Chapter 21
“It was nae much of a fight. The men surrendered,” Roth informed him over the phone. “Of course, they were outnumbered.”
“Nice to know my father isn’t a complete idiot.”
“Tae be honest, laddie, with the anti-traffickin’ laws currently in place, it would have been smarter if he had fought back. There are nae second chances, and his death will nae be an easy one.”
“It’s well deserved.”
Cecil was a bit surprised Roth had called. More so that the man was telling him anything. He would have thought being related to one of the bad guys would have disqualified him.
Roth’s tone was unusually serious, but also gentle, like he was trying to lessen the impact of his words.
It was unnecessary. Cecil knew he should have felt something, but he didn’t. He supposed he was glad his father had been stopped, but that was about it.
Yes, Cecil hated his father, and sure, it hurt sometimes, but he tried not to dwell on it. His father was not worth his time.
“I’m sorry, Cecil,” Roth rumbled.
“For what? You didn’t do anything.” Cecil cleared his throat when his words were met with silence. “Um, anyway, thanks for telling me.”
“I—”
A voice that he was pretty sure belonged to Benji drowned out whatever Roth had intended to say. “Let me talk to him!”
There was a muffled conversation and then Benji was on the line.
“Hey, Cecil!”
Cecil couldn’t help but grin at the excitement in the man’s voice. “Hello, Benji.”
“So, get this. There was this really scary guy that came over to join the fight. The one that turned out to not really be a fight.”
“And?”
“So the guy comes over, right? And he hasn’t really met any of us. His name was Jayden, I think. Anyway, he has these unnatural, pure black eyes, and feathery black hair. It looked super soft. Part of me honestly wanted to touch it. But I like breathing, so I didn’t.”
His grin widened. “Probably for the best. I think I saw him when Sin took me to the castle. Definitely not a man you’d want to mess with.”
“Oh, good, so you can picture him. Anyway, he comes in, and Roth being the big idiot that he is, greets him as he did you the first day. Picked him right up.” Benji started to laugh. “I don’t think I have seen Dante Kozen, the boss of the Kozen Zaytari group, ever look so horrified.”
Oh, boy. Jayden had not looked like the touchy-feely type. More of a ‘murder you if you piss him off’ kind of guy.
“And Jayden?”
“He seemed to go into shock. The man stood frozen where Roth put him down until Dante murmured something to him. Then, the whole time we were planning, he was caressing a knife while staring at Roth. There was a really creepy smile on his face.”
“Sounds like it’s as lively as ever over there,” Cecil chuckled.
“Yep! So how are you liking the Dusburn branch? They treating you right?!”
Wasn’t that the question? The place was what he had expected a Zaytari main branch to look like. It was nice, fancy without being obnoxious, and a blend of earth tones and neutrals. It was…nice.
But it lacked the individuality of the Makeshift Mansion, and it was quiet.
Currently, Cecil was sitting by himself on one of many couches in an overly large living room.
The walls were a gray-green color, and the floor was wooden.
There was one large TV, too many couches, a small table with four chairs, and a few pool tables, but not a single video game in sight.
“I’m not sure yet. It’s pretty quiet here. They don’t talk much.” He missed the other house.
“Oh…maybe they just need time. Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll open up and love you as much as we do. So how is school?”
Cecil jerked in shock—love? That was not a word he heard often.
The quiet house suddenly filled with noise. There was yelling. People ran past him, and the sound of shoes slamming on the floor soon became a thundering symphony.
But the pounding of his heart soon drowned it out. Benji’s increasingly panicked words were muffled. Cecil smelled blood. The scent kept him glued to his seat, because he knew the scent and who it belonged to.
Cecil broke out of the trance when Jekyll appeared in the entryway with Sin in his arms. He rushed over and let out a cry of fear once he saw all the blood covering him. Sin’s suit was shredded. And there was just so much blood. Cecil held his hands back, not wanting to hurt the man further.
“What happened?!” Why the hell had they brought Sin here?
“Cecil, move,” Jekyll ordered.
Crossing his arms, Cecil snapped, “Have you guys lost it? He needs to go to the hospital!”
Sin’s eyes fluttered open and he gasped, “Cecil, move…” When he didn’t, Sin rasped, “Please…”
“But…” he started weakly, but Sin’s pleading gaze had him moving out of the way.
Cecil followed the group that had gathered through the house, but instead of going to the room Cecil and Sin shared, they ended up in Sin’s study.
“What…” His eyes widened when Hyde pushed aside a bookshelf, revealing a metal door.
No one moved to open it. Instead, Hyde turned to face him and said, “Cecil, you need to leave.”
“What? No, let me help!” Being an Arcadian, while not particularly skilled, he did know how to clot blood. Not to mention, Cecil could donate. It didn’t take any effort on his part to let Sin bite him. At the very least, he could hold the man’s hand!
“Cecil, leave,” Sin growled. The man’s voice was deeper and stronger than before, and there was a deadly edge to it.
Cecil’s hands clenched into fists. No, he couldn’t leave! What if something happened? What if…Sin died?
“No!” Cecil shouted stubbornly. “I can help with the bleeding!” He moved to touch Sin, but the man brushed his hands away.
“I don’t need your help! Leave!” the man practically screamed.
Cecil flinched back. It felt like Sin had slapped him. They all peered at him expectantly, and some of the men, ones he wasn’t familiar with, were glaring.
As his stomach dropped, Cecil gulped. Did they really think he was that useless? Did Sin? “Bu—”
“Leave!” Sin roared.
The back of his eyes stung with anger. “Fine!” Cecil turned and stomped away.
The hurt in Cecil’s eyes bothered him, but Sin didn’t have time to soothe him. The pain was pushing him over the edge again. Sin had been lucky the twins had found him before anyone else had. However, the shot he’d been given was wearing off.
There was a large hole in his chest, just inches from his heart, and part of his shoulder was missing. The need to heal was overriding his stubbornness in denying his beast its freedom. Sin wasn’t ready for Cecil to know, and the man wouldn’t have been safe if he had stayed.
If only Sin healed like other immortals. But, no, he had been denied that. Instead, Sin was forced to shift whenever seriously injured. No matter how much blood he took in, Sin’s body would not heal under such circumstances.
Shooing the other men away, Hyde opened the door. Despite being metal, it hadn’t made a sound. Inside was a fifteen-by-fifteen-foot room, a prison, made of thick metal walls, reinforced by magic to keep him locked away.
Jekyll carried Sin in, shutting and locking the door behind him—sealing the three of them inside. Sin winced in pain when Jekyll set him on the hard floor.
His body shook as his efforts to suppress his dark side began to falter. The creature chuckled darkly in the back of his mind. “Leave,” he growled at the twins.
Hyde laughed. “You know the drill, boss.”
“Too much pent-up aggression will make it harder for you to change back naturally,” Jekyll drawled.
Sin hated that they were right. Hated that he would hurt them.
Worst of all, even knowing that his hatred would only fuel his beast, he couldn’t hold it back.
His form contorted, and for the second time that night, Sin changed.
His beast roared out with its freedom. And a body he could not fully control leaped toward Hyde.