Chapter 5

Betrayal

Talia woke up to the sound of singing. She burrowed deeper into her pillow.

"Nu huh, no more sleeping." It took her pillow away.

"Gimme!" Talia groped for it.

"If you insist." The pillow was hucked at her.

"That was mean... YOU!" She sat up.

"Aren't you happy to me?" He asked.

"No." Talia crossed her arms. "You left me all alone."

"I was keeping watch of you." Puck said.

"Why're you here?" Talia asked.

"Your magic finally woke up!" Puck cheered. "I'm gonna teach you how to use it."

"My magic?" Talia frowned.

"Yes, now pay attention." Puck floated above her bed. "Halflings like you do better with rhymes. Before I start to rave, give me the food I crave."

A bowl of apple dumplings appeared. I repeated the rhyme. Nothing happened.

"You have to think of something you want, Tai. Otherwise, you're just spouting nonsense." Puck ate his dumplings. I thought. Caramel corn. Roxanne didn't let me get any and I rarely got any treats anymore because I was grounded. My nose wrinkled in frustration. A mountain of caramel corn fell on my bed.

"Ooo. Wordless summoning. That's hard." Puck praised.

"Talila, have you seen-" Xanatos opened the door. He saw the pile of popcorn. "Where did you get that?"

"A ghost did it." Talia answered. Puck was nowhere to seen.

Xanatos seemed to recall something and sighed. "You can two bags of that. The rest go somewhere. Get dressed and come eat."

Owen came up to Xanatos. "I had some trouble with my sink, sir."

"That's alright, Owen. Tell someone to clean that up." Xanatos left. Owen seemed to smile as he closed the door. Talia got dressed and went to breakfast. The day passed without any surprises. Talia made a painting in art and wanted to show Roxanne before putting it in the mail. She wondered where she was staying.

"What're you looking for, Talia?" Owen asked.

"Roxanne's room." Talia said.

"Alright, but if she's busy, just wait." He led her to the room. It was one of the guest rooms.

In the deepest part of the castle, wrapped in darkness and twisted bedsheets, Roxanne was dreaming. She dreamed of barren lands, starry, endless skies and a city of stones deep into the mountains. A throne of basalt stood in the middle, a king sitting in it. His deep voice demanded attention and Roxanne listened, like a child would to her father. "Find you a place that is yours, And the mortals that dwell there, Let them be your sheepfold, Let them be your cup, Let them be your holy bread." Then the king raised his hand and pointed his finger somewhere behind Roxanne. When she turned, her eyes grew wide in horror: two corpses were hung by their ankles, their throats sliced as blood poured from their lifeless bodies into a marble pool below them. Their eyes open, and looking at her. They were Talia and Owen. Roxanne woke up with a startled scream, baring her fangs and jumping off of her bed, trembling on the carpet. Her heart could not beat anymore, but if it could she was sure it would've pounded out of her chest.

"ROXANNE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Owen called.

She turned towards the door and observed it for a few moments in silence. "Yes...I'm...I'm fine." The woman recovered quickly. She stood up and went to the door, opening it, while wearing only a pair of underwear and a black undershirt. "I had a nightmare. Sorry if I worried you."

Owen realized she wasn't wearing much and blushed. Talia looked at them both. He pushed Talia forward. "Talia wanted to show you her painting."

"I didn't know you painted." Roxanne smiled gently. "I'd like to see it."

"Owen made me do art today." Talia handed it over.

The woman took the painting carefully in her hands and observed it. It was an acrylic painting of a flower field. Blobs of pink and red sprinkled the grass. The sky was imperfectly mixed, having slightly darker streaks of blue. White fluffy clouds floated above the field.

"It's really beautiful. You paint so well...I can barely draw." She chuckled.

"I guess." Talia shrugged. "I wanna send it to Adri. I need a big envelope."

"Adri? Oh your friend, right." Roxanne nodded. "I don't have any envelopes, thought. Maybe you'll find something tomorrow morning."

"I didn't expect you to." Talia said.

"Adriana Cason?" Owen asked.

"Wh- How do you know her name?" Talia looked at him.

Owen led her into another room across the hall and shut the door. "Talia, we've kept this from you for too long. Your parents are dead."

The woman tilted her head as Owen pulled Talia into the guestroom across from hers. She walked closer to the wooden door and focused, heightening her senses so she could hear better.

"No, you're lying." Talia shook her head.

"Talia, your home burned down. The Casons did some interviews before the search was called off." Owen continued.

"No, no, no!" Tears welled up in her eyes.

"We didn't want to upset you. I didn't think it would last this long." He said softly.

"No, they're not dead! Stop lying to me!" Talia ran out of the room.

