The following chapter is an example of why this story is rated T.
Warning: Contains scenes with some intense, tantalizing, adult-type acts of ALMOST touching. There's a strong possibility that there will be other chapters like this to come. If your person is offended by such things, turn back now!
For you "Gavendra" fangirls out there, it's not much, but, enjoy. :)
Disclaimer - That's right, I don't own Fablehaven, Brandon Mull does. Sad day.
"Come with me Kendra. Let your demon prince make your day all better." His voice echoed around her. She was sitting in his nest. How had she gotten there?
"Kennnnndrrraaa," he cooed, closer, but still unseen. She tried to stand but couldn't make her legs work. Everything was hazy. Kendra's instincts screamed at her to get out of there. Desperately she put her hands on her knees pulling hard to make them move.
"You could stay up here with me," she heard him say again, a whisper behind her. She craned her neck wildly to and fro in vain.
She felt his warm, calloused hands on her shoulders. She froze. Lightly he traced his finger a symbol Kendra didn't recognize on her back.
"What does it mean?" Her voice sounded metallic and distant to her own ears.
He clucked softly. She wasn't sure if he disapproved of the meaning or of her asking what it meant.
Kendra could feel him, his warmth, his purposefully poised muscles, through the back her shirt. It was maddening. When he spoke again his breath was hot on her ear, "Why is it that the transition from thinking of me as Gavin instead of Navarog, despite your hatred, came so easily for you Kendra? Is it because you once thought fondly of me and wish you could do so again? Have you considered that you may have feelings for me? Even now, as I am."
No, Kendra thought. No, no, no. He was wrong.
Gavin inhaled and exhaled slowly, allowing the breaths to come like gentle caresses onto the nape of her neck. "The translation is in the common demon tongue is," he made an awful gargling sound. "Demons do not know affection as humans do. Possession is as close as they can get to attachment." She felt him smile. "The translation in your tongue is 'my own'."
"No," Kendra groaned, "this isn't right." Gavin's chest did that rumbly thing again. Kendra discovered that she found the habit very attractive.
"Come. Let your Demon Prince make your day all better."
*.*.*.*.*
Kendra's eyes flew open. She pulled herself up and placed her sweaty face in her hands, breathing heavily. A shaky moan escaped her quivering lips.
What a dream.
Um, more like crazy, erotic nightmare, Imaginary Seth's voice sounded disgusted. Kendra felt a flush come to her cheeks. She'd never had a dream like that before. She'd heard of them - her friends had talked about them at sleepovers a lot - but she herself had never had the experience. It was exhilarating; it was terrifying.
But Gavin didn't think of her like that. Not really. He couldn't. Any coquetry had been a show, merely another way to make the situation unpleasantly uncomfortable for her. Having an ero â a dream like that meant that she was letting him get to her. No more. Forcibly pushing the images from her dream out of her mind, Kendra resolved to never have a dream like that again.
Kendra lifted her head out of her hands. How long had she been out? No sign of Gavin, thankfully.
She looked down at her gown. It was soaked, and she smelled awful. She glanced at the dressing partition. What Kendra needed was a bath. She got out of bed and crossed the room. Halfway, she faltered.
A glance toward the stairs was accompanied with a preoccupation that Gavin might come in while she was indecent. She couldn't very well go up there and tell him to leave her alone. Could she?
What if she did? He'd be furious. Still, she couldn't let him bully her. She had to let him know she wasn't afraid of him at some point. What if he was in dragon form though? He could eat her, or tear her to shreds.
She deliberated briefly. Her final decision was to peek, see if he was in dragon form - if he was just forget about the whole thing, and if he wasn'tâĤ. She would decide what to do from there.
Ascending the steps gradually, she approached the top. Could it even be opened from this end? Reaching the end of the stairs, Kendra groped in the shadows. Her fingers landed on a pliable material just above her crown. Kendra pushed up against the lid. It didn't budge. She flexed her arms and pushed harder. Nothing.
Kendra huffed in frustration. She punched the lid awkwardly. A blue light blinked into existence. It was a round, crystal button with glowing letters underneath written in blocky script that read:
Sairon Mirima
PRESS IN CASE LID IS STUCK
Kendra blinked her eyes. Was it a trick? Maybe Imaginary Seth was influencing her judgment; regardless, she pressed the button lightly.
Clasps were audibly undone. With a pop, the lid opened slightly.
Cautiously, Kendra raised the lid. She put one foot out, then another. She crawled out of alcove, and turned to look at the vast nest. No sign of a dragon yet.
Kendra couldn't reach the lip of the nest. Digging her feet in, pricking herself painfully in several different places, she hoisted herself up. It only took a few seconds for her to reach the top.
Gavin lay about ten feet away, curled in the fetal position, sleeping soundly. Tip-toeing, holding her breathe, she went to him. Upon arriving at his side, she kneeled.
