Chapter 25
Jekyll once again found himself amazed at the number of books, papers, and old relics that a single man could stuff in his own home.
Ares had too many bookshelves to count, glass cases holding scrolls that were almost a million years old, and objects that would probably kill or curse you if you touched them.
There were also a lot of sharp pointy things that Jekyll wouldn’t mind playing with.
He would have thought Ares was a hoarder, if all of it hadn’t been so organized.
Cecil appeared out of the maze of bookshelves holding an old and fraying oversized book. Jekyll watched him carry it over to Ares, who was sitting at a large desk, barely visible from behind the mounds of reading material surrounding him. Cecil laid the book on the only available space.
Jekyll smiled when Cecil opened it, skipped a few pages, and started yammering on while Ares nodded. The young man’s eyes were sparkling with excitement.
It appeared Ares and Cecil were getting along just fine. With Cecil’s interest in history, and Ares being a historical researcher who refused to stick to one area, he figured they would.
However, the two had apparently lost track of time, as it was an hour past their work time.
Cecil eyed the three men sitting on the couch ignoring him. They refused to even acknowledge that he was sitting at the small table all by himself—rude bastards.
Sighing, he stared down at the cards in front of him. Cecil was playing fucking solitaire. Yep, that’s how bored he was. Gathering the cards together, he set them aside.
Cecil wished Sin was there, or that he could go to work, or even to school.
Despite the other students avoiding him, he was enjoying his classes. And the job Jekyll had found for him was amazing. Ares was brilliant, if a bit eccentric. They were currently trying to find the true beginnings of the kingdom, ferreting out the untold stories.
Unfortunately, it was Saturday, so no school. And Ares had traveled to another kingdom right after they had met that morning, so no work.
Cecil wanted someone to talk to, and he was getting pretty desperate. His mind kept drifting to Drop, but he really didn’t want to go there. The urge he had to create the arcanid was becoming increasingly worrying. Cecil had to keep arguing with himself that he didn’t need it.
But what was he to do? Other than when he was at work, or when Sin and the twins were around, Cecil had no one to talk to. And Sin was perpetually busy, which meant so were the twins, as they often went with him. It sucked. While it was hard to admit, he felt lonely when Sin wasn’t there.
It scared him that the man’s very presence seemed to instantly wash that loneliness away. How had Sin come to mean so much to him?
The rest of the people in the house were exactly like those on the couch. None of them would speak to him, but they made sure he knew they didn’t want him there. Cecil wasn’t sure there was anything he could do to change their minds.
It was slightly terrifying that he missed being surrounded by the fucking insane people back at the other branch. They may have been weird as hell, but at least they hadn’t been self-righteous douchebags.
When Sin strolled swiftly into the room, Cecil’s heart skipped a beat. And he couldn’t help but smile as the man approached.
Sin kissed him softly on the cheek before sitting across from him. A sound containment spell popped around him.
“You look lovely, Cecil. I wish I had time to unwrap you,” Sin purred.
Smiling wider, heat spread across Cecil’s cheeks.
“Sadly, I have another meeting and can’t stay.”
His smile waned. “Maybe later.” Cecil wanted to throw a fit, but he didn’t. Sin’s work was important and he’d never get in his way.
Sin reached over to grasp his right hand, his thumb rubbing the top of it. “So, what have you been up to?”
Cecil hesitated. Maybe it was time to tell Sin about how the group was treating him. He didn’t need anyone to stick up for him…but maybe it would be okay this time.
“Well, I’ve been playing solitaire by myself.” He licked his suddenly dry lips. “It seems most of your group here…don’t like me very much.”
Sin jerked back, eyes widening before he shook his head. “I…I’m sure that’s not true.” He gently squeezed Cecil’s hand. “This branch is a bit closed off, and they tend to take longer to warm up to new people. Just wait, they will take to you, it will just take a bit of time.”
Cecil opened his mouth to argue, but couldn’t get the words out. He sighed and instead said, “If you say so.”
Sin didn’t believe him. He hadn’t expected that the vampire would side with them, but maybe he should have. It stung that Sin wouldn’t take his word for it, but he probably didn’t want to think those he considered family would act badly.
Frowning, Sin looked as if he wanted to say more, but a beeping stopped him. “And that would be my alarm. I’m sorry, Cecil, I have to go. But I promise, I’ll be all yours when I return.” The man’s voice deepened, “How does you, me, and a kitchen full of food I can eat off your body sound?”
Cecil laughed. “Sounds good, you sex-crazed bastard.”
By the Gods, I love him, Cecil thought with a sigh.
“Cecil,” Sin scolded.
He barely heard the reprimand, Cecil was too busy trying to not react to his own thoughts. He did somehow manage to plaster a smile on his face. The rest of him, however, was panicking.
Oh, fuck! He loved Sin! When the fuck had that happened?! How would Sin react?! What the hell was he supposed to do now?!
“Shoo, shoo.” Cecil waved him away, actually wanting him to leave for once so he could think. Sin shook his head and left, the sound barrier disappearing with him.
Sighing, Cecil slumped on the table, buried his head in his arms, and closed his eyes. Maybe instead of thinking, he’d just take a nap.
Let’s see…nap or terrifying emotions? Nap or terrifying emotions? The question bounced around in his head for all of a second—definitely nap.
Cecil tried to relax, and for a moment, his mind was empty.
