*This Chapter might be triggering to those who have ever dealt with being drugged. I don’t think it’s too personal, but please be safe. Avoid it if you think it would harm you.
"They were all demons." Gideon gasped. "All of them. Different levels, but by the gods. They all approached me after I danced with the Queen. She’s a demon too." Cass blinked.
"What?" Cass asked, a little dumbstruck that Gideon had said that out loud. Gideon swallowed.
"That’s why I went to dance with her. I couldn’t help myself. It was like...a pull. I had to get closer to her, see what the hell was going on. It seems she sensed my powers and it was shortly after the fairies arrived that I was dragged here. They were going to ’ruin’ me as they said. I don’t know what it means, but it was clear that they meant to corrupt me in some way." Gideon gave a soft laugh, his lips turning up slightly. "Too late for them. I’m already being corrupted by the hero, no less."
Cass felt his face warm. What the hell was this man even saying right now?
Edgar coughed.
"What am I? Chopped liver?" Edgar grumbled and Cass turned his gaze towards him. He only caught Gideon’s smile from the corner of his eye.
"Ah. My apologies, Eddie. I didn’t mean to offend you." Gideon said, and Cass realised that the man was kind of slurring his speech. Cass sniffed, really sniffed and realised that in his anger he hadn’t realised that Gideon’s shirt and jacket was soaked. There were also a few bottles on the table nearby, and the couch under Gideon was soaked too.
"Did they try to waterboard you?" Cass asked, upset. Gideon laughed.
"No. It didn’t taste like wine though." Gideon told him and Edgar frowned.
"Gods, I can smell it now too. Why wasn’t I able to until you said something, Cass?" Edgar pondered but Cass didn’t have an answer. Instead, Cass focused on cleaning up Gideon’s clothes and getting rid of the smell in the room and on the couch. Cass cleaned all of it up with magic, helping Gideon to another couch that wasn’t soaked with a strange liquor.
Edgar went to Gideon’s side as Cass did that and Cass then began to investigate the bottles next to the couch. They were labeled, but it was something that Cass hadn’t ever seen before. The language on the bottles was also strange. Cass, frowning, brought one of the empty bottles over to Edgar to see if he was familiar with any aspect of it.
"Edgar, Gideon, have you seen these before?" Cass asked, handing the bottle over to Edgar. Edgar turned the bottle over in his hand, frowning down at it while Gideon sat on the couch, smiling as his gaze slid from Cass to Edgar. It was strange to see him this intoxicated since he was normally so in control of himself. Cass was a little worried that he was going to start stumbling like the others.
How the hell was he supposed to sober up Gideon at this point?
"This doesn’t...look familiar to me but I’ve also been absent from the ball scene for a while. Ever since we moved to the mansion near the forest." Edgar’s frown grew deeper. "Maybe I might have to change that. I might need to start investigating. Especially if Gideon was ambushed like this." Cass couldn’t help but agree with his words, but he also thought it was risky.
"Edgar, I don’t want you doing something if it’s risky. Especially after they attacked Gideon." Cass said. Edgar raised his gaze to Cass, his eyes softening as he met Cass’ concerned eyes.
"Bunny, I appreciate the concern but if they were demons attacking a saint, they aren’t going to do much to me as a fellow demon. I might be aligned with the saint, but I am still a very strong demon." Edgar said with a wink. "So strong that I’m a great food source for another strong demon, right?" He teased. Cass narrowed his gaze at Edgar, huffing.
"They aren’t the only concern. There are also foolish humans that could try to take advantage of you, like the Ridgewood’s or your father." Cass reminded him and Edgar waved a dismissive hand.
"I’ll be fine. However, I would like to take at least one of these bottles home. Do you have a bag or something we could shove this into?" Edgar asked, turning his attention to Cass. Cass blinked. He hadn’t brought either of the little time space bags with him, but honestly? Didn’t matter. He could just make something at this point.
He knew that the magic was something that was supposed to be controlled by the Kingdom, but if the Queen was a fucking demon? Yeah, Cass didn’t need to worry about a damn thing.
Within moments two of the bottles were tucked away somewhere safe and Cass and Edgar could turn their attention towards Gideon who was getting worse by the second. Cass was honestly worried. He was advancing in his drunkenness far too quickly.
"I think he should throw up." Cass told Edgar and Edgar flinched.
"What? You want him to throw up? That’s gross, Cass." Edgar told him and Cass rolled his eyes.
"Well, it’s either that or we let him ride it out and I don’t think that’s a good idea. People don’t get drunk like this, Edgar. Whatever they gave him is not sitting well with his body. We need to get it out of him and they make animals throw up whenever they’ve eaten something bad too." Cass said. He realised how bad that sounded after it had left his mouth as Edgar gave Cass a strange, almost amused look.
"Are you seriously suggesting we treat Gideon like an animal right now?" Edgar asked and Gideon, who was there but had just been smiling as he sat on the couch, raised his hands into the air.