His face was serene, his lips parted slightly. Kendra was struck by how vulnerable he looked. A single bead of sweat glided down his temple. She noticed he was tense. Maybe he was having a nightmare. She had seen Seth have nightmares and it looked like that. Instinctively, she leaned in for a closer look.
Gavin's eyes opened. A quizzical look flashed across his face. Kendra opened and closed her mouth, forgetting what it was she had wanted to say.
Gavin recovered, his countenance becoming condescending once more. "Trying to escape?" He raised an eye-brow at her, pushing himself up, twisting his torso, leaning on one elbow. Kendra speculated that the pose might be considered provocative by some.
Not that she herself found it overtly so. She could just understand where some people might surmise such a thought.
Gavin cocked his head, waiting.
Kendra recovered her wits.
Rolling her eyes, she retorted, "Yes. I woke you up to tell you I was escaping."
He cocked his head to the other side. For an instant, in her mind's eye, Kendra saw an image of Gavin with a long tail, flicking to and fro in a very feline-esk fashion.
"Then what are you doing up here?"
Kendra did her best to sound cool when she replied with, "I came to tell you that I am going to take a bath, and you are going to wait thirty minutes before coming down there."
Gavin snorted. "And if I don't acquiesce to your demands?"
Kendra was about to say she'd strangle him, but one look into his eyes said he knew exactly what she was thinking. She needed to catch him off guard. Kendra considered the best route to take. She wasn't certain about how he would take it, but she had a thought, something he wouldn't expect. There was no time to hesitate, or to try to work through possible consequences.
"Please, Gavin. We were friends once. You said you really liked me. Yes, I'm stuck here, and at your mercy, and all that jazz. If you want to pull me around by my hair yelling 'woman!' like a Neanderthal, I can't stop you." God it hurt to humble herself in front of him. At least he was listening so far.
"If your Master brought you back from the dead, and is as powerful as you claim, the world doesn't stand a chance anyway. Out there," Kendra threw a hand toward the arched doorway. "The Society, your Master, and the rest of the world are laying down the blue-prints for whatever is about to happen. We're not out there though, not yet. Look I'm sure you choose your path a long time ago. You and I will forever be enemies, I understand that. I don't expect you to be nice to me, or to do me any favors." Kendra stopped. Her next words were going to be risky. The thought had been on her mind ever since Gavin had sent them hurtling towards the earth. His bitterness had to be addressed, elsewise any bridge between them would bear the weight of possibly being jeopardized in the future.
"My Dad used to tell me 'misery loves company'. I think you feel miserable, Gavin. I think wherever you went when you â well, when Raxtus â um, ate you." She didn't know how else to put it. She watched for a reaction. His face was an emotionless mask. "You maybe didn't like every part of who you were. Not saying you didn't want to be a friend-consuming, evil dragon/demon prince," she amended hastily, "but, possibly, you were missing a certain amount of satisfaction." Once glance at his clenched fists was signal enough to change direction.
"Nobody's here but us. Couldn't we at least be cordial to each other?" There. She was finished.
Gavin regarded her disinterestedly. "Are you done psychoanalyzing me now, Doctor Sorenson? I want you to know, I have eaten people for less impudence." He sounded vexed, but he didn't look it.
"Eat me then," she challenged, crossing her arms.
"I don't eat things that smell like you do right now. You'd probably give me indigestion. Go take a bath, and I'll eat you later." He laid back down, and closed his eyes, signaling the end of the conversation.
Kendra got up and walked away. She thought he was looking at her, but she didn't turn around to see. Climbing back over the nest, she returned to the cabin. She shut the lid of the steamer trunk behind her.
Biting back a triumphant smile, she set about cleaning out the tub.
*.*.*.*.*
Feeling refreshed Kendra sat on the edge of her bed waiting. She had washed her clothes in the sink with cold water, and hung them over the dressing partition. She was currently wearing the size-to-big-for-her khaki shorts, and the red tank top she'd found in the chest. The tank top was cut with a V-neck that would have been fine on a person with broader shoulders and a more ample chest; but, on Kendra's small frame it revealed a little more than she was comfortable with. Hopefully it would escape his notice.
"You're look fetching," came the voice, ever laced with sarcasm.
Kendra grimaced. She guessed her thirty minutes of freedom were up. Now came the hurricane.
She looked up. For the first time Kendra noticed Gavin's clothes. He was wearing a plain, black t-shirt, and faded denim jeans. She couldn't remember if he'd been wearing shoes earlier, but he was presently barefoot.
"All freshened up." Kendra said mildly. "Well, as fresh as I can be without any soap. I'm sorry if I don't taste like my usual white tea and ginger body-wash."
