Chapter Twenty-One
JULIAN
“Why do you keep staring at your phone?” I ask as we sit on the couch trying to watch TV since it sounded leagues better than torturing sweet Cyrus with a painting of Ezio’s naked ass.
“Can I not stare at my phone?” Ezio asks.
“It’s the way you’re doing it. It’s suspicious as hell.”
Ezio grimaces as he falls onto his side…
it’s all very dramatic and ridiculous, due in part to his clothes.
He’s currently wearing my clothes since his still lie in shreds on my bedroom floor.
I made sure to find him the most ridiculous outfit to wear, like the ugly Christmas sweater I wore to my dad’s Christmas party that, if you look close enough, has a cartoon Santa taking a piss.
Everyone but my dad loved it, and that’s really what the Christmas spirit is all about.
And then I put him in a pair of pants that are too snug on him. He noticed no issues with either item as he pulled them on.
“Ezio,” I growl.
“Casimir knows the location of that asshole vampire and ran off to fight him!” he blurts out.
“BY HIMSELF?” I growl.
He grimaces. “Yes!”
I can’t believe this! Wait… yes, I can. This one hundred percent sounds like something he would do. Why the hell are vampires so freaking stubborn? Or is it just the ones I choose to interact with? “And you never thought to… I don’t know, tell someone ?”
“He’s scary! You know how scary he is.”
“Where is he going?”
“You’re going to go?” Ezio asks in surprise.
“Yes, I’m going to go!” I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I can’t let him do this alone!
He hesitates. “What if you just get in the way?”
“Then… I’ll just… no… I can help!” I say, determined. I might not be as strong as them or as useful, but I can’t stand the idea of Casimir out there trying to tackle this alone. “Even if I have to be a distraction, or we could sneak in to see if he needs help.”
After a moment, Ezio nods. “Okay. Yeah… let’s go.” He jumps up and we rush to the door where we cram on our shoes and hurry through, leaving behind Gustov who looks at us like he’s unsure what he’s done to be left behind.
Since Ezio’s car was destroyed—a tale I had to hear about countless times since he arrived—he hops into the driver’s seat of my car and throws it into reverse.
“If we had my sweet, sweet ride, we’d already be there by now,” he declares.
“I’m not so sure we would be, seeing as you’ve only managed to pull out of the driveway, but I do know if you’d told me the truth earlier, we could have stopped him before he ran in alone.”
“He’s very convincing and a little scary, alright?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Casimir’s literally the least scary vampire,” I say.
Honestly, he’s the only vampire who doesn’t make me feel a little nervous after the attack.
Like Ezio isn’t bad , mostly because he seems to be easily distracted by…
everything in life, but Casimir no longer makes me feel anxious.
He always makes me feel at ease.
“You have it bad if you don’t think Casimir’s scary. He’s fucking terrifying,” Ezio says as he shivers.
I scowl as I glance over at him. “I don’t… have it bad. I just don’t think he’s scary.”
Ezio gives me a shrug that tells me he doesn’t believe me at all.
But for now, I just ignore it as he drives.
He manages to make it out of town without attracting the attention of any cops and pulls the car over when he sees Casimir’s car sitting on the side of the road.
I’m undressing before I even get out of the vehicle, so the moment it’s stopped, I throw the door open and shift.
Ezio takes off, and I rush after him as he makes his way through the trees before the thick smell of blood stings my nose. Ezio stops next to a body but doesn’t even bother looking at it before he takes off again.
I hesitate, but it’s clear Casimir’s been through here.
When we reach the front door of an abandoned school, we find the door hanging open.
I tentatively follow Ezio through the door on quiet paws as we listen because I don’t want to cause an issue for Casimir if he really does have everything handled.
I can smell multiple people, but I can also smell so much blood.
“There’s someone coming. I’ll handle them, you get to Casimir,” he says a moment before a man steps through a doorway. He doesn’t even hesitate, just snarls and lunges at Ezio.
I don’t know if I should help or if my help would be better spent on Casimir who seems to be holding his own if the corpses have anything to say about it.
When I look back at Ezio, I see that he seems to be stronger than the vampire he’s dealing with, so I turn from him and start to run.
