Wake of the Dead | Two

Chapter Forty-Two | Killian

Killian listened to Jasper's distressed rant with a sinking heart. Never had he heard Jasper in such a state, he didn't want to ever again, but it only made him more determined to find Jackson than he already was. He was terrified of leaving Jasper behind in case of the worst outcome--he wouldn't be there to leave with Jasper, or if his lover didn't manage to get out without injury, he wouldn't be there to say his final goodbyes. Just the idea of final goodbyes left a bottomless pit of dread in his heart. Jasper didn't deserve this, but nobody would believe the actual story even if they told it to them.

The previous night, Killian had barely gotten any sleep. The nightmares of Jasper's fate echoed in his mind, replaying over and over like a rewound and fast-forwarding videotape. The single gunshot echoing through the otherwise empty silence, Jasper's beautiful blue eyes dulling and clouding over, empty of life. The image of his partner's body crumpled to the ground with a hole through his forehead was more than sickening, it was agonizing. The nausea twisting in Killian's stomach prompted him to push his plate of breakfast off to the side and shrug off Darren's attempt at comfort. He didn't need comfort now, he needed Jackson and Aubrey.

"We're losing time." Killian spat towards Casimir and Samantha, brows narrowed and lips curling into a fierce snarl. His heart beat frantically in his chest, it hadn't slowed down since he'd left Jasper the previous night. With his crossbow slung over one shoulder, Killian paced back and forth in front of the back door, his hands behind his head, jaw clenched. The sun was barely up in the sky, but even so, paranoia had begun to settle in. What if they wasted more time? Every second counted, every minute Jasper grew closer and closer to his potential execution. "Hurry up. You don't need to eat. Not when somebody's life is on the line."

"I've been ready to go," Casimir said, pushing back the dining chair he'd been sitting in. In his hand, the hunter grasped an arrow he'd been sharpening with his pocket knife. Shavings of wood were left abandoned on the kitchen hardwood. Casimir closed his eyes and blew across the sharpened tip, then opened them and stared carefully along the length of the arrow. He experimentally balanced it on one finger, then nodded with satisfaction as it remained straight. "Samantha is the one taking so long, but I doubt she even cares. We can leave and wait for the rest to catch up." Tossing the arrow into the air, Casimir caught it again and slipped it into the quiver on his back. "We'll find them, knowing your tracking skills."

Killian tilted his head to the side ever-so-slightly as he noticed Casimir shooting Keagan a cold glare, turning away from her when she parted her lips to speak. "I've got nothing better to do with my time." Killian easily recognized the cold, silken tone Casimir used--he'd been the brunt of it before. But why the hunter was so frigid towards his--what Killian could have only guessed to be partner--was a mystery to him. It wasn't until he noticed Keagan's eyes following Chris when he entered the room, then Casimir's stiffening muscles, that he suddenly understood.

"Right. Come on, then." Killian murmured, opening the kitchen door and carefully slipping outside onto the back porch. Casimir silently followed him and Killian just barely snatched a grateful nod from the other man. He nodded in return, knowing just how much he'd have been relieved if somebody rescued him from that sort of situation as well. "We should start at the barn, where Jasper said we should look."

"But we could also start where they were headed," Casimir's rebuke was more respectful than Killian had anticipated. It both relieved and unnerved him. "Darren said Cohen headed out looking for medicinal herbs when Jackson and Aubrey went missing. Do you know anywhere Jackson would have started? Or at least, assuming that was Cohen's intentions all along."