"I'm fairly certain I've lost my taste for anything related to fairies," he said. Kendra assumed he was referring to the Incident.
"Well if you aren't going to eat me, why are you here?"
"I'm here to tell you why you're here," Gavin snapped.
"Oh." Kendra suppressed her anticipation. "Okay. Before you do though, I wanted to tell you I've figured it out."
Gavin furred his brow suspiciously. "Figured what out, exactly?"
"Mark Twain. You said you played cards with a guy who looked like Albert Einstein in Hell. The quote is, I believe, 'Go to heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.'" Inwardly, Kendra smiled, as something akin to admiration danced in his eyes.
As quickly as it came, so it went. "Well done, Kendra." Gavin looked around the room. "Now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way, do I have your leave to continue on?"
Kendra was well aware that he wasn't seriously asking her permission; nevertheless, she nodded her consent.
Without further ado, Gavin began. "My Master has designs involving the reopening of the Zzyzx. We know that the Knights are weeks away from giving immortality to certain individuals. A person we have on the inside," Gavin sneered at Kendra's surprised expression, "No Kendra, the Society is not as weak as you supposed. We have obtained a copy of the list of names of those up for an Eternal title." Kendra was glad she was sitting down. This was not good news.
"The Master selected a group of his most capable servants to retrieve each of those named on the list. Kidnapping was an option for the few who might prove useful at a later date, death if they resisted capture. I opted to fetch you and bring you here for a time; till my Master has completed the first few stages of the plan."
"You know, some of the Society members had the gall to question my capabilities after what happened at the other sanctuary." He scowled. "The Master emphasized to them that he had brought me back, fully aware of the situation, and absolutely confident in my ability to do what must be done."
Kendra fancied she heard more hostility than usual in Gavin's tone.
I get it. Imaginary Seth piped up. He's on probation, so he was assigned babysitting duties. Ha! Imaginary Seth snickered.
"And those who were deemed not useful?" Kendra knew who else was on that list. Many of them were her friends. Anxiety clutched at her heart.
"Do you realize," Gavin continued, pointedly ignoring her question, "how easy it was to capture you?"
"Yes," Kendra admitted begrudgingly, "all you had to do was wait until I left the preserve, unaccompanied."
"I did try to break in at first." He admitted. "But I couldn't get past the protective wards. At one point, I recall becoming phenomenally frustrated, and letting out the most embarrassingly loud roar."
"That was you!" Kendra cried out, before thinking. "But Verl said he'd heard it right in his ear! It couldn't have been you."
"Ventriloquism is one of my many talents." Gavin said dryly. "There is a lot about me you don't know, Doctor Sorenson, and even less you could guess."
"How did you know I was in the woods? How could you have possibly known?"
"I would like to defer to my earlier statement."
"... So you knew I would go to my Grandpa, back to the house, if I was upset. But how would you know that I would have to get Grandma Sorenson's prescription? You would have to be able to see the future. That's beyond you Gavin, with all of your talents." Kendra insisted.
He just stared at her. She wavered. "That's impossible." Kendra thought back to the night. She bit down on the inside of her cheeks How had he known she was leaving the preserve? Surely there another explanation.
Gavin took her silence as acceptance of the implications.
Grinning, he said, "I rest my case."
He's bluffing. Come on Kendra, it's so obvious. Imaginary Seth was practically shouting at Kendra.
She smiled broadly up at him. "No. Not you. Your Master."
Gavin frowned. She'd ruined his game. "Ah, you are less gullible than I though. Yes, foresight is a gift my Master possess."
"And necromancy." Kendra guessed. Gavin's face paled. She'd struck a chord.
"What was it like being dead, Gavin?" Kendra asked softly, holding his gaze.
Gavin bristled. "Why don't you ask you Grandparents - the Larsens?"
"NO!" Kendra shouted, flying to her feet.
"Yes," Gavin nodded. "When was the last time you saw them alive Kendra? I hope you can remember the day clearly, because that's the last time you will ever see them. Did you really think the Society would so easily forget the slight done to them?"
He relaxed his pose. "By the by, the rest of your friends have already been, or are close to being assassinated as well."
Kendra fought back the urge to cry. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Does it hurt Kendra? Picturing all those you know on the list, those you hold very dear to your heart, lifeless?" Gavin walked over to her, his countenance leering.
"You want me to worry about them." Kendra gasped in realization. The villain."This is pay back for earlier!"
He chuckled enigmatically. "I told you would rue the day you made me regret my goodwill toward you. Silly girl, I don't compromise." Gavin suddenly swooped down, forcing Kendra back onto the bed. His arms trapped her on either side. He craned in, his hot breath on her cheek. A wave of deja vu hit Kendra. His lips brushed her cheek, moving scarcely, smoothly uttering two words that set Kendra atremble to the core: "I conquer."