Chapter 194: Uh, is that how it works? I thought you wouldn’t want them to like me?
Lucian was like a beast when it came to identifying magical items. He powered through them all, taking one look at them before he was able to tell the group what they were looking at. All while keeping a hand on Cass’ waist, a claim actually. Cass wanted to move away, but was also incredibly impressed at the work he was doing.
So impressed that he partially forgot the hold that felt like a brand.
"The stones in the bag are all meant to be used as light. Don’t know for how long, but given how many there are, probably not a long time. Or one could last a whole day." Lucian suggested, handing those back to Fiona. Fiona nodded, sliding them back into the velvet bag. "The gods necklace? Seems like something from a priest, obviously. I feel like we all can come to that conclusion from looking at it. There is something different about it. I think....it might strengthen holy power spells? It has to do with holy power, but that’s my best guess."
Fiona looked a little bit relieved to hear that, even if she still didn’t look happy at the sight of the necklace. Neither did Vespertine or Lord Ridgewood. Cass couldn’t blame them.
So far, outside of...Cass...they hadn’t come face to face with anyone that was wearing clothes that were easily identifiable. No one that they could go ’oh, I know what you used to do’. All of them were in dark, dirty rags. Knowing that there was potentially a priest here somewhere had to not be a good feeling.
Lucian handed the necklace back before turning to the ring. He made a low, thoughtful sound.
"This is...a ring of resistance." He told the group and everyone brightened.
"Oh? What kind?" Fiona asked. Cass knew that they had gotten a few before, since he had read the book, so upon hearing that he also perked up. Lucian examined the ring for a long, long moment before he spoke quietly.
"Well...I am familiar with the other types of rings, since the gem is what determines what kind of resistance it has...I think, and this might be a severely cruel joke on their part, that this is a ring of holy power resistance." Cass froze. Everyone else froze.
Holy power resistance?
"If I’m understanding correctly, you’re saying that if you wear this ring you are more resistant to holy powers?" Cass asked, feeling like even asking the words was going to choke him. Lucian let out a deep sigh.
"Yeah. They’re supposed to be super rare. Mainly because the demons all took them for themselves. Pretty fucked up of them to put one in a chest, huh? A waste if you asked me." Cass felt a shiver run down his spine.
And he had the feeling that that ring was for him? Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.
Cass felt a sudden wave of illness wash over him. What had compelled him to think that ring was for him? Who had compelled him to think that ring was for him? Was it Lord Blackburn? Or someone else?
Lucian’s grip on Cass’ waist tightened as Lucian handed the ring back to Fiona who put it back into the little velvet bag.
"Either way, what a loss on their part. The rest of the gems are...enchanted by their colour. Looks like they’ll give a little boost to elemental magic that matches their colour. Everything else appears to be normal." Lucian confirmed and Vespertine and Fiona began to organise and portion everything out. "Now I’m going to steal Cass. We’ll be back shortly." Cass felt his eyes widen as Lucian basically picked him up by his hips and spun him. He carried him like that until they were a distance away from the others.
Cass felt like his head was still reeling from what he had just learned and was grappling with, but Lucian? He was clearly still worried about what he had experienced, had felt from Cass when he was alone with Vespertine.
Cass knew that was the case since he crowded him against the stone wall he had created, his arms slamming into the fence above his head, caging him in. Cass felt his face heat as he realised what was happening to him.
No. Fucking. Way.
Lucian was not-he had not-
Cass wanted to melt into the ground. He could tell that his heart was racing in his chest, its beat loud in his own ears. Lucian loomed over him, his hands on either side of his head as Cass scrambled to gather himself. His orange gaze roamed him, his gaze narrow.
"What were you and Edgar talking about before we arrived?" He asked quietly. It sounded calm, but Cass knew better. The man had carried him far enough away to have a private conversation where he caged him in like a damn BL story, and Cass was feeling a little tongue-tied.
"Uh, I, um." Cass couldn’t get a solid word out, his face going beet red as Lucian’s gaze narrowed further and Cass almost let out an embarrassing squeak.
This was a lot. He hadn’t done this to him, not before, and Cass had never found himself on the receiving end before. He’d done so to threaten someone before, but never...like this.
"Cassian, you better use that pretty mouth of yours to explain yourself, or I might do something you’ll regret." Cass felt his face go a darker shade of red as heat rushed to his face. Holy shit.
"C-Could you...lower your arms?" Cass asked weakly, and Lucian narrowed his eyes further, before he pulled one arm away, placing it on Cass’ waist instead. He didn’t think that was better, and Cass swallowed.
