Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 48

Taking the trash out, I see him flinch as the medical team slips through our front door past him, rushing up the stairs. With the lack of screaming and accompanying violence, I could only assume Caspian was allowing them to treat him. 

In the silence that fills the room as he goes out into the front yard, I scan my eyes over the kitchen. The blood covering the island slowly drips onto the stool and down to the floor, pooling in a thick reflective puddle. I see the concern on my face flashed back at me, why did this feel so different? 

Perhaps it was his unapologetic conclusion. 

As far as Caspian was concerned, I always expected understanding from Verando. Much as I'd wished for this outcome, it felt different now, an ending of an era of understanding or a signal that we're losing him to the past. Worse, were we losing him to Shadowcast?

I get to work on cleaning up the blood, wishing my ability was working. Paper towels could be destroyed more easily than cloth, nothing we threw away was retained, we burned it all. Much to Lotta's disapproval, Verando did not want to risk anything getting out of what occurred here. Every piece that left our home was burned, bodies included, until there was nothing but ash. 

I think it bothered her at the level of her job more than personally, she understood we had to protect ourselves, but surely she felt a moral duty. After all, the police were on to us, we were at the center of too many events to continue going on this path for much longer. Thankfully for Gospel, they couldn't bug our home, but things like this were a hair away from bringing the full force of the government to our doorstep. 

I pinch the bridge of my nose, sighing as I stand, only to pause as I see him enter the room. "You're taking this a lot harder than I thought you would."

The blunt nature of his words makes me swallow as I consider them. 

"It's not like you."

He scoffs, "It is. You were here when I cut the lungs from someone's back. You watched me feed Naptalion a scorched ring, I don't think you can say this is beyond me. I made Red cut off her own fingers. You haven't looked at me like this in years."

Pulling my lips into a thin line, I watch his face, nervous for the first time in so long. The blood spatter still remained, dried flecks spreading across where the black eye had taken hold. "You always do what you must to get your point across, this just felt... I really don't know, Randy. Shadowcast has me worried, I've seen darkness and this is so out of range for your normal response to Caspian."

"He drowned me." His voice is sharp, the anger still boiling under the surface. My wolf takes notice, hackling inside of me, telling me to be on my guard. "Hours and hours he held me underwater until I felt as though my lungs would burst only to allow me to catch my breath for seconds and then repeated it. I can hardly stand to shower, do you have any idea how weak that makes me feel?"

Verando rarely yells, to hear him raise his voice makes me recoil. I take a step back, averting my eyes, my wolf knows better than to challenge him like this. Spotting my uncertainty, he takes a slow breath, collecting himself as he wraps his arm around himself to support his bruised ribs. I hear his teeth grind, reeling it in, considering his words carefully. 

"He was absolutely prepared for me to welcome him back with open arms and pathetically enough, I was prepared to do so. Unfortunately for him, there is still a hint of psychosis from my days as a lycan overlord. Chopping off his hand, while theatrical, seemed logical at the time. I can't allow him to persuade me so easily, I can't let my feelings for him cloud the fact that Caspian, as we know him, is incredibly dangerous." 

His feelings.

I slowly cross the space, making sure to warn him with my eyes as I near him. It's his turn not to look at me, I wish I could heal him, all of him.