Chapter 234: I got friends on the other side
The door opened and Cass closed his eyes, not even wanting to look at who it was. The horrified gasp, along with the slam, told Cass it was one person.
"Ah fuck." Fiona exclaimed, abandoning Cass without a second thought to race after the female who held her whole heart. Cass groaned. This was the worst thing he could imagine. Lady Ava walking in on them? Why was she even there?
Had the celebration ended? That felt too soon. He hadn’t been talking to Fiona all that long. At least, he was pretty sure.
That was until he heard a knock on the door and before he could answer, the door swung open. It was the Head Priest, followed by Lord Ridgewood and Vespertine. Everyone had a confused look on their faces as they realised that Cass was alone in the opulent room. Cass adjusted himself on the couch, staring at the group. Where was Lucian and Sir Forsythe? Why weren’t they with them?
"Where is Lady Fiona and Ava?" The Head Priest asked and Cass shrugged.
"Lady Ava asked to speak to Fiona alone, and I saw no reason to stop them." Cass lied easily. They didn’t need to know what was going on, and that sounded perfectly reasonable. The fact that he got caught in a ’compromising’ position with Fiona never needed to be known. For everyone’s peace of mind. "Where is Lucian and Sir Forsythe?" Cass asked and Vespertine blinked, turning to look behind him to realise that they weren’t with them either.
The Head Priest smiled softly and Cass felt a shiver of warning run down his spine. That didn’t spell anything good. The man looked like a cat who had caught his favourite kind of snack in its claws. Cass did not like this.
"Mister Draken and Sir Forsythe are busy dealing with a swarm of beloved onlookers who wished to speak with them." This old snake. He had wanted to get him alone, probably without the girls as well. He just didn’t realise it would be this easy to do so.
Vespertine looked ill. Seriously ill. He clearly didn’t know what was going on, but Cass could tell that Lord Ridgewood did. He looked stone faced. Serious.
He was the rat. Or should he say, the cat in mouse clothing.
The Head Priest came over, sitting directly across from Cass on the couch while he forced Vespertine to sit on Cass’ one side while Lord Ridgewood sat on the other. Cass knew that the man had no other choice, and Vespertine was begging Cass with his eyes to understand that he had nothing to do with this.
Cass understood. He wasn’t mad at him. Maybe he was a bit disappointed, but that was about it. He was pissed at Lord Ridgewood though. What the fuck had he done to the man for him to rat him out like this? This was so rude, so uncalled for, and for fucks sake, Cass had liked him the most in the book!
Was this what Lord Blackburn had been warning him about? That he was a fucking narc? Ugh. He should have listened to the voices in his head.
"Cassian." The Head Priest started, not even calling him Lord Blackburn. Cass narrowed his gaze.
"We are not close enough for you to call me by my first name." Cass told him calmly, and the Head Priest chuckled.
"What? Do you want me to call you by your other, demonic name?" Cass’ mouth opened, before he turned and gave Lord Ridgewood a glare.
"Demonic name? Are you fucking serious right now?" Cass hissed, glaring at the other man. Lord Ridgewood wouldn’t even turn to look at him as Cass felt his heart race and the mark on the back of his shoulder burned painfully. Now was not the fucking time!
He now had to fight for his fucking life because someone hadn’t learned how to keep his fucking mouth shut.
"It’s just a damn name. It’s even close to my name here." Cass told him, before he sighed. "And no, I don’t want you to call me by that either. Call me Lord Blackburn." Cass told him coldly and the Head Priest chuckled.
"Why would I call you that when you’re just a fake child brought in by the demons to take over a Dukedom?" Wow. He had really made some jumps there, so many that Cass was actually shocked.
"Excuse me?" Cass asked, pissed. "A child that demons brought in to take over a Dukedom? Are you hearing yourself?" Cass asked. "That’s insane. Why would demons need to take over a Dukedom?" The Head Priest’s smile was serene, calm. Like he had expected Cass to react this way.
"Of course, it’s to take over the kingdom on their mission for world domination." Cass let out a harsh laugh.
"Pardon me for saying so, but a kingdom means nothing in the grand scheme of things." Cass knew he really shouldn’t be feeding into this man’s delusions, but how fucking self centered. Cass hadn’t been brought here for some petty shit like taking over a fucking kingdom. He’d been stolen from his time to make sure this world didn’t fucking collapse.
Who gave a fuck about a kingdom?
The Head Priest’s eyes glinted as Cass said that, leaning forward slightly.
"So you admit it, they plan to take over the Kingdom." Vespertine was looking exceedingly uncomfortable.
"Father, I think-"
"Shut up you useless son. If you were half of the man that Gideon was, you would have told me about the suspicious behaviour of Cassian ages ago." So, the truth came out. Lord Ridgewood had been observing him for a while, and he had found Cass lacking.
