Chapter Twenty-Three #4
“Nothing.”
I trot after him as he picks up his pace to a jog, like he’s just going to run away from this conversation. “ Don’t lie to me .”
“I’m not.”
And there I am, trotting beside the liar.
We move in silence for quite a while—probably fifteen minutes—before I stop. He gets about ten feet from me before noticing that I’m not with him and turns around to face me.
“What?”
I shift back to my human form. “Casimir, what’s bothering you?”
“Nothing.”
“Casimir, are you pissed about Yorick?”
His clenched jaw tells me I’m right. His sharp eyes bore into mine. “There is one fucking thing about me that’s worth anything, and when it comes to you, I can’t even seem to do that right.”
This man… what nonsense is he spouting now?
“There’s one good thing about you?” I ask, prepared to have this talk fully naked.
“Where did that come from? There are so many good things about you. You’re sweet, kind, nice, you make me laugh.
You make me absolutely love spending time with you.
You’re such a joy to be around. I love how you can be all gruff and demanding of people that irritate you, and then go home and kiss on your dog and make cooing noises at him. ”
“All of that is bullshit.”
I watch him for a moment, trying not to feel hurt while trying to understand that he doesn’t actually think I’m wrong. He just thinks so little of himself. And it’s weird to realize. He’s a man that anyone would be happy to be with, but he can only see his faults. “You think I’m lying?” I ask.
Casimir hesitates. “No! I’m just saying that the only thing I’m good at is killing people, and clearly, I can’t even do that well enough to keep you safe if that fucking parasite could walk right up to you at your workplace!”
“Did I mention that in my list of things I like about you?” I ask. “Because I really like you, Casimir. I know… I know all of this was supposed to just be some fun and a way to show others that we can get along… but maybe it was too much fun because I want it to be real.”
He shakes his head and turns. “Absolutely not.”
I try to ignore the way that hurts. “That’s all I get? No reason why? Just an ‘absolutely not,’ and that’s it?”
“There’s no part of me that would agree to dating you,” he says as he walks off.
Hell, this man is stubborn. “Why? At least tell me that.”
“Because you deserve someone who isn’t a fucking monster, Julian! Now let’s go!”
I linger as he starts off without me. “Why is it that I can tell you all of the wonderful things about you, but all you do is still focus on something I don’t see?”
“Julian, it’s enough. This is fun. We can have fun, but that’s it. I’m done with this talk.”
“Well, I’m not,” I say as I try to hurry after him, but walking barefooted through the branches and prickers is less than ideal. “I like you.”
He ignores me.
“Casimir, I like you, and until you give me a valid reason not to, I’m going to keep liking you.” I can be a very stubborn man if I need to be.
He hesitates, and with him it’s so hard to tell if I’ve annoyed him to the point that he’s going to try to shoo me off or if he’s going to give in. Casimir turns around and hurries up to me, trying his best to look menacing as he steps into my space.
“I was raised to be a killer, and that’s all I’ll ever be. So this can’t happen. If it’s something real you want, then I have to be done.”
I hear a howl that breaks the tension between us, telling us that someone has found something. Unsure of what else to say or do, I shift and follow Casimir in the direction of the sound.
When we reach the area, we’re one of the last ones there, having fallen behind for our… discussion. I shift to my human form and join the others.
“I can smell something large and dead below here,” Keats says. “Do we dig it up?”
“Yeah, let’s dig it up,” Casimir agrees.
It doesn’t take long to reveal a dark cloth covering what we have to assume is a body.
Casimir reaches down and tugs the cloth away as the rotting smell hits us.
Inside the grave isn’t the woman we were expecting, but two men.
I don’t recognize them, making me question if they’re both vampires from outside the territory.
“Anyone recognize either of them?”
“How are we supposed to recognize shit? They’re all icky,” Genevieve says, but my eyes are transfixed by the guy closest to me. She’s right in that it’s hard to recognize anything, but on the leatherlike skin, I see a mark on the vampire’s wrist.
“Is that a tattoo?” I ask.
Ezio reaches down and pushes the arm up with his shoe. “Sure looks like it.”
“The woman who was on the subway… the one who followed me and tried… killing me. She had that same tattoo…”
Casimir kneels down to get a better look as Ezio snaps a picture of it.
Ezio scrutinizes the scene as he says, “Let me reach out to the medical examiner who took in the bodies. I’ll see if she can check this out for us.”
“So… the vampires who attacked me… they might not have been some ferals creating chaos,” I realize.
“Looks like they might not have been,” Casimir says. “Hmm… I’ll be back after I talk to her. Ezio, come along.”
Ezio hurries after him, and I assume I’m included in that as I rush to catch up.
“No, stay with Genevieve. She’ll keep you safe,” Casimir instructs.
“Umm… that’s not going to happen,” I say as I chase after him. “You can’t just decide that I’m useless now.”
“I would never assume you’re useless,” Casimir responds, but he doesn’t say anything further as I trot after them.
“What’s with him?” Ezio mumbles to me.
“He’s mad that I told him I like him,” I say.
Casimir turns so I can see his scowl. “I’m not mad about that.”
“Ah, yes, Casimir is a rather dramatic man. He wants to wear the weight of everything on his shoulders while kicking away anyone who’d love to help,” Ezio says.
This seems to annoy Casimir even more. “Ezio, either stop talking or go somewhere else.”
“See? And when you point it out, he gets angered.”
“He is pretty angry.”
Casimir takes off at a pace he knows I wouldn’t be able to keep up with as a human, forcing me to shift. I know it’s because he’s aware that Ezio and I can’t talk when I’m a wolf, so I gallop after him.