Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 12

Cats remained on the loose, slowly being brought back into the fold where attempts were made to heal them. Lotta didn't like to talk about it, I didn't blame her. I didn't like to think there somewhere there were humans who were permanently changed trying to become something more. All over the planet, lycans were appearing, it brought back the familiar tickle of uncertainty. It was an uneasiness that I'd seen my entire life, a wild animal trapped in the body of a mortal was frightening and seductive. 

Magic users gained piece after piece that slowly drug us back to the ranks of equals. With a critical planet and the calls for peace, the balance felt more delicate than ever. "Helen. Kestrel. IF someone was to catch us, heaven forbid the police, I'm not sure I have enough political pull to get us out of trouble. Lotta would skin us alive after all the work she has done on the Hero project, have you even considered what Verando would say if he found out?"

Echo rests her hand on my shoulder, her fingers threatening to bite into my collar bone. "We're not intending on telling anyone, Nic. And we're not intending on getting caught." The dark eyes narrow on Helen, weighing her value in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. "You said the Good King was on the side of the people."

The slim girl nods, swallowing back the formed concern at my words. "He is. He just has to see the good we're doing." It is Kestrel who steps forward to remove Echo from my person, granted I would have happily done so myself. 

Sniffing in my direction, Echo rolls her eyes in disgust at my political alignment. "Verando, Lotta, Leo... none of them need to know what we're doing here. This hero business, not for capital sweethearts. You'd do well to remember that, Nicolas, especially considering your husband is home alone with your children. "

I flash my teeth and Kestrel quickly rests his hand on my chest. I smack him away, feeling my body threatening to unhinge. "Don't you dare threaten my family for your own greed, taking jobs hunting humans is a disgrace for all that our people have worked for."

Resting her hand on the hilt of her sword, she grits her teeth right back at me, nose wrinkled, gaze burning holes in my throat. "You are not 'our' people!"

"That's the problem with you, you think of yourself as a lycan only. We are all magic users, we are all stuck on this planet together, so the sooner you start thinking of us as 'all' of us, the quicker we can get past this stigma that is holding us back! I should never have listened to you, I should never have come here-" Turning to get back to the car, it is Helen who stops me. She rests her body over the door, admittedly catching me off guard that she would find any reason to prevent my return. "Don't make me hurt you, Helen." I warn her, low in my throat. 

I've seen that look before, it's familiar to someone who had been betrayed. The look of hurt on her face, hurting her to think of hurting me, and yet here she was. I had thought she'd looked different, sad, undecided. It was path that her lineage often walked, for in light, there is also the shadow. "I can't let you go, Nic. I can't let you tell Papa, just give it a chance, you'll see that it will help you connect with your wolf and that we are truly doing good things here."

It is my wolf who tells me to play nice, I feel the embers cooling, the inferno receeding from my body. If I were to attack, I had no way to defend myself against three able bodied lycans. With no ability to call my wolf, I was at their mercy. "He's not going to tell." Echo doesn't laugh as I thought she would, dismissing her villain persona. Echo was neutral, she looked out for herself and my temporary submission did not amuse her. She was to smart to underestimate me, much to my misfortune. 

"You're not going to hurt my family." Helen retorts, it's me who scoffs. 

"She will do whatever she has to to save her skin. You've aligned with a neutral and a dark, did you ever stop to think there was a reason the three never got together? It's in their nature to kill each other and she has you right where she wants you." I feel the knife's presence before I see it, I don't flinch, I have no fear of the barbarian woman holding the blade to my throat. I stare back at her, almost bored with the attempt, she would have liked to see me quake but all I could feel was pity for the lost soul.