Tehya tried not to dwell on his admission of a god-born son. Death went hand in hand with such abilities, and she thought that Connor was probably right about him being better off passed from this world. Still, the conflict roiled deep inside, blanked from her expression. With a father like Connor, would the son really have grown into the sort of monster the Atharim had right to fear? Not a question she had any answers to, of course. The reminder of her own hypocrisies wearied her. What did Aria tell you? Not, apparently, that under the Regus's directives, for having spawned such a monstrosity in the first place his life might be held forfeit. He should keep his son's secret even in death, but she had warned him all she was able.
Connor had glanced beyond the veil, and she hoped he could go back to ordinary life quickly and peacefully. He paused before disembarking, as though hoping for her to thaw, but she had nothing to offer his earnestness. Her dark gaze followed him as he stepped off the train, then returned to the sniping youth opposite. I don't know, Elias. Let me check my book of bullshit. The retort skittered across the surface of her mind, but in the end he was not privy to her bald humour. Disapproval did not colour her gaze; she ignored the comment entirely.
He leaned back in his seat, scrutinising her through kohl-lined eyes. The study was mutual. Tehya had her own suspicions as to why the ijiraq had been caught in Elias's grip, and they did not mark him innocent. She was content to have no proof, and she was not interested in puzzling out the root of his secrets any more than she was keen to divulge her own - but what would have happened if he'd not let go? Gods had controlled ijiraq once. It might be nothing; she had precious little aside from circumstantial guesses, but she was unwilling to cast the benefit of doubt until she had enough information to decide whether what she had witnessed posed a threat.
"Cold,"
she said obliquely, as uninformative in its own way has his own answer had been. Her dark brows rose above sombre eyes. If he wanted honesty then it would be an equal bargain, and Tehya would be as forthcoming as she deemed appropriate given the line her vows stipulated. "It spoke to you, Elias. It vowed to come back."
Up until now she had been armed with purpose, and therein it lie unmasked. The why? was implicit, but unasked; she didn't expect him to have answers for that, nor probably to share whatever reaction the ijiraq's words had inspired, though her sombre and intent expression offered him the opportunity to confide.
"Connor gets to walk away because he can. Because he should. You can't. And I won't."
The promise came in a lazy, predatory way, unlit by zeal but fortified in fact. They could interrogate each other, peck crumbs from the leavings of each others' responses, and walk away unsatisfied. Or they could dispense the guardedness. He had no reason to trust her of course, but she gave him the choice to be candid with her. In the end it did not matter. Whether he worked with her or she worked in shadows, she would unravel this mystery. For now she demanded no more answers, but waited to see what he would offer. If he would offer anything at all.
The train carried onward, and Elias swayed gently with the movement. Her answer gave him pause. The mist had a chill about it, but not one born of droplets hovering in air, the sensation was mental, as though the creature twined those smokey fingers through their brains rather than their hands.
Yes, he shook his head in agreement. Cold disorientation was an apt description for the Ijiraq. Tehya's expression suddenly shifted; a warning before a proclamation.
Her words, "It spoke to you, Elias. It vowed to come back,"
were feathered with the sinister sounds of dark premise. For the first time in the conversation, since they exchanged looks when Connor jumped the tracks, he was uncomfortable with her attention. It shivered like fine hairs brushed on the back of his spine.
"Connor gets to walk away because he can. Because he should. You can't. And I won't."
Words of wary invoked suspicion. With the warning came the urge to rise to the occasion. To what end, other than continuance of their conversation, he did not know. Tehya was the sole connection to another human being he had in Moscow that lasted more than the few minutes it took to pass a store register or scan a passport; brought together by a series of strange circumstances, and locked in a steel subterranean tube.
"I hope it does return. I want to try something."
His hand curled into a fist; not of anger, as no accompanying expression darkened his features, but one of power. Of control. "It was like holding a raging storm in the palm of my hand."
The murky glaze faded from his eyes, refocused upon Tehya. His arm returned to his lap. "Imagine the power to turn a hurricane the other direction."
His voice trailed. Curious.
His confidence touched arrogance. It concerned her, the way he curled his fist, but more so the seductive manner in which he relayed his interpretation of events. Elias was not afraid; he was entranced. Given her suspicions Tehya understood the potential scope for danger here, knew too her duty. The ouroboros tightened on her wrist, coaxing her to be pre-emptive. The Atharim were not scholars; they did not study. They protected, and learned what they might from the ashes, to so increase their efficiency the next time.
Her conscience warred within, though his intention made things simpler; she had to do something. But her actions? The ijiraq promised to come back, and Elias told her he wished to try something. She should stop this.
But she didn't.
These thoughts passed mutely behind the dark gaze of her scrutiny. She accepted his words passively, but by her silence appeared to give them due consideration. Imagine the power to turn a hurricane the other direction. She could well imagine the possibility; it cored the Atharim's fear of powers unsuited to the shell of a mere man. Unease pitted her stomach, but she ignored it. "Why wait to be found, Elias?"
Hunted more like, but she did not wish to alienate his almost... kinship with the unnatural creature.
"I can help you find it."
Her offer pricked suspicion anew. After Elias was nearly settled into a casual conversation with a woman, too. She took him by surprise, this quaint, gentle girl. Her expression was haunted by doom, but teased the promise of heading demise off at the pass.
She? This girl? could help him, "Did you say you could help me find it?"
