Chapter 71 The Lie of Safety
Ender barely stopped himself from snapping when Cyrus lifted his ass into the car, buckled him in like a toddler, and slammed the door shut. He sat there glaring as the Fate, and the rest of Team One, quickly got inside the vehicle.
“What the fuck was that?!” Cyrus growled, as soon as the SUV took off.
The Cryptid had removed his Shadow Shell while they’d waited inside, so he got to experience the full force of the Fate’s glare.
His irritation at being ordered and dragged around waned a bit under the look. “Well, I mean, it worked out, right?”
“No, I agree…What in the fuck was that, Ender?!” Soran roared, accent out. “You knew going in that the bastard was a grade-A creep, one you have met before, so why the fuck did you endanger yourself by attacking?!”
Ender cleared his throat under the collective glares he both felt and saw being thrown his way.
He managed to stay silent for just a moment more before defensively, with a hiss, blurting out, “I mean—you saw it, right, Cyrus?! The look in his eyes. He was lying! He was going to hurt my babies, I saw it! He HAD to die! He had to!”
“Cyrus, you tensed there for a moment, so you obviously saw something as well. What was it?” Soren asked.
Cyrus sighed. “He was lying. Well, it was more that he was debating his options. Ender attacked before I really got a chance to warn him to at least have his guard up. We weren’t, however, in such immediate danger that you had to attack at that very moment.”
“Maybe you should have warned me sooner then!” Ender huffed.
“I would have, but I had visions before I got a chance.” The Fate grimaced before admitting, “I couldn’t control them, and I couldn’t do much while they were happening, even with how fast they came and left. So, it appears, being your lie detector isn’t going to work out.”
“No, but your ability to stop time and kill everyone would come in handy,” Jossy, the woman currently driving, said with a chuckle.
Cyrus tensed, his face darkening as he growled, “I’m not an assassin! I only did what I did because the last thing we needed was Ender’s foolish ass getting shot!”
“As foolish as his ass was, based on the info collected on everyone present, we far outpowered them, even if they outnumbered us by a fair bit,” Soren drawled.
“It doesn’t matter! None of this was worth the risk!” the Fate snapped.
Tired of one, being called a fool, and two, them talking as if he wasn’t there, Ender cut in, “The risk was minimal. Now, what did you see?”
The Cryptid’s face went oddly pale as his purple-reddish eyes swirled to forest-green.
“I saw…multiple timelines. Some were fine, but…many involved Jurosso going after the babies. Most were ones of him cutting them out of you, then others were of him attacking and going after them once they were laid. I’m pretty sure the former would have likely had to take place within hours of us leaving, as the outfits—”
“I FUCKING KNEW IT!” Ender cried.
Soren let out a groan. “You just had to confirm his fucking paranoia, didn’t you?!”
Cyrus scoffed. “What’s there to be paranoid about? The Cryptid was a part-time fucking trafficker! Of course it’s what he had planned!”
“None of that matters. What matters is that I wasn’t being paranoid at all! And considering we got the data we wanted, not to mention the goods without spending a single dollar, I’m taking this as a win!”
The Fate sputtered, “Y-you endangered yourself, and we just murdered a bunch of people…in what universe is that a win?!”
Ender waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine!
No big deal. Toddles, call clean up, tell Jojo to take care of the bodies, but to have a crew with her in case more of Jurosso’s people come.
Dessa is going to have to keep an eye on the Condi Syndicate.
Taking out Jurosso means there is about to be a power struggle that could blow up further at any time. ”
He wasn’t too worried they’d come for revenge any time soon, especially without their leadership in place. Either way, their borders were heavily monitored, so they’d know as soon as people came anywhere near their territories.
“I’ll just talk to her directly when we get back,” Soren grunted.
Cyrus sighed. “So that’s how your group carries on, you just kill and then hide the bodies?”
Ender chuckled. “Yep! Welcome to the wrong side of the law, Cyrus.”
The Fate’s jaw clenched, his gaze flicking away just as Ender spotted a bit of uncertainty inside the man’s eyes.
Standing on the porch of the compound, Killian glared at the bunch of idiots who got out of the vehicles. His gaze narrowed in on Cyrus and Ender as they neared. Specifically on the small specks of blood on Ender’s white long-sleeve shirt. “What happened?!”
