Choosing to say out of the Alliance, the Cinders are isolated in their own conflicts, and when Helia Cinder reaches to the void for answers, she inadvertently draws a creature out. Expecting to be eaten alive, she is instead left with a man with no...
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The adobe they'd rented for the foreseeable future was as plain as the rest, a small square with rooms enough to give Pyre walls between him and the vampires, but not big enough to draw attention. The central area consisted of an elevated entryway before the house dug down into a circular dining area and small kitchen, but that was all there was. The main area connected to three rooms smaller than a closet in the mage complex, though they did have gracious closets.
The draft in the main area kept the heat from becoming unbearable, and small vents at the tops of the rooms maintained the flow of air, but it was still muggy and there was no electricity. They had pipes for basic indoor plumbing, but Pyre assumed the water was as warm as the climate.
Pyre found Helia's pet waiting in his room for her to return. His daughter was out grabbing food and supplies since she was the easiest to hide in a cloak, giving Pyre little time to communicate with Stone before Helia shielded him from every buzzing fly. She was so protective of the boy. It reminded Pyre that they were both so young, at the height of their youth before real life dug its talons in and swept them away into the constant conflict between mages and vampires.
The man's dark countenance would fit in with the people around here, in the desert village they'd tracked Blaze to. Certainly, Pyre was keeping his children in hiding, but he had no intention of sitting around while his cousin destroyed their house.
"Vampire," Pyre knew Stone's name, but he'd be damned if he used it aloud. The cretin lingered around his daughter like a shoulder parrot of death, but Pyre knew if he tried to get rid of him, Helia wouldn't stand for it. The best he could do was use him, and the man jumped up the moment he was called. Eerily obedient.
"Pyre Cinder," the vampire responded formally, bowing his head so that his dark hair shaded his grey eyes. "How may I be of service?" Even dressed in their mage attire, with no sensible magic, the glint of his fangs when he spoke made Pyre want to crush his skull. That wouldn't do well for his plan though.
"You're not a servant," Pyre said, forgetting his request for a moment as he tried to straighten the man out. It was a creature of the dark, but it wilted when Pyre approached, near scraped the ground every time he bowed to his family, and seemed to have no understanding that he could likely kill half of them before they could strike back in such crowded quarters.
That's why Pyre didn't like having him here.
"I know, but I would still gladly be of service if you require anything." The man sank his head lower when Pyre spoke, even when Pyre had just been trying to get him to have some dignity. The boy fiddled with his tan fingers and kept his shoulders hunched with his eyes cast at Pyre's feet.
"Why do you not find service to my house demeaning? Surely you know how we regard your kind, yet you practically yip at children's heals to do whatever they command." Pyre did not understand the man's motivations at all. Even if he lacked memories of who he was, he understood a vast amount about the world and the people in it. It should understand that Cinders regarded him as less and try to locate his memories without them.
