Page 84 of Tell No Tales
"You can do it. Focus."
Klaus inhaled an unsteady breath through his nose and puffed it out through his mouth. Vadim felt them pop into focus through their link, the ones closest to them first, and then further out in a circle until Klaus had found all the twisted souls in the library basement.
"End their suffering."
"What about consent?" Klaus asked.
"They didn't consent to this," Vadim said. "This is twisted beyond anything I would ever grant. This isn't life. It's …"
"Vile." Klaus threw out both arms again. "Go!"
The bodies reaching for them were the first to be enveloped in the eerie purple light. It twisted through their cores in an instant, and they fell to the floor as one. All around them, they heard bodies drop to the stone floor, sending up motes of dust into Nola's light.
Nola let her water barrier drop. She bent over her knees, gasping for air.
"That was amazing." Yvette slapped Klaus on the back so hard he winced. "I don't know what you did, or how you did it, but you saved us."
"And you." She turned to Vadim and slammed into his body, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him like he was a life raft, and she was drowning. "You saved us all. You kept your wits and showed him what to do."
"I did nothing," Vadim said. "It was all Klaus."
Klaus hugged him from behind. "We did it together," he said between shaky breaths. "Can we get out of here now? More are coming down the stairs."
Vadim felt them, too, far more than the dozens Klaus had destroyed in the basement.
"So much for the library," Yvette said.
"Let's hope your old dorm is clear," Nola said.
Vadim couldn't wait for the dorms. As soon as they were outside with the cellar doors locked shut behind them and Klaus had confirmed no weavers roamed the grounds, Vadim pulled Klaus into a thick flowering hedge and checked him for injuries. From the low rumble of Nola's voice and the occasional laugh from Yvette, they were doing the same.
"I'm fine." Klaus grinned up at him and swayed closer on unsteady feet. "Well. That took more out of me than I thought." He staggered closer and snaked his arms around Vadim's neck, pulling him in for a kiss.
Vadim resisted the allure of Klaus's mouth on his. He reluctantly pulled back. "We need to catch up to Nola and Yvette."
"As you say." Klaus licked his bottom lip.
Vadim swooped in and kissed him again, laving the plump flesh with his tongue. He pulled back with an angry grunt. "We need to go."
"I like you like this. All needy and desperate."
Klaus must have been blind to miss how all-consumed Vadim had been with him since he'd first formed the life link. Before that, it had been easier to pass Klaus's brash behavior off as that of a spoiled pleasure worker who'd never known hardship.
Through their link, Vadim had experienced Klaus's thoughts and emotions as he did. He had recognized quickly how most of Klaus's actions were coping mechanisms for a lifetime of loneliness and rejection. Yes, Vadim had empathized. He'd had similar experiences, himself.
Tonight, Klaus had saved Vadim the way Vadim had once saved him. Klaus thought Vadim had helped him beyond his pep talk, but words were all he could offer. He could see auras when he borrowed Klaus's power, but he couldn't touch the undead. Klaus had returned them to their natural state all on his own.
Now, Vadim only wanted to fill the void he could still sense within Klaus. Vadim felt responsible for causing even more heartache by bringing Klaus to Aquarion and on this adventure to Hearthstone when the seeker had wanted to escape to Glamiere instead. They had an emperor to rescue. Afterward, he would take Klaus to a safe place and make sure he stayed there for the rest of the war.
Yvette and Nola had progressed from talking to making out in the bushes. Klaus dragged Vadim back into their hiding place with a laugh. Vadim pulled Klaus close and wrapped his arms around him even tighter than before. "You saved us."
"Stop squeezing so hard!" Klaus straddled his hips, locking his ankles behind Vadim's knees. His mouth was hot and inviting, though he was still shaking through the aftereffects of his fear.
Vadim held on for dear life. He worried if he let go, he would lose his heart forever.
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Klaus