The girl ran into Roxanne, who was standing in front of the door and blocking the way. "Talia..."

"Oof!" Talia fell to the ground. Snot was running down her face and her eyes were red. She took a shaky breath and sobbed loudly.

The woman glared at Owen and growled. She knelt down and hugged the teenager tightly. "There were better ways to give her such a news, you insensitive idiot!"

Owen looked at his feet, ashamed. He had hurt Talia. He could have put it better. When he heard Adri's name, he realized how long it had been. But with the revelation of Roxanne's odd behavior and the added pressure to spy for Xanatos, his mind was elsewhere. "Tai, I'm sorry."

Roxanne rolled her eyes and picked Talia up like she weighed nothing, carrying her in her own room. She sat on the bed and held her, gently caressing her hair. "I'm sorry Talia. I'm so sorry..."

"Th-they lied to me... They kept me away and lied to me." Talia's voice was thick. She leaned into Roxanne's chest, wanting to hide. "Owen was nice. I hate them!"

Time passed. Talia sniffled. Her breath slowed. Her face felt sticky and gross. She let herself be coddled for few more minutes.

"Sssshhh...don't hate them, sweetheart. They didn't want you to get hurt." Roxanne bit her lower lip. "When Owen told me, I was shocked. I couldn't believe that they hadn't told you yet. So I decided that as soon as we would've been alone, I would've told. I would've brought you to your home and showed you. I know the importance of truth." She sighed. "But the night of the movie you ran away and then things happened, and I had to wait another, better time to tell you."

"YOU KNEW?! You knew how much I wanted to see them again!" Talia shouted then turned away from her, rubbing her eyes. "I want to go to Elisa's."

Then she left. Roxanne used her supernatural speed and reached for her.

"I know you're angry, I understand, but you need to believe me: I would've told you! Please believe me!" She pleaded.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Talia screamed. A wave of green magic knocked Roxanne over. The room seemed to shake. Talia ran out to the elevator. She had to get away from all of them.

Roxanne gasped and looked confused for a moment, before quickly standing up and running out of the room. What the hell was that?!

"Wait! Talia, no!" She turned towards Burnett. "Don't just stand there! She can't go to Elisa's place alone, it's dangerous at this hour of the night!" She told Owen.

"Talia!" They ran after her.

She had a good knowledge of the castle's exits and a head start. Talia wasn't sure if her vision was still blurry, but the walls zoomed past. She found the passage to the lower part of castle. Roxanne ran as fast as she could, but didn't know the castle as good as Talia. She chose to get outside of the building and wait there.

"It's useless to run after her, come!" She grabbed Owen's arm and pulled him towards the elevator and went down to the lobby. "Call Maza, tell her that Talia wants to go to her house."

Owen pulled out his phone and dialed the detective. It rang.

"Hello?" Elisa asked.

"Talia is trying to get your house. Roxanne said it's dangerous." Owen said.

"She was fine last night. What did you do?!" Elisa berated him.

"The genius here told Talia that her parents are dead!" Roxanne huffed from afar as she pushed the button to get to the ground floor faster.

"Roxanne? Is that you?" Elisa asked, confused.

"Yes, I understand I made a mistake. Stop berating me." Owen hissed. "What exactly is going on?"

Roxanne grabbed the phone. "Look, just know that Talia is very upset, she's confused, sad and angry, and she's going to your place. Can she stay there with you for a couple of days, until she has calmed down?"

"Sure. I'll watch her." Elisa agreed.

Talia was in the staff stairwell when she realized Owen might stop her. Her eyes flared. The elevator groaned to a stop. Roxanne and Owen stumbled.

"Yes please. Owen could bring her some clothes tomorrow morning-" Roxanne gasped when the elevator suddenly stopped. "I can't believe this..."

Owen's eyes narrowed. "How convenient. Elisa, we'll talk later."

"Owen, what's going-" He hung up.

"What is happening?" Roxanne asked him.

"The elevator appears to be stuck. I'll call the maintenance manager." He said.

"Wonderful..." Roxanne groaned; she let herself slide down the elevator's metallic wall and sat on the ground. "Now she really hates us. Because you and Xanatos lied to her."

"Perhaps it wasn't my place to tell her..." He muttered.

"The who? Who should've told her?! Not me! I'm just her bodyguard!" Roxanne roared. "I'm not her mother or her sister or-or anything! I'm nothing!" She remained silent for a moment. "I shouldn't have gotten so close. It should've been just an easy job, protect a spoiled brat...but then I saw that she wasn't a spoiled rich girl at all, and got attached..."

"Talia seems to bring it out of us." Owen smiled ruefully. "You were there for her when she needed someone. She'll forgive you."

