"Lucian!" Cass hissed, and Lucian shrugged like what he said hadn’t been a big deal, but it was the way his eyes glittered that told a different story. Edgar coughed, clearly covering up a laugh and Cass lashed out.
He whipped his hand out, smacking both men on the pec. Edgar seemed the most shocked, while Lucian just grinned with satisfaction. That was when Cass remembered that bond partners, mates, whatever the fuck dragon’s called their pairs, were allowed to physically discipline their dragons. In fact, it was encouraged. Cass narrowed his gaze at the dragon.
"I didn’t say anything wrong, did I? It’s been hours, Cass, since you last had a little...sweet treat." Edgar nearly choked. Fiona and Lady Ava had no fucking clue what was going on, and Cass?
He was as bright as a damn tomato.
"I do not need a sweet treat." Cass hissed. "I’m perfectly fine. I ate from the tree, remember? A meal, unlike before that." Cass was being a little mean, and Lucian’s gaze shot wide. Edgar couldn’t help himself. He was bent in half, his hand covering his mouth as he turned away from the two who were bickering.
"A meal. A meal? Then was all of my hard work in vain? Did I...not feed you enough? I’m so terribly sorry to hear that. I’ll make sure that you are sufficiently fed later, once this ball is over. Right, Edgar?" Edgar, who had been wheezing between the other two men, jerked up, his blue eyes wide.
"How in the world can I participate in making sure he’s fed when I can barely keep up? He’s voracious." Cass thought he was going to die again. Another metal beam was going to fall from the sky and take him out.
Was Lucian fucking serious right now? In public? People here already thought he was a demon, and they were already surprised he was here! What the fuck were they going to think when they heard that?
Fiona was still trying to put the pieces together, and Lady Ava? Completely lost.
"Voracious? But...you’re so skinny, Cass." Lady Ava said quietly and Edgar was down for the count again. The man was shaking, trying to keep himself together. Lucian was all smirks, and Cass realised what he was doing.
He was staking some kind of claim. In a room full of people, Lucian was declaring that he knew Cass better than others, and was making sure that everyone knew that. Knowing that he wasn’t trying to embarrass him did help Cass deal with the emotions flooding him, but that didn’t mean Lucian’s actions were acceptable.
Cass stepped towards the other man, took a deep breath and then carefully grabbed the front of his shirt. He pulled him down, but it was more that Lucian let him do so. Lucian was all smiles as Cass’ face burned and he licked his lips.
He looked like a damn cat who’d gotten into the cream, and it didn’t help that Fiona was just in Cass’ peripheral vision, eyes wide, mouth agape, but she seemed...happy with this development?
"Lucian Draken." Cass’ voice was low, quiet, and dangerous. Lucian smiled.
"Yes, Sweetness?" Lucian’s voice was quiet, just for their ears only. Cass’ gaze narrowed.
"I understand that you are trying to warn others away, but I do not appreciate what you are implying. I am plenty scary enough." Cass warned and Lucian’s eyes widened, and then his face changed colours. He didn’t expect Cass to call him out like that. For the first time, Lucian looked actually embarrassed at being caught. Cass’ grip tightened on his shirt as the man attempted to pull away.
"I-I wasn’t-" Lucian began to protest, and Cass realised that the dragon hadn’t really been aware that was what he was doing. Cass felt his lips curl up slightly.
"You weren’t even aware of it, were you? You do a lot of things like that. You claimed that Edgar and I are sneaky, but I find that you are far more snake-like than you give yourself credit for." Cass told him and watched as Lucian’s throat worked. His ears were pink, the colour high on his cheeks.
Damn it all if he wasn’t a little bit cute.
Cass shoved the man away from him, pretending to smooth down his own clothes as Lucian stumbled back a step. Cass composed himself once more.
"Now, Fiona, shall we do a lap of the room and see where that pesky man is going to come from?" Cass as, offering Fiona his arm like he was supposed to and Fiona stared at it.
"Aren’t I...not supposed to touch you?" Fiona asked carefully and Cass gave a tight smile.
"We can pretend. Who is going to call us out?" Cass asked, knowing people had to be listening in on them. Fiona nodded, glanced at the other three, before slipping her hand into the little nook that Cass had made for her. She held onto his jacket, not actually touching him and Cass felt his lips curl up once more. He gave a wave to the others, and Lady Ava waved back. Edgar was still recovering, and Lucian looked like a little boy who got caught doing something naughty.
~
"What was that all about?" Fiona asked softly when they were away from the group, but were making their way towards the others. Cass felt his face fall back into the mask he was supposed to wear.
"What was what all about?" Cass asked, attempting to pretend that nothing happened.
