Chapter 179: We do not go around saying we like to eat people
Fiona eventually called Lucian over, and the man stormed towards them like he’d been waiting this whole time. It was a different walk from when he’d felt something was up. He was using his inhuman speed to get there as soon as possible, and Cass nearly lost his breath when Lucian jumped up on top of the pallets to join Cass. He didn’t hesitate to wrap an arm around him, pulling him against his side.
Cass was pressed against his side, his face nearly smashed into his armpit. Thankfully, or rather, quite concerningly, the man didn’t seem to smell. Cass knew it would be even weirder if he stuck his nose into his armpit and took a sniff, so he refrained from doing so.
"How did the talk go?" Lucian asked carefully, sweetly to Cass, and Fiona cleared her throat. Both men looked towards her and Fiona crossed her arms, glaring at the dragon man. She wasn’t very happy at all.
"You’ve been teaching him magic he shouldn’t know." Fiona accused. Lucian didn’t even look embarrassed or surprised that she was questioning him. Like he had anticipated that this conversation was going to come his way.
"He’s good at it. Why shouldn’t he know it?" Lucian said, not even remorseful. At least that cleared up one confusing point. Lucian had been teaching him magic he shouldn’t know, and Cass wanted to groan.
As Lord Blackburn, he should have known that he shouldn’t be able to perform that kind of magic, but he also knew that Lord Blackburn prided himself on the level of magic he could achieve. He too, would have taken the chance to learn new, forbidden to him, magic. Perhaps that was why he hadn’t ’said’ anything this whole time.
Fiona pressed her hand against her forehead, looking considerably more fed up with Lucian than she had the whole time she had been speaking to Cass. It made Cass feel a little lighter, and better about the whole situation.
"Cass already is having a hard time fitting in. You’re going to make it harder for him. Most humans don’t know that kind of magic, and even if he’s good at it, he-" Lucian’s arm tightened around Cass, and he cut off Fiona as she was speaking.
"Why does that matter? He doesn’t need to fit in. He needs to be powerful enough to stand over everyone else. He doesn’t need to fit in if he’s powerful enough to crush them, does he?" O-kay. Tone it down there, dragon.
Cass was trying to not be a villain. That wasn’t exactly setting him up for success, was it?
Crushing thine enemies underfoot wasn’t exactly hero coded.
The sigh that left Fiona’s body almost made Cass smile.
"Lucian Draken." She started. "After this bond is dissolved, Cass is going to have to live without you around him. How the hell is he going to manage that if you set him up to be the kind of man you want him to be? He’s partially lost his memories, still trying to recover some of them, and you’re taking advantage of that fact." Fiona accused. Cass looked towards Lucian and found that his face was slightly flushed and he looked a little guilty.
Sneaky fucking dragon.
"It’s not my fault that he took to it like a duck to water. I just wanted to help him. It’s useful magic." Lucian mumbled, upset. He knew he was in the wrong, but he wasn’t exactly wrong either. It was useful magic. Cass did like it. It was also a huge fucking flex to just, wave his hand and use magic that others couldn’t.
Fiona groaned.
"While that may be true, it’s not normal for a human to be able to use that kind of magic. Cass might only be able to use that because of your influence through the bond." Lucian scoffed at her words.
"That’s not true. When he awoke, his magic shifted, and then a little bit after that, his magic shifted again. He’s always had a monstrous level of magic, but now it’s almost as big, if not bigger than mine. It rivals what my brood mother’s used to feel like when I was a fledgling myself." That part was new information to him.
Cass knew about the change in how his magic felt from what he and Lucian had talked about before, but learning that his magic...pool? Had gotten bigger? That was something he hadn’t even considered.
Fiona appeared to be quite shocked as well.
"That’s...Cass, I don’t think you should come into the temple when we go to the capital." She said suddenly, and Cass gave her a look. She looked like she had seen a ghost.
"Why so suddenly?" Cass asked and Fiona gave him a look. A knowing look.
"Unless you want them to find out about that , don’t go into the temple. You’ll only have to explain yourself." Cass could read between the lines, and somehow his higher magical pool would lead them down the road of asking questions.