Cass ran a hand over his face, the weight on his shoulders feeling like nothing given what was happening right now. He was being branded not just a demon, but a demon planning to take over the kingdom. Fuck. It was his literal worst nightmare, the thing he had wanted to avoid, but now that he was sitting across from the Head Priest while all of this was happening all he could feel was...nothing.
He started laughing.
"Edgar, the useless son? Wow. Okay. Fresh to hear that from the Dad of the year." Cass said sarcastically, watching as the Head Priest blinked at the sudden change in tone. "I mean, I’ve got it bad, but holy shit. It’s almost like the gods are trying to punish your family by giving Edgar such a shitty Dad. It’s actually a miracle that both of us turned out somewhat normal." Cass leaned back on the couch, staring at the Head Priest as he felt the full shift away from his Lord Blackburn persona and into Cass.
The fast talking, annoyed the gods gay man who really was tired of this shit.
"H-How dare you-" Cass interrupted the man.
"How dare I? How dare you! You don’t know the whole story, and it’s clear you don’t fucking care to hear it either. Why do I need to explain myself to you of all people when I’ve got a higher power on my side? That doesn’t care what I do or who I piss off as long as I get my mission complete?" It sounded like Cass was working for the demon king. He didn’t care.
He didn’t need to specify which higher power he was working for. They didn’t deserve that kind of clarification, and honestly, both Lord Blackburn and Cass didn’t know the gods’ names in this world, and they didn’t care.
The Head Priest looked giddy hearing the words coming from his mouth.
"Oh, so you admit it! You are working for a higher power!" The Head Priest looked like he was a kid in a candy store. It was only Vespertine, no, Edgar who looked like he was going to have a panic attack.
"Father, I really think you should listen to me!" He said loudly, nervously, but the Head Priest thought he had caught his golden goose. Wouldn’t it be great to catch not just any demon, but the demon everyone had suspected all along? Especially after visiting the temple?
"Shut up Edgar!" The Head Priest yelled and Cass let out a laugh.
"I really think you should listen to your son. He’s not an idiot like someone else." Cass gave Lord Ridgewood and the Head Priest a piercing look. Lord Ridgewood stiffened. "Honestly, Lord Ridgewood, I gave you so many hints. I always thought you were rather smart, but clearly you were blinded by one aspect of me that I didn’t even know of until recently to put everything else together." Lord Ridgewood blinked, confusion slowly clouding his expression while Edgar let out a frustrated noise.
"He’s a hero!" Edgar shouted into the silence that followed Cass’ words. "He was selected by the gods to defeat the demon king because Fiona isn’t going to be able to do it alone!" Edgar shouted. "Cass, please, show them the mark! I cannot stand for someone of the Vespertine blood line killing a hero!" Edgar was on his feet, panting, his face awash with colour as he stared between Lord Ridgewood and his father. "Are you both mad? How would someone with demon blood be able to walk into the main temple without some assistance? I’m sure you told Father about the ring, but are you seriously saying that someone would even be able to bear the brunt of that kind of holy power alone? Without help?" Edgar was pissed, while Lord Ridgewood and the Head Priest were slack jawed.
Cass chuckled.
"Edgar, would you help me? Sir Forsythe helped me dress this morning so I can’t undress on my own." Edgar didn’t hesitate, helping Cass pull off his clothes until his shoulder was bare. When Cass turned to show them the gasp that left both of their mouths felt like a reward.
It was a shitty reward, but still one.
Edgar caught Cass as he crumpled, and Edgar stared at him hopelessly. Everything was catching up to him now and this was how his body was handling it. Crumpling like a shitty house made out of cards.
"What can I do? Have you spoken to the gods yet?" He asked and Cass chuckled.
"No, and they’re getting impatient. I’m sure if you touched the mark, it’s hot." Edgar’s hesitant touch on his shoulder, on the mark, had him hissing as he pulled his hand away.
"Fuck. Okay. I’ll take you to a priest’s prayer room. I-" Cass chuckled again.
"I think they want to show off. I need to go to the main temple." Cass told him. "The statue. The last one I spoke to was the big one in the middle." Cass told him and Edgar chuckled nervously.
"A-Alright. I’ll get you there. Let me help you get dressed again. Now would be a great time for Lucian to show up. I wish he was a damn dog." Edgar muttered as he helped Cass get dressed. Cass felt exhausted. Damn these fuckers. Damn the Head Priest, and damn Lord Ridgewood.
"Is this...true?" The Head Priest asked and Cass gave him a sleepy middle finger.
"Get fucked. I don’t need to answer to you, or to anyone else. Even the gods didn’t care about my blood." Cass told him and watched as the Head Priest went white. "You’re going to be in trooooouble." Cass sang before laughing. He was going to love it when he tried to talk to the gods next. If he even could.