Chapter 34 #2
At first, I drift off quickly. My body and mind exhausted and still healing, but sometime in the night I jolt awake, my heart racing, adrenaline pumping.
It takes a few beats for me to remember where I am, and when I glance over, Becks is in a padded chair right next to my bed, his arms crossed over his chest, head slightly lolled to the side.
His eyes are closed and he’s breathing slowly and steadily as he sleeps.
The sight of him calms my heart. He’d want me to wake him up; he didn’t intend to fall asleep, but he looks too peaceful to disturb. Regardless of what he says, he needs the rest as much as I do.
Lying back down, I try to fall back asleep, but I toss and turn for at least an hour before giving up.
Quietly, I slide out of bed and tiptoe past Becks, planning to check on Tate again.
I pad down the hall, which is empty and silent because of the late hour.
On the way, I pass another occupied room, glimpsing a figure lying prone in a bed through the slats of the blinds.
Cassian. The Vampire King himself.
Curiosity gets the best of me and I slowly push open the door, peeking into the room.
Cassian doesn’t have tubes hooked up to him like Tate does, but he’s so pale he almost looks dead. I’m drawn into the room, if for no other reason that it strikes me as sad he doesn’t have anyone here for him.
Maybe I shouldn’t be bothered with that. If the stories are true, he was as much of a monster as the demon who influenced him. But he served two thousand years of punishment for those crimes and lost everyone he ever loved. Perhaps that’s penance enough.
Cassian’s breaths aren’t slow and steady like someone in a restful sleep, but heavy and uneven, as though each breath costs him something. His gaze cracks open when I quietly take a seat next to him, startling me.
“I suppose it’s good to see you made it out alive.” He doesn’t sound overly happy about it.
“Ahh, thanks?” I say, feeling a touch insulted.
He makes a motion that I think is a shrug. “I doubt it had much to do with you.”
Rude.
Maybe this is the reason he doesn’t have anyone. He’s clearly a jackass.
I stand to leave. “Well, glad I stopped by. I suppose it’s good to see you made it out alive too.”
“Wait,” he says as I turn.
I glance back over my shoulder, but don’t move to sit back down.
He struggles to a half-seated position, and part of me wants to let him, but it’s obvious he’s in pain. And if that pain comes from creating portals, then the blame rests with me, so I rush over to help him, repositioning the pillows so he’s somewhat upright.
Even that small amount of effort appears to have cost him. His pale features are bleached even more than when I walked in, his breathing ragged. He keeps his eyes closed as he saves what little strength he has.
“I’m sorry,” he finally says. “It seems the years haven’t improved my manners.”
I don’t reply, because he’s not wrong.
“I only meant that dragon shifter of yours is very protective. That boy would move heaven and earth for you. Or die trying.”
I don’t believe that’s truly what he meant, but the implication behind his words makes my heart soften anyway. That Becks would care so deeply about me, enough for even an ancient vampire to notice.
“Please, sit,” he says after a coughing fit.
I eye the chair, not sure I want to.
“Please,” he says again, and the pleading in his eyes finally gets to me. It’s clear he’s lonely. What does a few more minutes of my time cost me?
A coughing fit hits him as I settle again. I now understand why making another portal isn’t an option. It’s not just his magic that is depleted; his body is worn out.
He takes a deep breath, and it rattles in his chest. It sounds bad enough that I start to wonder if I should find a nurse or healer.
“Don’t look so worried,” he says with a wan smile. “I have a few years left in me yet.”
I eye him, not sure that’s true. On the outside, Cassian looks to be in his late thirties, but he lived for thousands of years trapped in a cursed dagger. I’m not sure what that does to someone’s natural lifespan.
“Thank you for getting my parents to safety, and also for bringing everyone back to help. It clearly cost you.”
“Portal-making takes a toll,” Cassian explains, eyes closing in fatigue. “Channeling that much magic is hard on the body, and I’m still only a shadow of what I used to be.”
I nod, as if I understand, when I don’t truly. Magic is still so new to me.
“Well, thanks just the same,” I say, feeling awkward.
Cassian’s eyes open, and he regards me with something akin to amusement. “You can lay that thanks at the feet of your shifter as well. I refused him, repeatedly.”
“Then what made you finally give in?” I ask, curious.
He chuckles, his gaze turning hazy with remembrance. “Let’s just say he appealed to my softer side.”
I tilt my head, not understanding.
Cassian’s eyes grow heavy, and the cadence of his labored breaths slow. As much as he may crave company right now, he needs rest.
I’m about to stand to leave when his hand shoots out, fingers gripping my wrist like an iron shackle. I jolt, a soft yelp of surprise slipping free. When I glance up, his gaze is pinned to me, and wide in alarm.
“Don’t let the demon take you alive. If it does, you’ll wish for death instead.”
My heart starts to pound. “What are you talking about?”
He takes a shaky breath, his grip on my wrist unbelievably strong for how weak he appears.
“I was trapped with that monster for nearly two thousand years. I have more insight into its nature and what it wants than any other living being in either world. My mind is fractured after all that time. It’s healing, but sometimes memories return to me in bits and pieces. One just returned to me.”
Panic hangs in the air around Cassian, a frantic edge that wasn’t there moments before. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but my pulse spikes, my own nerves tightening in response.
“What was the memory?” I ask, unsure if I truly want the answer.
“It was one from when I was imprisoned in that cursed dagger. There were times I felt indistinguishable from the demon in my prison with me. Its thoughts were my thoughts, and my thoughts it devoured, like a starving beast whose hunger is never satiated.”
Chills run down my spine, goose bumps forming on my arms.
I haven’t dwelled on what it was like for Cassian all those years, and for good reason. It had to be hell.
“It passed the time by plotting your demise. Reveling in what would happen to you when it won its ultimate victory.”
My heart thuds against my chest, fear prickling the back of my neck.
With effort, Cassian shifts closer, his hand tightening around my wrist almost painfully.
“You can’t let the demon take you,” he says again. “Because if it does, that monster won’t just drain your lifeforce alone. It will consume the whole of you—magic, mind, and what some would call a soul—and trap you within it for eternity.”
My hands go numb as fear threatens to drown me.
“Take it from someone who knows, if it comes down to it, death is preferable to that end.”
Cassian’s gaze flicks over my shoulder, and I twist around to find Becks standing in the doorway, horror etched into his features.