But his blissful moment of relaxation was interrupted by a large man coming into the room to join those on the couch. The man was bigger than the rest in bulk and height, and was not quite like the others.
In fact, he was loud as hell, and caused the others to be just as obnoxious. Their attempts at whispering were half-assed.
The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. It felt like someone was watching him, but when Cecil peered over, out of the corner of his eye, no one was.
Looking or not, he realized they were talking about him.
“My clock has gone missing. Can you believe it?” one man groused.
“It’s not the only thing missing,” another drawled.
The man that had come in moments before sneered, “You know things only started to go missing when he got here.” He nodded pointedly at Cecil.
Tensing, Cecil averted his eyes. The man looked the opposite of friendly and his body bulged with muscles—a meathead who probably spent more time lifting weights than thinking.
“How could Sin date someone like that?” another voice rang out, not even attempting to whisper.
What assholes! While Cecil knew Sin could do better, he didn’t think he was that bad of a choice.
Okay, he wasn’t a great choice, but Sin could have picked worse, right?!
“Or let him stay here. He probably has fleas. Who knows where the hell he’s been, or who has been in him,” Meathead drawled.
Cecil rolled his eyes. Fleas, really? Is that the best the man could come up with? Pft—and calling him a slut, how original.
“What surprises me is that the other branch were happy he was there.”
“They really have lowered their standards. But then again, considering who is the second-in-command there, it’s not surprising.”
Hey now! That was going too far. Roth may have been a bit weird, but he was a good guy.
“The man’s a human-loving freak. A dirty half-breed. It’s too funny, Roth speaks just like them.”
Cecil’s back straightened with anger—fucking speciest bastards!
“Not to mention dog boy, who follows everyone around like a dumb puppy.”
“The only thing he has going for him is a tight ass.”
The group laughed.
Having heard enough, Cecil got up and let his anger ride him as he stormed over. “Hey, assholes, your stupid is showing. Why don’t you shut your fucking mouths before I do it for you?”
The glares thrown his way would have frightened larger men. But Cecil hadn’t really felt fear until the meathead who started everything stood up.
Getting in his face, the meathead growled, “Really, now? How do you expect to accomplish that?”
The man grabbed Cecil’s right wrist and squeezed. Apparently, using his size to intimidate him hadn’t been enough, or maybe Cecil’s lack of reaction had bothered the man.
When he didn’t flinch, Meathead looked very confused. The man was probably straining what little brains he had trying to figure out what was going on.
Honestly, while the grip was tight, it didn’t hurt much. Cecil was used to worse. Such little force didn’t even come close to meeting his pain threshold.
Even if it had been overly painful, he wouldn’t have shown it. Cecil would never give these men the satisfaction. He could be pretty stubborn when he wanted to be.
Cecil once kept a smile on his face through a whole beating just to piss his father off. That had ended in a lot of broken bones. It had been the first and last time he had done it—the pain hadn’t been worth it.
His father—hah, these men were just like him. Using their strength against someone who had no hope of fighting back. But Cecil had never shown his father fear, and they wouldn’t get it either.
He did have to stop himself from stepping back when the rest of the guys stood. They were all huge, and all looking pretty homicidal.
Cecil may have been in deep shit, but he didn’t regret saying something. They could talk about him all they wanted, but no one talked about his friends like that.
The thought made him smile—he had friends…
“Are you listening?” The meathead shook him.
Oops, had the man been talking? Did he care? Not really.
Meathead had probably been threatening him. But he could play that game too. Threats were usually all he had to protect himself anyway.
Cecil made his smile unbearably sweet. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear a word you said. I was too busy wondering what you guys could possibly be able to do to me.”
Meathead squeezed tighter. “What? Listen here, you dirty little thief—”
“Ah, ah, ahhh, you really shouldn’t be doing that. What do you think Sin would do if he found me bruised and bleeding?” By the last word, his tone had turned venomous.
Cecil grinned smugly when the big guy paled and instantly released him. But it was too late. Arcadian skin was very delicate.
He pulled his sleeve up, showing a rapidly forming bruise, and tsked. “You really should think a bit more before you act.”
While the others remained silent, Meathead started to stutter some nonsense.
“Please, don’t bother. It’s been nice talking to you guys.
Well, it hasn’t, but I’m done doing it. From now on, I would appreciate it if you kept your bullshit tucked away.
I’d rather not have to talk to you again.
Maybe stick to building blocks or something similar that is closer to your level of intelligence.
” With that, Cecil held his head high in triumph and walked away.
But when he reached his room, Cecil couldn’t stop his shoulders from sagging. Dejectedly, he walked over and sat on the bed.
Shit—this definitely was not going to make anyone feel warmer toward him.
A dirty thief…is that what they all thought? What the hell had he been supposed to do?! Starve?! Would that have been acceptable to them? It’s not like Cecil had had many options back then. No one would hire a ten year old!
Fuck them for judging him! The men he’d turned to back then had deserved to get robbed, they had been disgusting perverts.
Cecil bit his lip. He supposed he had no excuse for continuing when he had gotten older. However, he hadn’t done anything wrong recently…wasn’t that worth something?
He flopped back and rubbed his face. Gods, they thought he was stealing from them. What the hell would he do if they told Sin? Who would Sin believe? His brand-new lover or people he’d known for years?
He hoped to never find out the answer to that question.