Amusement sparkled the surface of his eyes, not so much in that he thought himself immune to assistance, but rather for the sudden turn of demeanor. He clearly heard precisely what she said.
Pondering, and he swept a hand through waves of hair. Tehya was incredibly interesting. If it weren't for suspicion nipping at his heels like a used-car salesman, he might jump at the opportunity. With her darkly piercing eyes, perhaps he would anyway.
The corners of his lips perked ever so slightly. His answer was soft, but poised with confidence. "Alright."
Elias's rather caustic surprise didn't offend her. She'd spent a lifetime carefully manufacturing a quiet and forgettable image, so his amusement at her expense was strangely gratifying. Had the snake on her wrist not shielded a necessary barrier, she might have laughed at the dry humour, but she dampened the reaction and retreated from the social connection. This was the longest conversation she'd had with anyone besides one of her people since she'd arrived in Moscow, and even now the core of it came down to business. It was better to focus on that. She did not need to be friendly.
Her gaze waited patiently for an answer, and though she watched him closely, she gave no indication of desiring to press the issue. If he shied away it would not stop her hunting the ijiraq, but Elias was the best platform she had to make the task easier; she cringed at the term bait, but understood the harsh realities of her intentions. Tehya did not mean to sacrifice him unless he gave her a compelling enough reason to force her hand to the necessity; she thought of his blackening hand, the determined look that had held his features, and prayed to the Spirits that he would not.
To compound her internal conflict further, the faint impression of Elias's smile plummeted her stomach with guilt. It was the lightest emotion to cross his face since she'd met him on the platform, and in such a way it felt burdened with the gift of trust. She did not want to pierce that black, enclosed shell. Her gaze broke to watch the rush of darkness outside the window. "I'll need some time to prepare. How long are you staying in Moscow?"
His answer delivered, and Tehya's gaze fell elsewhere.
The tug at the corners of his lips faltered, and his expression turned thoughtful. The cynic within suggested it was the reflexive guilt of coming treachery, but the man within hoped her reaction was for entirely different reasons.
He did not often think of girls ... women, he corrected ... as more than passing companions. He steeled his heart against such distractions, armor that allowed him to focus on more desirable pursuits. The women in his world were typically decent people, but as for that blonde on the beach at Wellington, he viewed most with variable amounts of disinterest.
That Tehya wilted under his gaze, would rather seek the blackness of passing tunnels than meet the horizon of his gaze, it filled Elias with a strange new sensation. Most averted their gaze because they wished him invisible, like he were some blight on their pretty white-fenced Sunday School world.
He wasn't sure how he felt about the dynamic between them.
"I'm here until I get the answers I want, or until the questions lead me away,"
was his reply: crystalline, but cryptic. In truth, he was unsure himself. "My uncle was lost at sea. He has colleagues here whom might have answers."
It was his turn, then, to let his gaze drift.
His thoughts followed. Do you believe in monsters?
She heard his answer but did not reply immediately. The brevity offered by a metro ride was not enough time to smooth out the tangles of conflict in her mind, to arrange her intentions in a way she found morally acceptable. Hypocrisy shadowed every horizon when it came to the spirit-gifts breathed into mortal men. Sometimes she felt an echo of it in women, and those souls she avoided where she could. Men were a blank canvas, for which right now she was glad. But she could not avoid the issue forever; the infant gods consumed more and more of the Atharim's focus, and one day they would no longer slip beneath the supernatural veil. One day she would be required to pick a side.
Solemnity captured her expression; she looked beyond her own reflection, to the black beyond, and wished for a touch of wisdom to ease her troubles. When she finally returned to her apartment, she resolved to find the time and peace to meditate. Then she would begin to plan.
Eventually Tehya allowed her thoughts the freedom to disseminate Elias's words. She'd overheard his phone call, of course, which he must realise though she didn't feel a need to say. The information he had uncovered from his source at the Guardian had espoused tales of creatures, which any sane person would brush off as insanity. He had told her he believed in an explanation for everything. "I hope you find the answers you seek."
The sincerity was uncoloured by any other emotion, though she still seemed thoughtful.
She'd have preferred silence, but her attention returned to the call of duty. "A few days should suffice."
Ijiraq were rare and she might struggle to unearth helpful research, but she at least needed to verify some of the things Connor had said. Aria. The thought came abruptly. How else had Connor known how to hurt the creature, but for the furia? "I'll need a number to contact you. What will you do if it returns before then?"
Try something he had said, and it curled unease under her skin to imagine the possibilities. There was also his safety to think of, until they knew what the ijiraq actually intended.
The mystical Tehya wanted to see him again. He was unfamiliar with being pursued by girls; rather, they were more likely to step out of his way than follow after him.
He stifled a cool smile when he gave her his number. The ijiraq was far from his thoughts when they exchanged information. An answer did not immediately surface.
Her information appeared on the screen, "If it returns? I'll speak with it, I suppose. It seemed interested in talking."
There was a hint of perhaps a grander plan than merely chatting with a beast of the universe, although Elias had his own curiosities.
Lights around the cabin flashed their metro's next destination, Moscow State University, and Elias stood to depart. His uncle's Wallet was returned to the pocket of his trench.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Tehya."
His gaze glowered despite the niceties of his tone. "I'll see you soon."
A last moment of exchange and Elias slipped from the train.