Chapter 63: No peeking
Sir Forsythe looked horrible as they waited for Draken’s return. He looked beyond ill, he looked like he was ready to offer his head for Cass to take. The man looked like his whole world was collapsing around him.
When he’d briefed Sir Forsythe on what happened, the man had looked shocked. Cass had lied and said that his powers had a small glitch, blaming it on what Draken had done to him. Sir Forsythe, who had been briefed on that situation, but not on Cass’ actual lack of powers, seemed to wrap his head around that better.
He clearly was at a loss for words hearing that his powerful, strong mage lord had magic fail on him, but he honestly seemed more shocked that Cass had tried to save a kid. That had made Cass want to groan.
How fucking bad had Lord Blackburn been that saving a child seemed out of character for him? Was there a way to find that out without revealing he was technically Lord Blackburn?
Either way, Cass was relatively okay now that the snarling dire wolf was out of his face. He felt...okay, given everything that had happened to him. Cass, obviously, didn’t think he’d done a bad job, but he didn’t think Sir Forsythe, or Draken, agreed. Cass probably would have allowed him to do the same thing if he knew the outcome of his departure.
Maybe he would have taken a knife or something, or told him to grab the kid first, but hey, hindsight was 20/20.
Cass, despite feeling like his emotions had stabilized, couldn’t get warm. He, at first, assumed it was because his shirt was ripped out from the back. So he had pressed himself against the carriage, trying to use the fabric of the seat to keep him warm. When that didn’t work, he grew slightly worried.
He was pretty sure he’d never felt like this before. He’d been in plenty of scary situations in his life, so he didn’t think it was shock, but he wasn’t an expert.
He’d also died once, so he shouldn’t have been too scared to come face to face with it again. He hadn’t been too-wait, no, he’d been terrified after he realised he’d died. He’d just been distracted by the damn "god" who had "saved" him.
Sighing, Cass crossed his arms and leaned back against the carriage. Sir Forsythe flinched.
"I-Is there something I can do, my Lord?" He asked, having not strayed from the door of the carriage since Draken had left.
"Could you check and see if you can see Sam? I wonder if he had any trouble completing his task, or if he ran into any beasts?" Cass asked and he nodded, closing the door to protect Cass before he dashed off to do the task given to him.
Cass wanted to laugh, but couldn’t force himself to do so. The man was probably just as scared as Cass felt.
Shit. Damn it. Once he’d said it, it all made sense.
Of fucking course Cass was in shock. He’d never been attacked by a beast that had acidic saliva before! That wasn’t a problem he had on earth. While Lord Blackburn might be used to these situations, Cass had never encountered these situations before.
Give him everyday thugs, and Cass could hold his own. Super fast, giant fuck off wolves? Nope.
No thank you.
Cass realised that he was incredibly thankful that Lord Blackburn was a mage, meaning he wasn’t at the front of the group when they got into fights. He could not imagine what could have happened if he had froze like this while on a quest.
Fuck, there was a quest coming up soon!
Cass was going to have to get over this as soon as possible. He needed to harden himself, especially if he wanted to...escape everyone. He couldn’t rely on Draken.
He wasn’t-
A loud cracking noise sounded outside before the carriage door was flung open and Draken pushed his way inside of the carriage.
Cass stared at him in shock as Draken pushed a small sac towards him, now wearing a flowy top and the same pants he’d come to rescue Cass in.
He looked barely winded, and his hair looked flowing and beautiful. Cass wanted to scowl. Damn male lead privileges. Cass was sure he didn’t look the same. Not with the way Draken was looking at him, examining him.
"I didn’t have time to go to your den, so I grabbed something from mine. It was the smallest size I had. If you need help adjusting the size, let me know." Draken said, and he met Cass’ gaze. He tilted his head, his eyes particularly inhuman as he did so. "You seem...frustrated. Did something happen while I was gone?" He asked and Cass wanted to groan.
Right. Draken could feel his damn emotions. Fuck.
"I’m just frustrated about the whole situation." Cass muttered, grabbing the sac and pulling at the drawstring. "I should be able to save one child." He complained and Draken snorted.
