Chapter 61: The transient locket
Dave cleared his throat, but I could see that he was more amused than embarrassed.
'We can change the film if you want,' he told me softly.
I dragged my eyes away from his and looked at the screen where the lovers laid sated. The scene was over. I then looked at the faint tint of red on Dave's cheeks and when he crossed his legs, my eyes naturally went to his lap and that was when I saw the bulge in his pants. What I had taken to be embarrassment was, in fact, arousal.
I was brought back to the time we had been interrupted in the bathtub by his phone, and even at that time, I was left wondering what would happen if his phone had not rung. Looking at his darkening eyes, I now wondered what would happen if I just closed the gap between his lips and mine. I knew that he would not push me away, and I knew that even I was hungering for this. All the sexual tension of the past days had been building up for this moment.
I looked at his lips and how his tongue darted out to moisten them. I looked at his hands which were unclenching and relaxing. And I thought of the ring...
That damned ring. Why did I have to remember it at that moment? But now that I had, I couldn't push that thought away. No, you can. You know you have been pining to get closer to him and now that you have the opportunity, you are just throwing it away? And for what? For a ring that could just turn out to be ordinary. Yes, but what will happen if it turned out to be a transient locket? In the hands of Estena or Mr Freere, it could spell doom for you?
Ah, I hated it when the little voice was right! I thrust my fingers in frustration through my hair, pulling at the tangles as well. The pain helped me to focus on the task at hand. Hopefully, Dave would be in a more receptive mode.
'Uhh, Dave, can I ask you a question?' The sound of his name rolled on my tongue so breathlessly, that I had to clear my throat.
In response, he leaned his head back, and holding my hand, he brought me around the sofa, to sit next to him. How did he want me to concentrate with our sides touching like that?
'Do you know what a transient locket is?' I asked before I changed my mind. Of course, he would know, I fumed, angry that I wasted a question. I didn't know for how long he would be able to stay in a good mood. He was a Guardian as well, so he should know.
A slight frown appeared at the edge of his eyebrows and I ached to smoothen his forehead.
'Yes, it's a temporary means to travel across the worlds. Why are you asking?' He moved his right hand until it was resting on the back of the sofa and I could feel the warmth of his hand just behind my head. All I had to do was lean back and my head would be resting on his waiting hand.
I replied to his question with a question of my own.
'How do we recognize a transient locket?' If he gave me a satisfactory answer, maybe I wouldn't even need to tell him about taking Estena's ring. At least not now. Later I could tell him when everything was over. Sometimes, ignorance was indeed bliss.
'Only the user will know about it or a trained eye will be able to identify one.'
That definitely disqualified me and that also meant that, unfortunately, I would have to tell him about what I had done.
I could feel him looking at me and I deliberately avoided his gaze. I was frightened of actually giving him a wrong perception about me, I didn't want him to think that I was a thief. For the past two days, he had only seen me in a not very positive light. I hated being so reliant on others. Ever since he had appeared in my bedroom barely a few days ago, it was as if I had relinquished control of my life to others. I could feel control leaving my grasp.
Before meeting him, I had become used to doing everything on my own, especially after Granny's death. But ever since I had kissed the locket, I had kissed goodbye to my freedom as well. Learning that I was a Guardian had made me lose custody of my own life and it was so frustrating. This was what had perhaps driven me to take the ring. It felt that I was taking a decision on my own after such a long time.
'I've got a ring with me. If I show it to you, will you be a ble to tell me if it's a transient locket?'
Dave looked at me without saying anything. He simply stretched out his hand in front of me, inviting me to place the ring in it. It was as if he already knew that it was with me. Maybe he did if he read my mind.
I put the ring in his hand and waited for him to assess it. Would he recognize it as Estena's ring? I doubted it as otherwise he would have known it was her when he saw the woman at the viewpoint.
He twisted and turned the ring in his hand, looking at it attentively. I waited for his reaction with bated breath.
'Where did you get this?' he finally asked.
'Is it a transient locket or ring?' I asked him stubbornly refusing to give him the answer he wanted.
'I wonder if it might be this?' He seemed to be talking to himself at this point and I could see a gleam of excitement sparkle in his eyes. For a few seconds, it was as if he had forgotten that I was around and he continued mumbling to himself.
'Yes, Nani had talked about this.'
At Nani's name, I became alert and tried to listen to what he was saying. Finally, I could no longer deal with my impatience.
'What can you say about this ring?' I asked him.
That brought him back to his senses.
'I'm not sure, but it seemed to be a body-shifting ring.'
I rolled my eyes at the mention of something which sounded so alien to me. As if it was not enough for me to learn that I was a vampire and that we could travel across worlds, now he was talking about shifting bodies. When would this be over?
'Can you please explain?' I asked in frustration when I saw that he wasn't going to be giving me more details.
He stood and I immediately missed the warmth his closeness had been generating, with my little voice maliciously reminding me that it was all my fault.
'Nani had told me that there was another means for people to travel across the worlds. When we used your locket, our physical bodies along with our psyche was transported to another world. But there is a means to transfer the mind only across worlds. It's as if you're taking over another body.'
'You mean like someone can just take control of my body like that?'
'No, it's not that simple. The host body has to be receptive for it to work.'
It still sounded like gibberish to me and I looked at him with a confused gaze.
'You can't just travel to another body that you wish to inhabit. The person or even animal has to be agreeable to it.'
'Is it like a full body swap?'
'In a way. Or if the host has a weak psyche, then his mind stays in the body but becomes dormant. We don't have much information about it as it can be a dangerous tool if not well used. Its use has been banned.'
So what was Estena doing with such a ring? Martha had told me that she comes from a powerful family, it might be an inheritance. 'Do you know how it works?' I asked Dave who was still looking at the ring attentively. I held out my hand to have another look and he put it in the palm of my hand. I shivered at the touch of the cold metal. Even though Dave had been holding on to it for some time, it wasn't warm at all.
I stepped back and meant to sit on the sofa, but I almost tripped and it was only Dave's hand on my forearm, which stopped me from falling on the sofa in a disgraceful heap. I smiled my thanks at him and actually welcomed his touch on my arm. I was starting to feel a little cold.
'No, I don't know.'
I suddenly noticed that the stone had started to come out of the prongs. I had just thrown it in my underwear drawer so maybe this was what caused the setting to become loose. Before anything could damage the ring, I gently pressed it back in place. Immediately I felt heat flare up and it was like my skin had been singed with a bolt of lightning.
There was a strong burst of light which blinded me for a few seconds and when I was able to open my eyes, I froze.
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Daminir
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