Chapter 31: I never consented to this
"I can take that as an answer. Thank goodness we have a few magic users." Lady Fiona muttered but Cass picked up on it. It only angered him more, but he wasn’t an idiot. He knew that if he continued, he could hurt the others around him.
"To answer your previous question, no. You’ve been bothering me so much that I haven’t had time to do that." Cass spat angrily and Lady Fiona flinched. Draken shifted, his expression turning into a frown.
"That was never a problem before. You would normally find me to spar. Why haven’t you if you were this worked up?" It was Draken, and of course he got to the heart of the issue. Cass clenched his hands into fists on his desk, his face flushing as embarrassment, anger and frustration raced through his bloodstream.
Lady Fiona was the first one who seemed to get it and she gasped.
"No! Have you not-" Cass frowned deeply, not answering her. Lady Fiona was shocked, but quickly recovered and she turned to look at Draken. "You’re going to have to help him. He isn’t going to be able to do it on his own." Lady Fiona ordered and Draken’s eyebrows shot up.
"You want me to do it? Have Edgar do it! I’m not going to-"
"You know that Edgar can’t do it. You have to, Lucy." Lady Fiona ordered and Cass had a bad feeling overcome him. What the fuck were they talking about? Lord Vespertine had a smug look on his face.
"For someone who has so much magical power, have you never had to have a shackle put on you before?" He teased and Cass felt his jaw clench. This fucking asshole. He was going to rip him a new one as soon as he controlled himself.
"I don’t need your help." Cass declared hotly and Lady Fiona gave him a pitying look. Draken uncrossed his arms and gestured to him.
"Look! He doesn’t want me to!" Draken said and Lady Fiona rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.
"When has that ever stopped you in the past?" She asked coldly, and Draken visibly flinched. He snorted, rolling his shoulders before he turned his gaze and leveled Cass with one of the most determined and sinister looks he’d ever received. Cass gasped as Draken began to move towards him.
"I never agreed to this!" Cass shrieked and Draken winced.
"Keep your fucking voice down. I don’t want to do this either." Draken growled as he got closer and closer to Cass. Panic filled him, and in his desperation he thrust his hands against Draken’s chest as he got closer. Whatever inch he could gain that would separate them was enough to Cass.
Instead of frost, lightning shot from his hands and Draken jerked, before a feral grin crossed his lips as his clothes smoked. "That’s cute." He said before pulling Cass forcefully against him.
"S-Stop! This is highly inappropriate!" Cass declared, flustered and still very angry.
"Oh shut up. I’m the one who’s going to look like a fool for weeks after this!" Draken growled, yanking Cass’ head to the side and Cass let out a choked gasp as Draken sunk his teeth into his neck. Cass twitched, his whole body freezing as the throbbing pain from the mark had his whole body on high alert.
He began to violently shake a few seconds after Draken sunk his teeth into his throat, and Cass could feel blood beginning to run from the wound. Cass weakly pushed at Draken’s chest, trying to break contact as something strange began to happen to his body.
He was heating up. Something was stirring inside of him from the contact. It didn’t feel like something he’d ever felt before, in this life or in the memories that Lord Blackburn had. It started lower in his body, somewhere it shouldn’t be and the panic he felt now dwarfed the panic he’d felt before.
"Stop." Cass protested weakly, his legs feeling like jelly the longer Draken had contact with his skin. Draken’s grip on his body and his neck tightened as Cass’ body went lax. He only pulled away when Cass couldn’t hold himself upright at all.
Cass was pale-faced, trembling, and shocked, with bloody teeth marks on his neck and shoulder, all while being held up by the largest member of their party. He felt like a wet dog.
In contrast, Draken looked invigorated. His orange eyes were bright, his expression light, his mouth covered in blood and he licked his lips. Cass was basically a dead body in his arms, slumped over and Lady Fiona let out a relieved sigh.
"It worked. I knew it would work." She seemed relieved while Cass was dazed, horrified.
"Huh." Draken said and Cass felt a shiver of warning run down his spine. Draken leaned in, giving his neck wound a sniff. "Your blood’s really sweet, Lord Blackburn." He said and that seemed to pique Lady Ava and Lord Vespertine’s interest.
"Really? Do you think something is wrong with his health?" Lady Ava asked while Cass clung to the other man, his breath coming in pants as he tried to grapple with the storm that was raging inside of him. What was going on? He didn’t feel okay. He felt...restless, aware, sensitive. He’d felt sensitive before, but this was different.
This didn’t feel right. This scared him.
"No, I don’t think anything is wrong. Hmm, can’t say I know for sure. He’s a different sp-I’m not a magical doctor." Draken corrected. It appeared that he was still trying to behave as if he was human still, even though Lady Fiona had ordered him to BITE Cass.
"Can I have a taste?" Lord Vespertine said eagerly, and Cass groaned.
"T-This isn’t taste C-Cass time." He protested weakly, his lips barely moving as he shuddered. Everyone froze, including Draken who held him in his arms still. Draken was staring at him with wide, orange eyes while Cass attempted to glare at him. Draken’s throat worked.