"I don't understand...why do I have this need to protect people?" She sighed. "Hey, uh...sorry if I called you an insensitive idiot...I was angry."

"It's alright. Everyone was emotional then." Owen said. "It's not a bad thing to want to protect. Roxanne, you've only been here a short time, but you've made a difference."

"Oh, I made a difference alright..." She laughed, bitterly, and looked at Owen. "Why don't you sit here until someone arrives to get us out?" Roxie said, patting the spot next to her. In all fairness, she could've had pried the doors open, but she couldn't reveal her powers to him.

"Did something happen with Talia?" He asked, sitting down.

"You're going to get angry at me, and probably fire me...but..." Roxanne started telling Owen about what happened the night of the concert. Instead of saying that three vampires attacked Talia, she said it was a group of punks.

Owen's face was blank as he listened to Roxanne's story. "I can't say I'm surprised Talia would do such a thing. She's willful. But getting attacked..." His eyes grew stormy. "We were fools. We didn't teach her anything about the dangers of New York. Xanatos wanted her here and I-"

"Are you sure that it was him who wanted her here? Because to me, it seems like Xanatos doesn't much care about Talia. You on the other end..."

"Mr. Xanatos is getting better with parenthood. I do admit I have a soft spot for children. Talia is m- Talia is important to me." He sighed.

"You're sweeter than you like to show." She smiled. "We'll be stuck in here for a while. Tell me about yourself: any family?"

"I have many cousins. They drop by occasionally. Some more than others. You?" He asked.

"Oh, I...no. I'm all alone. Maybe that's why I told Talia that she's lucky to live here...even if things aren't perfect." She shrugged.

"Do you have any hobbies?" Owen looked at her.

"I like playing the piano. I like music in general; it calms my nerves and singing too."

Owen smiled. "I'm teaching Talia how to play. I've been told I have a decent voice as well."

"Really? That's great. We could do a duet...if we manage to get out of here..." She trailed off.

"We'll get out, don't worry. We're close to the lobby. The maintenance workers response quickly." Owen told her.

Roxanne shifted closer to the man. "I hope that Talia arrived safe and sound...speaking of her...she knocked me down with some sort of green light." She turned towards Owen. "Who is she really?"

"Talia is still the same girl you know and care for." Owen took off his glasses and began to clean them.

Roxanne tilted her head. His eyes shifted from blue to green and started to take a hypnotic effect. Even with her high will power, she couldn't resist the hypnosis and eventually caved in.

"She's the same girl I know and care for..." The woman repeated.

"That's right. Talia was upset, but she will forgive you after she spends some time with Elisa." Owen put his glasses back on.

"My head hurts a little..." Roxanne murmured closing her eyes and leaning on Owen's shoulder.

"It's alright. You just have a headache." He said softly.

A few minutes passed without either of them saying a word. The Beast inside her was getting hungry and she hoped to go hunt as soon as possible. Although...why go hunting when she had something so deliciously tempting right next to her?

"Owen... Has anyone ever told you...what beautiful eyes you have?" She purred, straddling the man with natural grace. She caressed the blond's cheek softly.

"Roxanne?" He asked.

"A lovely shade of blue...the same one can see on a cold, winter day..." Her face got closer to his. "Kiss me." Roxanne murmured as her eyes flashed pink.

Her breath felt cool on his lips. It spurred him on. Made him bold. Owen threaded his hand through her hair and kissed her. Roxanne let him do what he wanted, reeling him in carefully. Then, she started to kiss him on the cheek, jawline, neck, collarbone...when she found a good position, she bit him.

"Just one sip." She thought.

Owen was in haze. All he felt was pleasure. This was nice. Roxanne was pretty. Did the room move? He didn't care.

She savoured every crimson drop, his blood tasting of books, clean shirts and tea. It had a calming, relaxing effect on her along with his fresh, intoxicating aftershave. Her Beast begged for more, but she resisted the urge and stopped, licking the bite marks. Owen furrowed his brow. What happened? Oh, right. He made out with Roxanne. The elevator began to move downward. He tried to stand up, but swayed.

"Easy there, Casanova, you're not used to all of this." Roxanne chuckled, helping him to stand up and fixing his collar shirt. "And yet you truly kiss like an expert playboy."

"I- You were wonderful as well." He paused and started to take off his jacket. "We can't have you indecent."

"I don't think the maintenance workers will be against it." She laughed, but accepted the jacket anyway.

"I prefer they don't see too much." Owen buttoned it for her.

Once out of the elevator (and after a few curious glances from the workers and security guard), Roxanne asked Owen to call Elisa and make sure that Talia was there, safe and sound.

