

Envy remained silent while listening to the story. For a long time, she had suspected he had hidden talents, but not to the extent that had been described. She was also aware of his Rejection and had known it for a long time, ever since she had tailed him to the Diviner and interrogated the old woman for details.

“Who else knows this?” she asked.

“Luna knows I am forsaken by the world, Tsarra knows a lot about my skills and abilities, but she doesn’t know about my Rejection, only that I somehow draw Aberrations to myself.”

Mildly annoyed that she was the last to know, but also pleased that she knew more than anyone else; Envy chose that time to reveal a secret she had been withholding for a while.

“This might be an opportunity for both of us.” she began. “If what you say is true and a Slave Trader isn’t necessary to free me, there is nothing holding us to Ark. I would like us to travel to Port Savig. There is something I am searching for and we can easily travel by ship to any number of countries.”

“What are you searching for?” he realised this was the first time he was learning something new about her.

“I have a younger brother, a little older than you. He was sold into slavery and the bounty I issued at the Guild tracked him down to Port Savig.” She looked down at her fingers, struggling to remember her own brother’s face.

Exill blinked.

He hadn’t expected that bombshell, that Envy had living family members out there. It was an additional complication but something he could accommodate while fleeing from the Inquisition’s grasp.

“I’ll see what I can do.” He eventually said.

“Are you going to bring Tsarra with us?” her expression was unusually impassive while asking the question, causing him to scrutinize her further.

“What do you think I should do?” he threw the question back at her.

“I think you should consult with her.”

Exill breathed deeply and looked up at the ceiling, troubled by the decision. The fact that he was attracted to Tsarra made things even more complicated. The decision was agonisingly painful, but he fervently believed it was for the best.

“You know she has a chance at a normal life here, a good one at that.” The words were whispered with untold yearning.

Envy pursed her lips, understanding what he was alluding to, “If you leave her behind, you are taking that choice away from her, she is the one you have to justify it to… not me.” she firmly replied, disapproving of his reasoning.

“Nothing good can come from following me. You said it yourself, that people like us who are forsaken by the world can’t hope to make it to retirement... I will not see her torn helplessly apart by an Aberration.” He closed the discussion, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice.

“Fine.” Envy stood to leave but Exill grasped her hand, pausing as he calculated what was required.

“Give me five days. We leave then.”