"Cass? Is that how you refer to yourself?" Lord Ridgewood asked. "That’s...strangely normal." He muttered. And Cass turned his gaze towards the redhead.
"I-I am normal." Cass’ lips felt swollen, his whole body felt strange, and he worried about what the fuck they had done to him. Draken was still holding him, and was looking at him strangely.
"Hmm. I’m not so sure." Draken murmured. "Edgar? Just a finger." Cass’ eyes widened as Lord Vespertine came prancing over, all excited. His usually bright blue eyes seemed to be even brighter and Cass knew damn well the reason for it.
He couldn’t believe that Draken not only knew what kind of monster he was, but that he’d given him permission to taste Cass’ blood. Cass had just said it wasn’t a taste Cass buffet!
Glaring at everyone in the room, who, if they hadn’t been here, he wouldn’t have exploded like this in the first place, Cass grew only more frustrated. These damn fucking people.
Cass wasn’t even going to look at Sam. He was angry at everyone, but he couldn’t blame Sam. What was he to do? These people were heroes to him. He couldn’t go against them. He was just a human.
True to his word, Draken angled Cass so that Lord Vespertine could swipe just a finger across the wound. Cass winced at the touch, the bite mark pulsing with the beat of his heart and watched as the damn monster stuck his finger into his mouth. His eyes widened and he turned his gaze to Draken.
"What is that?" He asked the other creature, and Draken shrugged, jostling Cass as he did so. Cass groaned, and everyone looked at him.
"Not a clue. Sorry Lord Blackburn. I’ll put you in your chair. Uh, your...servant can help you get wiped up. I doubt you’d like me to clean you." Cass glared at him and Draken chuckled. "This is nice. You look kinda...hmm, you’ll kill me if I say it out loud. I can feel it." Draken chuckled and rubbed his heart. Cass wished that the hand print burn marks on his chest actually hurt, but he knew better.
The bastard was immune to any kind of fire-related damage. That included lightning.
"W-What do you-" Draken cut him off to speak to Lord Vespertine again.
"Isn’t it sweet? Do you know of anything like it?" Lord Vespertine seemed thoughtful.
"Well, there are a couple of options, but they don’t quite suit him. It’s very strange, I’ll admit. It’s not...hmm. It changes. I wish I could have a mouthful to play with." He turned his gaze longingly towards Cass and Cass nearly snarled at him.
They’d left him practically paralysed and wanted more from him? They could fuck right off.
"Oo. If he could move right now, we’d be dead." Draken told him, and Cass jerked. How the fuck did he know that? I mean, outside of her obvious displeasure, Draken, the one who wasn’t as sharp as Lord Vespertine, shouldn’t know the depth of his anger.
"Um, Cassian?" Lady Fiona started, and Cass jerked his gaze towards her. She flinched at the anger in his gaze. "I had to...I had to ask Lucy to do something to stop your magic from overflowing and hurting someone. You were very close to doing so. What he did is kind of...an exclusive thing to his race. It’s a temporary thing, but it’s like..." Lady Fiona flushed. "You’re going to be so mad at me." She muttered and Draken laughed loudly.
"He’s already more pissed than a cat in a bag, I truly don’t think it could get worse." He said with a smirk. "What Fiona is trying to say is that she had me mark you. It’s a way that we can control magic, and since we don’t have a set of magical shackles on us at the moment, it’s the best we could do without directing the magic into the air. That wouldn’t work since we aren’t outside." Draken smirked and an awful, horrible feeling filled his chest.
Cass remembered Draken talking to Lady Fiona about marking once. In the book. It wasn’t just something Draken was brushing off. It had a big meaning, and for Cass and his future plans, it was a major pain in the butt.
"No." Cass protested, and Draken smirked.
"I won’t ask how you seem to know what it is without asking, but it’s good to know that you have some idea of what I’ve done. Yes, Lord Blackburn, it is as you apparently fear. For at least three months, we’re married by my culture’s traditions, and like you fear, I can sense your emotions and location." So many feelings raced through his mind and body. Cass didn’t even know where to start. Rage, anger, fear, confusion, betrayal, sadness, loneliness. Everything was there.
Cass closed his eyes and finally settled on one. Resignation.
"Leave." Cass ordered, his voice weak and Lady Ava and Lady Fiona flinched.
"Why are you so upset? We stopped you from hurting yourself and everyone else around you." Draken seemed incredulous, while Cass glared at him. He doubted that someone like him would be able to understand where his anger resided.
His choice had been taken away. They hadn’t even considered informing him what was going on. Lord Blackburn was the kind of person who hadn’t needed shackles before. He had kept everything together tightly. They were the reason his tightly kept together composure had crumbled, and now he was in this situation.
Cass wasn’t even upset about the marriage thing. That didn’t matter. He was already married to someone else, what was one more? It was more about the lack of consideration, the lack of communication, and the lack of respect.
"We should leave him alone." Lady Fiona said, her lips trembling as Cass stared at them blankly. He couldn’t even remain angry at them. They weren’t even worth it right now.
Fuck. There goes him ever trusting them again.