"Hello, detective. Is Talia there?" Owen asked as soon she picked up.

"Yeah, I had her take a bath and we ate Chinese. She's sleeping now." Elisa told him.

Roxanne felt relieved and took another elevator with Owen while he talked on the phone. The maintenance workers guaranteed her that there was nothing wrong with the elevator, that it probably was just a brief power interruption that blocked it temporarily.

"I'll be by tomorrow and bring Talia some clothes. Don't worry about Mister Xanatos. I'll handle him." Owen reassured.

"It makes me so angry that you didn't tell her. I can't believe you." Elisa hissed.

"Hey, he already feels guilty enough. He's sorry for not telling her sooner, but he just didn't want to hurt her, okay?" Roxanne said from behind Owen.

"Fine, whatever. But if Talia doesn't want to come back with you, I won't make her. She's been grounded ever since the gargoyles left the castle." Elisa said.

"That's an exaggeration." Owen said.

"Barely. I'll see you tomorrow." Elisa hung up.

The woman sighed and got out of the elevator once they reached the last floor. "What a night."

"Indeed. You go get dressed and I'll go talk to Xanatos. We've made enough of a stir already." Owen said.

"We could make some more..." Roxanne smirked, sliding one finger over Owen's chest. "Why don't you go tell Xanatos about what happened and then join me into my bedroom?"

"Yes. I like that plan better." Owen gulped.

"Then go ahead...I'll be waiting." She winked and entered the room.

Owen went to Xanatos' office. Pausing to steel himself, he pushed the door open. Xanatos was on the phone. He hung up when he saw Owen.

"Yes, Owen?"

"I came to tell you, sir, before anyone else. The elevator was stuck for a bit. Roxanne and I were in it. She, uh, was still in her nightwear." Owen's cheek were dusted pink.

"Ah. So that's why security just called me to tell me that the elevator was successfully repaired." Xanatos grinned with a twinkle in his eyes. "I'm happy that you're getting closer to Roxanne like I asked you. Any news?"

"Yes, but you won't be happy about it. Apparently, the other night while we were at the charity event, Talia snuck out to go see a rock concert. Roxanne said some punks attacked her, but she and Brooklyn intervened. The gargoyles wanted to see Talia was alright. As for tonight..." Owen's lips twisted into a grimace. "I told Talia her parents are dead. She ran to Elisa. That's why we were in the elevator."

Xanatos rubbed his face and exhaled. "Wonderful...so not only she risked her life, but now she's not even here. And what's worse is that she's becoming more affectionate to the gargoyles and hates us even more." He leaned over the desk. "Owen...Puck. I know that you insisted on keeping the girl here, but...it isn't working. She obviously prefers Maza's company to mine or yours."

"Sir, please! She needs to stay. I can't let Ob- Let me work on it from Puck's side of things. Talia likes him." Owen pleaded. "I almost lost her once. Don't make me go through that again."

"Then maybe you should tell her how much you care about her instead of faking that it was me who wants to adopt her." He crossed his arms. "The more you lie to her, the more she gets away."

"Yes, I should have. I will. But let her keep your last name. That's all I ask." Owen nodded feverishly.

"Well, if it matters so much to you...I will." David smiled. He stood up and patted Owen's shoulder. "Have a good night, Owen. Tomorrow evening I have a date with Fox."

"I hope you have good date with Fox, sir." Owen regained his composure. He left Xanatos' office and went to Roxanne's room.

"...he's a Lasombra?" Owen could hear from inside the bedroom. Roxanne seemed to be talking to the phone. "Shit. T, I'm not sure I can do this...what do you mean 'then don't'? I have to do this! If I don't, an innocent girl will constantly be in danger." She huffed. "No, I don't need any help, just information. Yes I'm sure. Look I don't want anyone else to be involved...but I appreciate the thought. Alright. Bye."

Owen waited a minute until he was sure Roxanne was done on the phone. Whoever T was or whatever a Lasombra was could wait until tomorrow. He'd just add it the list of things to tell his boss later. Right now, he just wanted to be with Roxanne.

"Roxie?" Owen knocked.

"Heeey, lover boy..." She greeted him in a long, black T-shirt with the symbol of Queen on it. "How did it go? I hope he didn't get mad at you."

"He was disappointed that Talia ran off twice in one week. Told me I needed to tell her I cared for her." Owen walked in. "Your job is safe, by the way."

"Good. So I can keep staying with you and Talia." She smiled. "From now on, be always honest with her."

"Yes, I understand that now. Enough about my mistake. I want to finish what we started earlier." Owen stepped toward her.

Roxanne smiled and sat on the bed. He followed her lead. She loosened his tie. They kissed and laid in bed together.