"I’m fine with that!" He said loudly, his words slurred. His eyes were barely staying open and Cass knew that whatever was going on, Gideon was crashing hard. It was almost like Gideon had been drugged. Cass had no idea about what kind of drugs a world like this could have, or how to treat it. It was a smart idea to have him throw up as soon as possible.
Cass moved to Gideon’s other side, grabbing one of his arms and tossing it over his shoulder.
"Edgar, come on. We need to get him to throw up. He’s been drugged or something and we need to get it out of his system. He’s human. Who knows what they’ve given him? What if it’s poison?" Cass suggested and that seemed to get Edgar moving. He moved to Gideon’s other side before he paused.
"I could just carry him." Edgar suggested and Cass shook his head.
"No. I don’t want them knowing how strong you are. Make it look like we’re helping him." Cass ordered and Edgar pouted, but did as he was told.
As soon as they got to the door and opened it, Cass nearly ran into the broad chest of Byron. He sniffed, his nose wrinkling as his Mom and a few other fairies stood beside them. They were traveling in small groups to not draw attention and gather information. Byron stared at Cass, Edgar and Gideon.
"What is going on here? I watched you two disappear and then when you didn’t emerge I followed you here. What’s wrong with him?" Byron asked, his nose scrunching up further. "He stinks." Byron said. Cass chuckled.
"He’s going to smell worse here in a sec. We need to get him to a bathroom and we need to force him to throw up. He was drugged in the two damn minutes I had my eyes off of him." Cass told Byron. Byron, never afraid, nodded and quickly took Cass’ place at Gideon’s side. He even shook Edgar off.
"I’ll handle that. You follow behind. I wouldn’t want either of you two to throw up since you’re both so thin." Byron said. Cass was a little offended. Byron had been a damn twig when he’d come to Cass’ side. That was very much the pot calling the kettle black as far as Cass was concerned.
"That’s very kind of you, Byron." Edgar said, clearly relieved. Byron’s Mom looked rather concerned, however.
"He was drugged?" She whispered. "At the King’s ball? Isn’t that rather...risky?" She asked, glancing around. Cass nodded, completely understanding why she was being so wary.
"Yes, but given that there was someone of equal power who we think wanted this to happen...well, what can we do to stop them?" Cass tried to be vague because he knew that he was being monitored, especially as he was coming into contact with the fairies. Cass gave a shrug even as she frowned more, and the other fairies, a mix of those who had been staying with Cass and those who had just arrived, looked confused as well.
"Are there that many people who wish you ill will?" One of them asked and Cass snorted. His shoulders began to shake as he started to laugh. Edgar threw him an angry look, but what was Cass supposed to do?
The list was too damn long for him to explain, despite the work he had tried to start to fix it. The controlling and ordering of a dragon in the very same ballroom they were in now hadn’t helped his image either. Especially when that dragon ate a person.
They were lucky they turned out to be a demon, but now that Gideon had revealed that the Queen was a demon, Cass didn’t think it was as much as luck as it was they got caught. Gideon was a problem because he could find out who were demons. If only Cass and Edgar had the same abilities.
Cass could guess why Edgar couldn’t. His powers came from a contract with the gods so it wouldn’t make sense for his demonic powers to align with the others. Cass, however, had a contract and a blood tie to the current demon king. He should be able to do a few things like sense other demons. That seemed like the most basic of powers.
But, Cass had also been starved for a very long time. Maybe it would take a few cycles before his body was able to do basic things. Especially since...his body had started to change after the last heat he’d had.
"Sweetheart, the list is too long. The Blackburn’s weren’t a well-liked family before my Mother ruined their image by turning to witchcraft." Cass said with a grin. Those who knew, knew, but the fairies who didn’t looked horrified. The other fairies were grim-faced. "Edgar, is a bathroom nearby?" Cass asked, turning attention back to the poor man who was on a timer. Edgar led the way.
Standing outside of the bathroom listening to poor Gideon throw up was rather hard. Cass’ chest ached for the human who had been put in this position just because he was trying to be helpful. Cass knew that was why he had approached the Queen. He had wanted to help Cass and the others root out the demons so that they could punish them. He wanted to be useful.
Now he was stuck throwing up because they had no idea what a group of demons had fed him, nor how they had become demons or what types. It was frustrating to be this powerless, but Cass knew he wasn’t alone in feeling powerless.
Edgar’s jaw was also tight and he winced with every cough from Gideon’s mouth. He was the one who kept checking in with Byron even after had complained about making Gideon throw up. He was also the one who had gone back and forth to grab Gideon some water and other refreshments.
Byron agreed that Gideon was doing much better after throwing up, and Gideon also agreed. He was still loopy, but it wasn’t as bad. Cass was just confused as to what the hell happened? What had they fed him and why had it left Gideon like that? Was it like crack or something?
Fairy crack? Magical crack? Cass had no idea. He just hoped that someone had some answers when they got home. Maybe Sam would have a better idea of what was going on.