Chapter Eight: Want
By month four, Kane had learned things he never knew had names.
He could bind thought to form, press will into runes, slip between layers of reality with a gesture. He understood the weave of emotions that powered Lanterns and could emulate them for a heartbeat—just enough to learn restraint.
Nelson had taught him how to shield his essence, how to dampen the humming beacon of power inside him. Most days now, Kane felt… stable. Controlled.
But some forces don't knock on doors. They just appear.
Tonight, he was meditating. Eyes closed, breath steady. Sitting in the attic beneath protective sigils drawn in chalk and iron dust.
That's when he felt it.
A presence.
Not like Death's still calm or Diana's divine weight.
This was… warmth. Heat curling up the spine. Honey on the tongue. An ache where there shouldn't be one. A want, blooming like fever.
His eyes opened.
Someone stood across from him. No footsteps. No warning.
They were neither man nor woman. Or maybe both. And neither. Desire had a face too perfect to describe, shifting between features—someone you'd loved, someone you'd envied, someone you'd wanted and hated for it. Their smile was knowing, like a secret whispered against skin.
They wore gold. A red heart pinned to their chest.
"Hello, Kane," Desire said.
The air thickened. He swallowed.
"You're—"
"Desire," they interrupted, stepping slowly around the chalk circle. They didn't cross it. Not yet.
"I didn't call you."
"You didn't have to. I wanted to see you."
Kane stood, not out of rudeness, but because sitting felt too vulnerable.
Desire's eyes flickered, amused. "You've gotten stronger. Nelson's been good for you. Better than I expected."
"You're here to warn me?"
They laughed—silken and sharp.
"Oh, no. Warnings are Dream's thing. I don't warn. I observe. And sometimes… I indulge."
Kane held their gaze. "And what are you indulging now?"
Desire tilted their head. "Curiosity."
He frowned. "You're curious about me?"
"Everyone's curious about you. They just don't want to admit it." They stepped a little closer now, brushing a finger along the edge of the chalk. "You're like a myth with a pulse. A presence that wasn't born the way things are supposed to be born. Power that wasn't earned, just… given. That's a very rare thing."
"You're not afraid of me?"
Desire's smile faltered—just for a blink. It returned quickly.
"No," they said. Too quickly.
Kane caught it. That flicker.
They were lying.
They were afraid.
But not the trembling kind of fear. The other kind. The kind that knows hunger might cost more than it's worth.
"You don't want anything?" he asked.
"I always want," Desire said simply. "But I'm not here to take. I'm here to understand."
"Why?"
"Because," they said, stepping back, "if you are what I think you are, then eventually the rest of my siblings will take interest. And I'd rather not be the last one in the room when that happens."
Kane watched them closely. "You want to use me."
Desire grinned. "Eventually. Maybe. But not today. Today… I just wanted to see you."
Their eyes traced him in that way that made Kane feel like a statue being measured for cracks.
"And now that you've seen me?"
Desire stepped toward the window. "Now I go. And I leave you with this: you think your power is a gift. But all gifts carry want. Someone gave you this for a reason. The question is—what did they want from you?"
Kane said nothing.
Desire paused at the window.
"One last thing," they added, glancing over their shoulder. "If you ever do want something—really want—it'll be hard for anyone to stop you. Especially yourself."
Then they vanished.
No light. No portal.
Just… gone.
---
Nelson found him hours later, still staring at the window.
"Let me guess," Nelson said, voice tight. "Smelled like perfume and lies?"
Kane nodded. "Desire."
Nelson poured him tea without asking. "Did they say what they wanted?"
"No. But they looked at me like a puzzle piece that shouldn't exist."
Nelson sighed. "That's what you are, kid. A piece from a box no one's ever opened. You scare them. They won't admit it. But they'll want you. All of them. For different reasons."
"And what if I want nothing?"
Nelson looked him in the eye.
"Then that might be the most dangerous want of all."
---