"Well, if you take me up on my offer of magic lessons, you’ll be able to save more than just one child. From what I’ve heard, you took to magic like breathing air. I’m sure you’ll be the same again." Oddly enough, the words did somehow comfort him.
He just wasn’t so sure that he was similar to Lord Blackburn in that way. After all, it had taken him so long to get a grasp of a damn fistful of water, how was he going to be able to make the hurricane like forces Lord Blackburn had done in the later half of the book?
"I...I think I might have to take you up on your offer, your questionable intentions or not. This is...embarrassing." Cass said and Draken shifted. The man filled up the whole carriage with his presence. It wasn’t as bad as when he’d first crawled into the carriage, but it still was bad.
Cass couldn’t help but notice the way his arm muscles bunched as he rested against the roof of the carriage, his shirt showing off the damn chest he’d felt against his face. It had been jarringly comfortable. So much so that Cass could still feel the soft skin against his face as he looked at him.
"Well? Are you going to change, Cassian?" Cass jerked, his face flushing as he realised he’d been staring. He just hoped that Draken hadn’t noticed, and if he had, he kept it to himself.
"Could you go outside?" Cass asked and Draken rumbled.
"No. Your guard is helping your aide unload the things you bought, like you ordered. I am not comfortable with leaving you alone." He commented and Cass sighed.
"Well I am not comfortable being naked around you." Draken laughed.
"Naked? Hardly. Your pants are fine, and I am not such a creature I would pounce on you without your consent." Draken said, sliding his gaze over Cass’ body. That look alone told Cass he shouldn’t trust him an inch.
"Then turn around, face the outside. I’m not comfortable. I’m barely comfortable with Sam seeing me." Cass told him and Draken rolled his eyes, huffing, but he did turn around.
"Fine, fine. Fiona didn’t even care when she changed in front of me once." Well, he wasn’t Lady Fiona, now was he?
Huffing himself, Cass began to pull off his torn and shredded clothing, slightly upset that the one outfit that wasn’t black and gothic had been destroyed. On the other hand, it was something that fucker Vespertine had gifted Lord Blackburn forever ago, so maybe he wasn’t so upset to see it go.
Damn it had a bunch of layers, and the acid had kind of...melted it together. Grumbling to himself, Cass fumbled and fiddled with the clothes, only getting more tangled up as time went on. He could tell that Draken was getting more impatient as time went on.
"What’s wrong?" Draken eventually asked and Cass huffed, pressing his hands against the sides of his head.
"The acid from the saliva of the dire wolf fused some parts of the clothes, making it impossible to get them apart." Cass told him, and Draken’s shoulders relaxed.
"Oh. I can help with that." Cass tensed immediately, but Draken continued before he could protest. "I can make a claw and cut through the parts that are in the way. If you lean forward and guide my hand, I can slice where you need. I won’t look." It was strangely...considerate of him, and Cass felt himself grow suspicious.
"You mean it?" Cass demanded and Draken chuckled.
"What? Are you a maiden or something? I promise, Cassian." Cass felt his cheeks heated. Fuck him for comparing him to a maiden. That was super rude.
Either way, he couldn’t really say no to his offer. He needed to be sliced out of these clothes, and he was offering, so...
"No peeking." Cass warned and Draken’s shoulders shook.
"I won’t. I already said I wouldn’t." Cass glanced at him, careful and cautious as he got closer to Draken, before he took Draken’s left hand and watched as his finger elongated. Cass swallowed.
He should have been scared. He’d been scared of the other beasts he’d seen. He was sure he’d be scared of Draken in his true form too, but that?
He’d always been a fantasy nerd, and beasts had always been a weakness. That was...fuck. It was hot, damn it! He’d admit it, but never out loud.
Draken would definitely use it against him. He knew it. Vespertine would be worse. If he ever found out that his otherworldly traits would work on him, Cass would never get a moment of rest.
Cass didn’t want to think about what that truly meant. He was never going to.
He was going to get out of the damn mansion before it ever came to that.