“Ender decided to meet up with Jurosso Condi, followed by us murdering him and a bunch of his Syndicate. And oh, Severo, Seri, Skya, and Avery are now on their way here, as my fucked-up cousin tried to Mind Rape Severo. How’s your day been so far?
!” Cyrus huffed as he stormed past him, before disappearing inside.
His eyes flicked to Ender, who’d been behind the man, waddling at a much slower pace. Killian ground out, “Ender.”
The Gorgon smiled innocently. “It’s fine.”
“The hell it is! You, follow me!” he ordered stiffly, before glaring at the others and hissing, “I’ll deal with the rest of you later.”
A few of them gulped, but he ignored them, spinning on his heel as he headed into the compound, with Ender smartly following behind him quietly.
The Gorgon remained quiet the whole way to their shared bedroom.
On entering, they found Cyrus pacing the room, his expression all doom and gloom.
The man stopped in his tracks on spotting them, in favor of pressing his face and clenched fists against the wall as he let out a clearly frustrated groan.
As the Gorgon walked in behind him, Killian ordered, “Go sit, Ender.”
“No, I think I’ll—”
“Ender!” he warned.
The Cryptid huffed, “Stop ordering me around, I’m not a child, but I am going to sit because my feet hurt.”
The pregnant man waddled, something he'd been doing a hell of a lot lately, and sat on the bed with a small but very pouty sigh.
Killian sighed in exasperation as he eyed the stubborn snake.
“Ender, I know you created, and are the Head of Cryptid Means, and the shit you do is not safe most of the time, but you can’t just run headlong into danger anymore!
Not right now! Not when you can barely run to save your life, and your movements are slower. ”
“I am not slower! I’m as spry as—”
“Get off the bed then.”
Ender sputtered, “I-I don’t want to.”
“It’s a simple task, Ender. Get off the bed and prove that you are completely unhindered by your pregnancy. There is no reason not to do it…unless you can’t.”
“I can!” Ender hissed. His face scrunched a bit as the man tried and failed to get up. It took a few more attempts before he was able to heft himself up and onto his feet. It did not help that Ender’s bed was round and extremely plush.
“You were saying?” Killian drawled snidely when the Gorgon plopped back down with an irritated huff, his face as red as can be.
“I’m fine!”
“Ender, it’s not about being fine, it’s about being safe. What you did today not only endangered yourself, but our babies. Your babies.”
“No! I would never endanger them! I wouldn’t do that!” Ender said defensively.
“How didn’t you? It could have gone wrong so fast.”
“We had enough people with us, they were strong enough.”
Cyrus let out a clearly frustrated growl as he spun around from where he was slumped against the wall. “Ender, it doesn’t matter how strong you all are, because training and strength doesn’t mean shit! All it takes is a single stray bullet, a stray beam of a laser, you moving just a hair too slow—”
“I wouldn’t put them in danger!”
“But that is exactly what you did!” the Fate bellowed.
Ender flinched back.
No… He didn’t… Sure, there was a risk, but it was low! He calculated it! It had been…safe.
“I know w-when I’m unsafe…” he rasped, before hesitantly whispering, “Sometimes,” as doubt started to creep in. Ender swallowed hard, his body tensing as his heartbeat sped up, the sound growing louder in his ears by the second.
“No, I always know… You don’t get to determine when I am safe, I do! ONLY I DO! Because no one… No one can be trusted except me!” He shook his head and let out a breathy gasp, as he stuttered out, “S-safety is mostly a lie.”
That wasn’t true…safety was always a lie. A trick of the mind… Because as soon as you felt it, that feeling would betray you, and then everything would be lost. Ender had already lost everything once! He couldn’t lose it again. He couldn’t! But what if he did?
Ender wrapped his arms around himself, his nails digging into his arms as he struggled to draw in air. Had he lied to himself again that he’d been safe?
He’d failed again. Ender let himself believe in safety again. His babies…he’d put them in danger…
“S-safety—aha—i-is a lie.”
Ender let out a fearful yelp when he felt arms wrapping around him, his eyes widening on finding Killian right there.