"Did you find out more about yourself? Is that how you are able to move about right now?" Fiona asked in a whisper and Cass felt his jaw tighten. He couldn’t exactly lie to her.
"Well...yes and no." Cass admitted. "We did find out more, but it was because I asked for help during, not because I found out anything before now." Cass told her and Fiona tugged on the cloth she was holding onto, halting them. She stepped from Cass’ side to stand in front of him, her eyes wide. She looked shocked, but also happy.
"That’s a good thing, isn’t it? A step in the right direction? That’s so exciting Cass. Your life can be more normal now." Fiona sounded so excited for him. Genuinely excited. This was why Fiona was the hero originally.
She had a good heart, where Cass was sure his and Lord Blackburn’s was just a piece of coal that somehow managed to gain a heartbeat.
"Fiona, if I told you what it was, you wouldn’t think that way." Cass didn’t mean to sound belittling, truly, but he could see how his tone took the wind out of her sails. She looked upset.
"Is it something hard to get?" She asked and Cass nearly choked. Hard to get? Well, that was a fucking thought that Cass didn’t want to consider.
"Uh, it’s...plentiful if...you know where to go. But for me...it’s...illegal?" Cass hated that he even had to consider this. Fiona looked shocked. She leaned in closer, worry on her face.
"Illegal? Is that...is that how Lucy is able to get it for you? Is that why you asked him for help instead of me?" Cass had to look away from her earnest expression.
"Fiona...you don’t have what I need. You have the...mmm, let’s stop talking about this. There are other more important things to discuss." Cass cut off, not able to say it to her face, and to have others hear it either. That was enough.
He didn’t want rumours about what kind of demon he was to spread.
Fiona looked disheartened at his words, but Cass knew that this was the right thing to do. Cass hesitated for a second, thinking about what he could do to cheer her up.
"Fiona, I would have asked you for help if I could have, but...for various reasons, you were off the table for it, alright?" Cass said carefully and Fiona nodded, falling into step beside them as they continued to move slowly through the room.
"It’s okay. You don’t need to comfort me." She said, and Cass could tell that it wasn’t okay, and he did need to comfort her.
"It’s just...Lady Ava would be pissed if I asked that of you, and so would you, honestly. You’d be very confused." Cass told her and Fiona furrowed her brow, but didn’t look at Cass. She was staring ahead, her expression down, her face sad.
"Why would Ava be upset?" She muttered. "And I wouldn’t be. I want to be able to help you where I can, Cass." Cass didn’t want to say it outright, so he just straight up pivoted to another topic.
"Uh, anyways, if you were done being a hero, what would you do? I mean, after the demon King’s defeated of course." Cass said and Fiona blinked. She turned to glance at him, giving him a disapproving look for attempting to change the subject, but she let him do it.
"I...didn’t really think about what I would do after defeating the demon king." She said carefully. "I honestly thought I would die in the final fight." Cass turned to look at her. That was the first that Cass was hearing of this.
Even in the book Fiona didn’t let that kind of mentality slip. Fiona gave Cass a kind look.
"Why do you look so shocked? About half of all heroes die in the final fight, Cass." Fiona told him gently, and Cass was reminded that even though he’d done research, he hadn’t done enough.
They had had previous heroes. They had had previous demon Kings. This was a cycle that Cass had just been dumped into. Fiona was her own person, with her own thoughts. Him being able to see into her thoughts that she wanted others to see was completely different from actually being in her head.
Cass turned his gaze away from her, looking around absently at the nobles chatting in groups around them. They were walking where it was free of people, weaving in and out of the crowd as need be.
"I...this is the first time I’ve heard you discuss it like this." Cass said quietly. "I guess...I just...you aren’t going to die, Fiona." Cass felt the words slip out of mouth before he realised. Fiona came to a halt, tugging Cass to a stop again. She looked at him, shocked, and then her eyes watered.
"How are you so sure about that?" She asked and Cass knew he’d fucked up. He tried to come up with reasons, an excuse, but knew that he couldn’t trust himself right now. Not really. "Is that...part of what you were-" She was giving him an excuse, a way out, and Cass nodded his head.
"W-We really shouldn’t speak about it. I’m not even supposed to." Cass told her quickly and Fiona nodded, her eyes wide.
"R-Right. Of course. I just-" Fiona’s voice grew tense, tight. Like she was trying not to cry. "I’ve just never had anyone around me say it with such certainty before. Not even Ava has..." Fiona trailed off, and Cass realised that she had discussed this with Lady Ava before.
Fuck. He felt like an asshole. Yes, he was attempting to save them, and was going to save them today. That wasn’t a question. He had just...never considered their own thoughts and feelings about this whole thing. Cass glanced at her, taking in her expression and the way her grip shook on his clothes. Fuck. Him and his big mouth.