Questions that Cass wouldn’t want to answer, and fuck, he really didn’t want the temple near him. Not anymore, especially after all of the stuff that was going on. And how creepy he found anyone working for the gods to be. Even if he was included in that list, it wasn’t because he wanted to.
They had blackmailed him with his family’s souls. That wasn’t exactly a behaviour that would make someone go, ’I’d love to get to know my coworkers’.
"Cassian doesn’t need to explain himself to anyone. I’ll eat anyone who tries." Lucian growled and Cass just instinctively put his hand on Lucian’s thigh.
The man froze into a statue.
"No, Lucian." Cass told him, and both Lucian and Fiona slid wide eyes to him. Cass swallowed as he met the shocked orange gaze of Lucian, and the equally shocked gaze of Fiona. Her lips were twitching though, so he didn’t fully trust her.
"Uh, what?" Lucian had to clear his throat, the words caught. "W-What do you not want me to do?" He asked, his hand coming down on top of Cass’ on his thigh. Holding it in place.
"No eating people, Lucian. Just because it’s an inconvenience. That’s murder, and honestly, we shouldn’t be encouraging you. Especially since Fiona is trying to make you more human. Humans don’t joke about eating each other." Cass wasn’t going to say that they did, but they certainly meant it very differently.
Fiona coughed, turning her face away from them and Cass knew that out of everyone, she would get it. It was probably her area of expertise. Lady Ava didn’t strike him as anything but a pillow princess.
"Okay. I’ll stop joking about it. Or, er, I’ll try. Does it make you happy if I’m more human?" He asked, his hand tightening around Cass’ on his thigh. Did it make him happier? Why did that matter?
Cass furrowed his brow, staring at Lucian.
"Well, it doesn’t really matter to me how humanlike you appear, but I know it makes others uncomfortable. The more uncomfortable you make others, the more likely they are to accuse you of being something other. Something not quite right. That’s not a comfortable feeling, and if I can avoid it, I would like to make sure you don’t have to experience that." Cass said. The other two paused and Cass realised that maybe his words had revealed a bit more than he wanted them too.
Awkwardly, he cleared his throat and glanced away. He attempted to tug his hand free and at first, Lucian’s hand tightened further before he relaxed his grip and let Cass slide his hand away. Cass grabbed the wrist of the hand Lucian had held, feeling strange.
"Okay." Lucian whispered. "Okay. I’ll do my best. I can’t say that when I get really angry that I might not say it again. I won’t lie and say that I’ll be perfect, but I’ll try." He told him and Cass just nodded.
"I’m going to call the others over. Cass and I discussed it, and he said he’d be fine setting up camp here as long as we...can’t see the center." Fiona said and Lucian grumbled.
"I don’t agree with that." He complained and Fiona sighed.
"It’s not up to you. It’s Cass’ trauma, he gets to make decisions on it. You just have to shut up and be pretty, alright?" Fiona said as Cass watched her turn and wave her hand. The trio started to make their way over.
"Just look pretty? Isn’t that Edgar’s job? He’s the prettiest out of-" Lucian cut off with a gasp. "T-That’s not what I meant! Of course you’re the prettiest, Cassian, I just-" Lucian was panicking. He had been joking with Fiona, and then had jerked, remembering he was wrapped around Cass.
Cass felt his shoulders shake as he started laughing. He shook his head, laughter bubbling from inside of him.
"It’s okay, Lucian. Vespertine is pretty. In the same way a toxic plant is an exotic colour to attract prey." Cass said, knowing that Vespertine was probably in earshot.
He watched as the other man’s head shot up, and his eyes narrowed. Lucian let out a loud bark of laughter, giving Cass a squeeze as Fiona chuckled.
"You’re right, Cassian. He is a pretty little thing, isn’t he? Ha! Fuck, I love that. What a smart man I have as my bond partner." Lucian was loud, boastful, and it hurt Cass’ ears with how close he was to him. When he glanced at Fiona, trying to gauge her reaction, she looked...happy. Pleased.
She slid her gaze from Lucian, to Cass, and winked. Cass flushed. Damn it. She wasn’t upset at all, not even a bit.
Cass glanced down at his hands, his heart squeezing and he blamed it on Lord Blackburn. It had to be him. It wasn’t Cass, that was for sure.