Chapter 52

“Caine is dead,” said Nikola as Dimitri was cutting up his pancakes, which were generously covered in cream.

“Good riddance,” Dimitri picked up some pancake with his fork and brought it to Nikola’s lips. “How do you know, by the way?”

“Satan told me,” said Nikola as he ate the pancake. He found that there were herbs in the cream, and he rolled his eyes. “Couldn’t skip the opportunity to cook my blood, could you?”

Dimitri grinned devilishly at him. He seemed to be honest about his indifference about Caine’s death. So, why had he attempted to end it all during their last life?

“Hypothetically, if you were to live through a time loop, what would you have done?” Asked Nikola, and Dimitri tilted his head to the side.

“I’d attempt to end the world, thereby ending the time loop. But, I have never been through something like that. So, no worries, my angelic morsel,” Dimitri finished with a wink and Nikola smiled brightly at him. Happy that Dimitri was still being honest.

“I have been thinking, how do you feel about us doing something together. Like, joined courses or exercising or, whatever you like, I guess,” suggested Nikola and Dimitri regarded him with an amused look.

“You are hiding something from me,” the blonde said nonchalantly, and Nikola feared for a moment that Dimitri had broken through his VPN.

“I am not. I am honest with you, Dimitri,” Dimitri chuckled at the lie.

“You knew about me before I came to pick you up. You knew my name before I told you. Furthermore, you knew of my love for painting and posed for one, like you have done so before. If you want to avoid seeing my back come nightfall, I propose you spill the beans, morsel,” Nikola paled and wondered with what he could lie to Dimitri. Coming up blank, he decided to say the truth.

“You and I were in a time loop for billions of years,” began Nikola as Dimitri nodded. “We attempted to kill each other for most of that time.”

“And you are masochistic enough to still go to bed with me?” Nikola chuckled at that and agreed with Dimitri wholeheartedly.

“So, you became the Devil at one point and, when you couldn’t take it all anymore, you decided to bring about Gehenna. And you were successful,” Dimitri’s eyes widened, and he speared Nikola’s pancake with the fork.

“So, you were playing with me last night?” Nikola could recognize this tone of voice from the many outbursts Dimitri had had over the years.

“I fell in love with you, along the way,” defended himself Nikola. “But you wanted to keep me locked in Hell with our other lovers, and I couldn’t let that happen. Dimitri, I love you, I do. But you had to be stopped.”

Dimitri nodded and waved a finger at Nikola.

“And now, you get to have it all?” Nikola hoped so, but Dimitri was already standing up and picking up his things. “Thanks for the snack and the shag, but you lost your appeal.”

Nikola blinked at that. He knew, on some level, that this was not his Dimitri. His Dimitri had died when he got thrown out of the time loop. But he had still hoped.

“I can’t stop you from leaving. I’ll give you a key, so you can stay in the apartment while the sun is out,” supplied Nikola, defeated. Dimitri nodded and pointed at the pancakes.

“Do eat that, I made it from scratch,” Nikola began to eat mechanically. What was he going to do now that Dimitri wanted nothing to do with him? Was this the price for the end of Gehenna? Because, he guessed he could pay it, but it was too steep.

He finished eating and then checked out Malkav’s brain out of habit. Malkav was currently with a blonde woman in bed, taking his time. Nikola sucked in a breath. He had seen his once sire with her for a while now, but had thought nothing of it. Now, he had a choice to make.

Nikola could attempt to break them up, but should he? Malkav looked happy. Happier than he had ever looked when he had been with Nikola. He checked on Vasilisa and found him in his house, content as can be.

Vasilisa had been fine on his own, Nikola supposed. To ruin that was selfish. His spider had never forgiven him for humanizing him. So, all three of them were lost to him.

Taking his car keys, he exited and left a key for Dimitri on the little table next to the door.

“Have a nice day, Dimitri,” he called and received a wave from the blonde. Nikola hoped that, when he came back after work, he would see him again.

Going out, he made a mental note to spend the day the way he wanted to. And, if he ended up alone after this, then, that was fine. He would figure out what to do with his eternity, and he would try not to think about what he lost.

As he was starting the car, his thoughts went to Matthew and Ivan. Matthew was ten now, all adorable and shy. And Ivan was still in high school, dreaming about jumping from planes, most like.

Nikola drove the car aimlessly and ended up before the building of his firm. He hadn’t been in there for months — now. Trusting his puppet to take care of things. He figured that now was as good time as any to see how his firm was progressing.

These days, he had ordered his puppet to hire people he knew would become master inventors or big shot programmers. Granted, he knew that they would break from the firm in time, but for now, he could pick their brains.

The receptionist let him in, and he made his way to his office on the third floor. He had not wanted to be on the top floor, so people could think he was approachable. A coffee later and he began to review his marketing campaign.