He flinched as Cyrus joined the now group hug, the Fate rasping, “Ender, you are safe with us.”
Ender shook his head. “No, no, no, you’re not listening. Safety is a lie. It’s a lie.”
“It’s not, it’s okay. You are safe here, with us. We won’t hurt you,” Killian whispered.
On hearing the Siren’s smooth voice, something inside him felt as if it had loosened, or unraveled, soothed.
It was a feeling that always came when the man spoke, one that he usually ignored, but now he couldn’t.
It was dangerous… Both of these men were dangerous, but Killian had too much power over him…
“No, no! That voice! You are trying to trick me! I-I c-can tell!” Ender hissed as he attempted to push the Siren away, but the stubborn asshole held on.
“He’s not trying to entrance you, Ender!
” Cyrus cried, the man almost sounding as if he was pleading for him to believe him.
“You are safe with us. We are not going to hurt you. Hell, I just outright and unscrupulously murdered a bunch of people, in a manner where they had no way to fight back, just to make sure you were safe. I would have never done that if I didn’t care about your safety. ”
Ender froze at the Fate’s words. He wanted to believe them… A part of him really did, but…why were they really there? Not for him…
They’d never been here just for him. The babies—they wanted his babies. That was the ONLY reason they were here. It was never about him!
“No, no, no, you just want my babies for yourselves!” Ender screamed, struggling harder to free himself.
Hissing loudly when he failed, he let the change come on.
Scales rapidly formed over his skin as his legs joined and formed a tail, his hair coiling and thickening until slithering, snapping white snakes appeared.
Even then, he couldn’t break free, as he found himself shifting more firmly into Cyrus’ hold over Killian’s.
He was now in the man’s lap, his back pressed against the Fate’s chest.
“Ender, we are not going to take them from you. We want to raise them with you,” Killian swore. Ender hissed again, his fangs dropping when the Siren cupped his face. “I promise you, we are not going to take them away.”
“LIES! I don’t—” He took a wheezing breath in. “I don’t believe you! Let go! Let go of me!”
“Ender, you need to calm down. You are going to hurt yourself,” Cyrus begged. “You are safe.”
“No, no, no, no! Dangerous! It’s dangerous here!” Ender screamed, before giving up on struggling and just sagging there, feeling helpless as tears blurred his vision.
Why couldn’t safety be real?! His babies, they’d never be safe…he was going to lose them again.
“You are going to take them,” he sobbed.
“We won’t. We promise you, we won’t,” the Siren soothed.
“No, he’ll come again, or they will, and they'll take them just like they did the others.”
“No, no one is going to take them from you,” Cyrus promised. “You are safe.”
Ender shook his head. “Nowhere is safe. Th-they just want you to think you are, and th-then, when you do, they will be there.”
“Who will?” Cyrus asked. “Who will be there?”
He hesitated for a moment before whispering, as if saying it aloud would summon them, “Y-your family.”
Cyrus flinched at the words, the fear in Ender’s voice like a painful stab to his chest.
Swallowing hard, and hoping more than anything he wasn’t lying, he rasped, “I won’t let that happen. I won’t let them hurt you.”
“You won’t be able to stop them… They didn’t even stop him… He’s out there…he’s out there, I know he is…” Ender sobbed mournfully, the Gorgon now clinging to the arms he had around him.
Cyrus remained quiet, and avoiding Killian’s eyes as he gathered Ender more firmly to him, he rested against the headboard with the Gorgon.
The Siren was just as quiet as he laid down and cuddled against the snake.
He wasn’t sure if he was avoiding meeting Killian’s gaze because he was unsure what the Siren would see, or because he knew exactly what he would.
Murderous—Cyrus felt murderous at the idea that Halus Grimm was still alive. But how could he be?! Had his family really done nothing to punish the bastard for what he did?! For the many thousands of deaths he had willingly orchestrated?!
Killian probably wasn’t questioning him still being alive, but then, most believed that Fates couldn’t die.
He wasn’t most, and while there was some truth to the matter, the fact was, he knew something most didn’t, something that even most Fates didn’t know.
That death could come in different forms, including for Fates.
And even if it was the only thing he could really do for Ender, Cyrus would make sure Halus Grimm never touched or hurt the Gorgon or anyone else ever again.