“Remind me the next time I
offer advice,” Seth said as he joined his elders, “that there is no one as
blind, foolish and dense as a person living on past dreams.”
“Says the wise young man of
twenty-something going on two-hundred,” Leif replied with a chuckle.
“Two-hundred and one, thank
you,” Seth retorted.
Leif glanced at his brother
then back at Seth again. “Should I suspect that tact is not one of your strong
points?”
“Well, yeah. I tend to call
them as I see them and your brother’s being an idiot.”
Trevor cocked an eyebrow in
amusement. “So says the boy that fell into Khalid’s grasp and became a vampyre
because he found him ‘alluring’. Yes, I overheard what you were telling Kemp. I
can multi-task when necessary.”
“Yeah, I fucked up, I’ll
admit it. But at least I am admitting
it.”
“Kemp didn’t ‘fuck up’ as
you put it,” Rikard said softly. “He fell in love with my Child and that love
was returned. We should all be so lucky as to have that happen at least once in
our lifetime.”
“Some of us have, and then
blown it off,” Trevor remarked pensively.
“That’s not what I’m
saying,” Seth retorted. “Kemp has got to open himself up to the idea that it’s
possible to love again. He cannot lock his heart away out of fear of the
consequences.”
“If you lost someone you
loved, would you move on and try again?” Kemp asked quietly.
“Yes,” Seth replied just as
quietly. “I did, and I have. I haven’t found the right one—yet—but I’m not
going to give up hope. Maybe you can survive on past memories, I can’t.” Seth
paused for a moment. “Tell me Kemp, if you had died instead of him, would you
want him to spend the rest of his life alone and lonely, living on dreams of
what might have been?”
Kemp frowned deeply and then
slowly shook his head. “I’d want him to be happy, and if someone else came into
his life that could do that for him then yes, that would be good.”
“Exactly; so give yourself
what you would have given Owen if the situation were reversed. The chance to
find that someone you can give your heart to, freely and totally just as you
gave it to him.”
“You’re a romantic, Seth,”
Leif said with a smile.
“I am,” Seth admitted. “A
hopeless one despite everything I’ve seen in my life. I suppose I got that from
my real father, even though I didn’t see much of him.”
“Why?”
“I’m the bastard son of
Philip Freneau,” Seth replied almost defiantly. “He married before I was old
enough to understand that I wasn’t going to be a part of his life—me or my
mother. But I devoured everything he wrote, especially his poetry.”
Rikard nodded. “A
neoclassical, romantic poet. I can see why you have that streak in you.”
Leif interrupted to point
out that the sun was rising soon, which meant either he and Seth left now for
their sleeping places or took advantage of Rikard’s offered hospitality.
“I actually don’t have
anywhere to go,” Seth told them. “I doubt I’d be welcome back at Hakim’s
residence under the circumstances, even if I wanted to go there.”
“That hadn’t occurred to me,
young man. You’re more than welcome to stay here until you find a safe place of
your own.” When Seth accepted his invitation, Rikard stood, indicating that it
was time for everyone to go their separate ways. Leif opted to let Trevor drive
him back to his hotel rather than impose on the older vampyre.
As they headed to the door
Kemp stopped by Seth’s side for a moment. “I’ll think about what you said,” he
told him.
Seth smiled. “I know it’s
hard, believe me I do. But don’t give up on love. We all need it in our lives—even
you.”
Kemp had no reply for that
so he just nodded as he went to join Trevor and his brother.
No comments:
Post a Comment