"There. I dropped an arm. Now are you going to start talking? Hmm? What was with those emotions I felt from you? Are you alright? Am I going to have to have a talk with Edgar, man to man?" He threatened and Cass shook his head.
"No. He was just...he was letting me know that...ugh. He was letting me know that he...saw us." Cass muttered, dropping his gaze. He couldn’t look at Lucian anymore, but when he dropped his gaze it wasn’t exactly like that helped. He was now staring at the man’s chest and Lucian chuckled when Cass swallowed.
"Eyes up here, sweetness. You can stare at them all you want when we aren’t having a serious conversation." Cass wanted the ground to swallow him up.
"I-I wasn’t-" Cass raised his gaze up to Lucian’s, but that only seemed to spur the other man on. He watched as Lucian glanced around, making sure no one was near before he bent, pressing his lips against Cass’. Cass’ soft inhale in surprise spurred him on.
"Damn. You’re so fucking cute." Lucian murmured. "I want to eat you up." He rumbled, a deep sound filling the air. Cass felt like he couldn’t breathe as Lucian stared at him, his eyes that of his dragon self. "So he told you that he overheard us? Was he rude?" Lucian asked, his eyes narrow, his voice sugary sweet.
Cass had to take a few deep breaths before he could respond. He could feel how the wall behind him trembled as his concentration faltered.
"You cannot be kissing me right now." Cass warned and Lucian’s lips turned up in a boyish smile.
"Why not? Why should I not kiss you when you look like you want me to kiss you? Your lips were practically begging me to kiss them. They are still begging me for me to sink my teeth into your pouty little bottom lip and leave my mark on it." Lucian’s voice dipped lower, seductive. Cass felt his eyes widen.
"It doesn’t-lips can’t look like that!" He hissed, embarrassed by Lucian’s words and Lucian’s grin only grew.
"Yes they can, and yours do. If I had a mirror, I’d show you. Your face is all flushed and your heartbeat is racing. It’s because of me, I can tell, but I don’t know why yet. I’ll pursue that at a later date. Now, tell me, was he rude?" Lucian was trying to coax the answers out of him and Cass was just...the man was a little too much for him to handle.
"No. He wasn’t rude. He was...honestly, pretty apologetic. And...surprised that I was the instigator." Cass whispered, swallowing past the cold lump that formed in the back of his throat.
Lucian’s hand on his waist tightened, and he slid his other hand down from the wall to cup the back of Cass’ neck.
"I was too, but that’s okay. I could tell. It was...it was because of that , wasn’t it?" Lucian asked carefully, softly and Cass nodded, unable to speak past the cold lump in his throat at the moment. "That’s okay, sweetness. He doesn’t need to know why, he just needs to know to keep his fucking mouth shut." Lucian’s sweet, soft way of speaking almost had Cass cruising over the very real threat in his words.
Cass felt the laughter bubble out of him, and he ducked his head, staring at their feet.
"He won’t tell." Cass told Lucian. "He’s...he’s aware that I’m a hero and he said he’ll protect me. Keep it a secret." Cass said quietly and Lucian remained silent for a moment.
"Ah. I see. Mmm, well, I guess I can work with him then if he knows that much." Lucian said it as if it was obvious, and as if he was very reluctant to agree. Cass shook his head.
"You don’t really have to work with him outside of the hero party." Cass murmured and Lucian let out a deep, deep sigh.
"Cassian, what in the world are you saying? That’s just simply not true. You’re too cute for me to allow others to touch, and you’re unwell. Very unwell, like the world is against you. I, of course, can manage this on my own, but if he wants to help, I now know he has a good enough reason to." Lucian sounded bitter, and resigned. "I’ll deal with the fact that he heard how cute you were last night. Only if I know he got hard from it." Cass gasped, tilting his head back to look at Lucian.
"What? No!" Cass protested but Lucian was serious. Dead serious.
"I stand by what I said. I will not rely on him if he doesn’t find you as cute as I found you. I won’t trust anyone who doesn’t. Fiona already said she finds you as cute as a button, but in a protective sibling way, but any other man? I won’t compete with other women, because...well, I lack the parts, but men? We need to be on the same page, or we are enemies." Lucian was so serious, and Cass didn’t know what to say.
"I think...this is a dragon thing that isn’t translating to human behaviour." Cass murmured and Lucian huffed.
"Sure. Let’s go with that. Now, you’re too skinny, so eat two cookies in front of me. Then we can go back to the others." Lucian ordered and Cass wanted to fight him on this, wanted to argue, but he could tell that Cass was going to eat two cookies by himself, or Lucian was going to get involved.
From the way Lucian was looking at him, he was really hoping that Cass complained.