Page 19 of Tell No Tales
Fuck, Vadim had him thinking the most irrational thoughts. He couldn't trust himself around Vadim. No wonder Vadim didn't trust him.
"It wasn't a hardship," Vadim said as he kicked off his boots in the hallway. Instead of socks, he wore hose beneath his boots, and had rolled his pants so they tucked into the top of the hose. It looked incredibly uncomfortable as he slinked across the mattress to the back of the crate.
At first, Klaus wondered how he would be able to see, since the light globe was in the hallway outside the door. Then, he was almost blinded by a bright light in Vadim's gloved hand.
"What the fuck is that?"
"Pen light."
"A pen that is also a light?"
"Yes." Vadim held it up for him. The point was already tinged black with ink and the weighted end held a bright white light.
"Is it enchanted?"
Vadim shook his head. "No. It's life magic." He grinned. "I've never had enough to spare to use the light before."
Klaus walked to Vadim on his knees, carrying his book in his hands. The pen light was far brighter than his original light source.
"What are you doing?"
"I can see better over here now."
Vadim shook his head, but he said nothing.
"What are you writing?" Klaus asked.
"I'm not."
"Then why is there ink on the pen?"
"It's my blood. That's how the light works."
Klaus blinked as his brain tried to assimilate the information in any other way but the obvious. Finally, he asked to confirm. "It's blood magic?"
"Most of life magic is blood magic." Despite his earlier warning, Vadim slid his free arm over Klaus's shoulders and pulled him closer, aligning their bodies from shoulder to hip. "I think your ailment was a blood spell gone wrong."
Vadim opened the leather-bound journal in his lap. Each page had a date written at the top from five years prior. Spiderwebs of words sprawled across each page beneath the date, so delicate and tiny it was hard for Klaus to read with his naked eye. He was relieved when even Vadim had to slip a magnifying glass from his pocket.
"Whose handwriting is that tiny?" Klaus asked.
"Mine." Vadim's smirk was self-deprecating. He met Klaus's gaze for a moment, but he blushed and looked away. How could this formidable man be so fucking shy?
"I can spell the pen to write smaller than my usual hand movements," he said. "Coryn is nearsighted. She can't read anything smaller than the title of your book without help. If she tried to read my journals, she would get one hell of a headache and come away with very little understanding.
That was something else Klaus noticed. The tiny spiderwebs didn't form words that Klaus recognized.
"What does it mean?"
"Watch."
Vadim whispered a little spell, and a tendril of black smoke rose from the page, shifting the words around so they made sense.
"You said it didn't work before," Klaus said. "How did you get it to do that?"
"I had enough life magic to manipulate my blood on the page. I didn't have enough to fuel the light." He handed the pen to Klaus. It warmed to his touch and seemed to beat with Vadim's pulse. Klaus studied the yellow glow on the end opposite the nib, trying to will his body not to respond, but it was no use. His cock strained against the laces of his pants, and his cheeks burned.
Thankfully, Vadim wasn't paying attention to him. He rolled his hose off and uncuffed his pant legs one at a time. Then, he circled his slim ankles to stretch. There was a light dusting of white hair on the tops of his feet. Klaus had caught a glimpse of coarser hair on his shins before Vadim had covered them up.
