667: Issue #7 Pt. 2 "The Seventh Son"

Because of the diverse conditions of humans, it happens that some acts are virtuous to some people, as appropriate and suitable to them, while the same acts are immoral for others, as inappropriate to them.

~Thomas Aquinas

Asher gratefully agreed to come back with us and we had our things packed and in the crossover in under an hour. Sam didn’t want to see him go, but he knew that it was for the best.

Several hours later we pulled up in front of the old antebellum mansion and filed out of the car; we were home…if you could call it that.

“This place is impressive.” Asher took in the scenery, the smell of the marsh, and the twinkle of the stars in the sky over the field. I knew that look in his eye; I was the same way when I had first arrived.

“It should be; it belongs to me.” Cassandra was standing at the top of the stairs with her arms crossed over her chest and a smile on her face. The door opened behind her and Henri came running out before practically jumping into Adam’s arms.

“Good to see you too, brotha'!” Adam clapped him on the back as Cassandra beckoned for us to come inside.

She led us down the hall to the dining room and had us leave our bags by the door before entering.

“Ah! The whole gang is here.” Josiah’s gold tooth glinted in the dim light of the room as he tapped the table for us to sit.

Everyone was here tonight, including Medusa, and she winked at me when we sat down.

“So, this must be Asher.” Josiah shook his hand as he sat down nearest the Houngan.

“Yes, sir and you must be Josiah.” Asher nodded before settling into his chair.

“I’m just going to get right to the point because it’s happy-hour and I want to relax in the sitting room.

We know about your past for the most part, but according to the others, you seem to be a man of virtue and honesty. We would like to welcome you to stay with us for the time being but under a few stipulations.” Josiah adjusted himself in his seat as Asher nodded for him to go on.

“You must get our permission before leaving the house. Even though you don’t have a startling appearance like the others, we try to keep everyone close as much as we can due to what you encountered last night. It’s better that we all stay together instead of striking out on our own. We also ask that you respect the house and the people in it—Cassandra is generous enough to let everyone stay here and we like to have a stress free environment. If we head out on a mission, if that’s what you want to call it, there is a possibility that you will need to assist the group every time with very few exceptions. Does that sound doable to you?” Josiah finished with the rules and waited for Asher’s answer.

“Completely doable.” Asher agreed.

“Then it’s settled; welcome to the Mansion.” Josiah shook his hand again and hurried from his seat to start a night of relaxing with the spirits.

Franklin and Leo welcomed him in turn before he received a hug from both Medusa and Cassandra as the lot of them retired to the sitting room.

“Nice to meet you, Seven.” It was Henri’s turn to introduce himself.

“You can call me Asher.” He nodded at Henri.

“I like Seven; it’s mysterious and a high vibrational number.” Henri laughed and actually elicited a chuckle from Asher.

“Why don’t you have Adam show you around while we finish getting your room ready.” Henri directed his brother to take Asher on a tour—I assumed I was going to get an earful.

“Can I talk to you?” Henri held his arm out for me to take and led me upstairs where we could speak privately.

I felt like this sort of thing was happening a lot because no one could be honest in this group all at the same time…

“So, what’s going on with you and Seven?” Henri took me into a spare bedroom and had me help him make the bed up.

“What do you mean?” Was it that obvious?

“Adam told me the two of you have gotten—close.” Henri raised an eyebrow at me.

“We have.” I nodded, pulling the sheet snug at the corners.

“How close?” Henri was right up against me as he spoke.

“Is it any of your business?” I raised both brows at him as I placed my hands on my hips.

“Just—” He started.

“Don’t you dare tell me to be careful, Henri Baudin. Your brother and Khaine have already said as much. I’m not jumping into bed with him, just seeing where this goes.” I tossed the pillows onto the bed with a grunt.

“I know you can handle your own, Violet, but I think you are all rather vulnerable after the transformation and we just don’t want you getting into something based on a whim.” Henri’s words were caring but misplaced.

“I really like him, Henri. He’s—I don’t know. Sweet, thoughtful, selfless—trying to battle the same Demons as we are.” That last part was hardly a metaphor.

“I just don’t want you to confuse your noble empathy for love. You want to save all of your kind, but don’t let those feelings masquerade as something deeper and vice versa. Am I making any sense?”

Sort of, Henri.

“Are you saying that we could be rebounding off of one another as if this transformation was a bad breakup with our former lives? I would like to think that our feelings are deeper than that.” I understood what he was saying, though. Some of us had love to lean on in this, but others now felt utterly alone. Like Adam said—would we ever be able to find love now?

“I know you feel something for him; Adam told me about the kiss. Or several rather.” Henri just stared at me.

I hadn’t been the one to tell Adam, but I figured he’d find out sooner or later. I didn’t even know how to go about approaching the subject with anyone, let alone him, and after he told me about his heartbreak with Jessica I really wasn’t sure what to say.

“We did kiss—a few times—and he took me on a date. We want to take it slowly.” I felt ashamed again. I was not taking certain things seriously because I felt like I needed to rebel a little bit, but it could have cost us so much.

“I know about the date; Adam was beside himself, Violet. He was worried that something awful was going to happen to you while you were alone with Seven; he wanted me to try and find you magickally last night because he didn’t know what else to do. If you want to be with this man, that’s okay, but don’t do something like that again. You had everyone worried and we don’t want anything happening to you.” Henri threw a long arm around my shoulder and drew me in for a hug.

“I understand that now. Some things weren’t translated correctly and I was wrongfully upset with Adam, but we talked about it.” I sucked my lips in, thinking hard on what Adam had said about Jessica the night before. It was still hurting him so much…

“Jessica was nothing but a bitch; I never liked her, but Adam sure did; he loved her. It was false though—he loved the thought of her, but she was nothing like him and she finally proved that to me when she just abandoned him in their old apartment. It threw his whole world for a loop: he had to find a new place to live, quit volunteering at the community center because he had to work full time, and his music had been slow going. He picked up DJing again to pay the bills, but he wanted to do more. He doesn’t talk much about his past, but his life wasn’t a simple one. Just take it easy on him and don’t mention that I said anything; he’s sort of a private person.” Henri filled in some of the blanks surrounding Adam’s behavior and I felt terrible for even snapping at him last night.

If it wasn’t for him I might have been dead right now…or worse, manipulated in

to joining the other side.

“I will. I don’t want to hurt him any more than he already has been. He’s been here for me longer than anyone at this point—and you of course.” I tugged lightly on Henri’s collar with a smile and he hugged me again.

“I like you, Violet. None of us want you going anywhere and it is going to take time to get this team together and really understand and trust one another. It’ll happen though; I can see it in the cards.” Henri laid out an afghan on the bed before setting a bag of hotel toiletries on the night table.

“I like you too. I’m going to go see how the tour is going.” I smiled gingerly and took my leave from the bedroom.

I had a lot to think about tonight.