I’ve probably made a horrible decision. I was one hundred percent prepared to rush in and save the day…
to protect Casimir at least once after all the times he’s protected me, but now that I’m here, I’m reminded how outclassed I am.
Maybe if I were a full werewolf, I’d be more useful, instead of… whatever I am.
There are more bodies lined on the floor that make me hesitate and slow my movement. I stick close to the wall and take soft steps as I listen carefully. I can hear a fight going on ahead of me, but it isn’t until I turn a corner in the hallway that I see them.
I freeze as Yorick flies through the air, body slamming into some lockers, caving them in with his weight.
Casimir rushes forward and drives a short sword down right where Yorick would have been if he hadn’t managed to throw himself out of the way in time.
“Come on, now. It was just a bit of fun,” Yorick says, sounding rather desperate as two more vampires dash in to help him.
One tries to go for Casimir’s back as the other steps between him and Yorick.
The one coming at his back reaches for his exposed neck, prepared to tear into him, but I’m not sure if I can reach him in time.
I step forward to help, but Casimir swings around so quickly the vampire can’t even react until Casimir slams him against the wall, stabbing him twice in the chest before turning and killing the other who thought Casimir was distracted enough to finish him off.
It all happens with so much ease. Such a fluent movement like Casimir wasn’t even struggling .
Did I seriously come here thinking I’d be of assistance? Instead, I’m just going to get in the way if I do anything .
Yorick tries to run, but Casimir is on him in a moment and flings him hard to the ground. Casimir drives his sword down toward his chest but Yorick twists out of the way just in time to avoid it, and the weapon cuts into his arm instead. Yorick scrambles back to his feet and quickly backs away.
He’s looking a bit panicked as he laughs nervously. “Come on, now. It was just a bit of fun! You can’t be that mad over a wolf, can you? You really need to learn to take a joke! Just a joke!” He almost sounds frightened.
The expression on Casimir’s face is unlike any I’ve seen on him before.
It’s almost like he’s completely emotionless.
He flicks blood off his weapon, eyes fixated on his prey, before rushing forward.
Yorick is trying his hardest to flee, scrambling in his panic, but Casimir is relentless.
He moves in front of him, cutting off his escape before swinging the longer sword hard.
Yorick screams as I see him stumble back holding his bloodied arm that is barely hanging on.
“Come on, come on. I promise I won’t look at him or touch him again! It was really all just a bit of fun!”
“You’re right, you won’t look at him,” Casimir growls as he slashes him across the face. “I’ll make it so you can’t ever look at or touch him again.”
Yorick cries out as he grabs for his eyes, blinded until he can heal them.
“That’s enough,” a man says, and I jump, having not even heard him walk up.
Casimir seems to merely be irritated as he turns from Yorick and faces the vampire. “So finally, the face behind it all decides to show himself. Tired of hiding behind your useless pawns?”
The vampire’s aura is strong, and I find myself glad that I’m at the far end of the hallway from him. Where I ever got the idea that I could help Casimir, I’ll never know. How fucking foolish was that?
Casimir straightens, swords at the ready as Yorick flees . He’s half blinded and his arm isn’t healed, but he’s running as fast as he can to get away from it all.
“Why did you decide to harass my territory?” Casimir growls.
The man doesn’t seem bothered by the scene before him.
He doesn’t even seem to notice all the vampires of his that are lying dead.
“Oh, it isn’t your territory I want, Casimir.
You mistake me for a simple man wanting monetary things.
I don’t. I want to watch them suffer for what they’ve done to me. ”
“Who?”
“All of them,” he growls. “You… You happened to be dragged in simply because of who you are. You just became a nuisance, but that’s fine.
I will simply feast off you and continue to make them fear and suffer as I pick them off, tormenting them until they beg for forgiveness.
Ask the wolves what they did. Ask the vampires what they covered up…
or wait… you’re not going to be alive to ask,” he says with a laugh.
He’s a handsome man whose lips are twisted up into a cruel smile.
His aura is terrifying, but Casimir doesn’t seem swayed by it.
He doesn’t seem to even care as he starts forward to meet the man.
And after seeing the way Casimir cut apart the other vampires and sliced away at Yorick, I realize that Ezio is likely right, Casimir’s definitely someone who needs to be feared.
But how can I fear him when he’s only treated me with kindness?