The Lev n Fax Saga

Part Fourteen

Lev jerked awake. The dream was already fading, but he swore he could still feel demanding hands tugging at him as he panted. Demanding, and angry, and asking for things he couldn't give. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, hadn't meant to dream, hadn't meant to wake up on the verge of tears, again. Always crying. It was a wonder people still stuck around, what with all the crying he did. He rubbed at his eyes and shifted in his seat. Thankfully, Cyrus didn't say a word. Not one.

The sun was rising by now. It had to have been a few hours since he dozed off. He could feel his magic, slowly pooling in an empty place behind his ribs, belatedly looking for any wounds to heal. Not much power, but some. Enough to draw comfort from.

Rather than dwell on why he was so low on magic, so exposed without his shadows, he plucked restlessly at his seatbelt. He hated the way it dug into his skin. Nothing could have made him pause to find a shirt he would have been comfortable wearing, though, so here he was. He rubbed at his face again, only to find a tissue held in his direction. It took Lev a moment to take it from the Cyrus. It took him another to manage to choke out, "Thanks." Damn his tears, still lurking.

"Do you want to talk?" Cyrus offered. The words were hesitant, unsure. Cyrus did not owe Lev anything, but he still offered, even if it was clearly uncomfortable for him. Lev gave a soft no and then blew his nose. And then worried if maybe that'd been too loud, because Cyrus turned on the radio, and spent a solid minute fiddling with the stations. Lev turned his attention to the window rather than deal with the mess he was making of this. If he hadn't been afraid of the nightmares, the hands, the fear, he might have tried to doze off again.

"We should be there soon," Cyrus said. Lev wanted so badly to reassure him that he didn't have to force a conversation, but couldn't think of how to do so without being being rude, and maybe pissing Cyrus off (logically he knew he wouldn't, but still, the what if lingered.) In the end he just nodded.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence, the only distraction being Auxilio in the back seat. Lev pulled apart one of the remaining sandwiches and fed him the meat. Deryn was definitely going to have his head for this. Somehow he figured spoiling the hound was not in the little handbook she'd given him. Cy shot him a look, brows furrowed as he reached up. He brushed his fingers against his collarbone, as if expecting something to be there, and his expression pinched when he found nothing. Finally, he said "It might be better if you stay in the car."

Lev shook his head, once. "I said I'd come with you," he said. And he'd meant it. Sorin scared the hell out of him (heaven? Scared the heaven out of him?) but he owed Cyrus, at least for keeping Fax alive for him, no matter how much the prospect had him trembling.

Lio leaned forward, huffing against Lev's ear before settling his chin on Lev's shoulder. Cyrus' nose wrinkled. "I don't think he'll take well to an angel. You have no idea how much your kind frightens him."

Before he could stop himself Lev blurted, "Fear didn't stop him from trying to carve me apart."

Cyrus paused. "No," he conceded, "But it probably helped him make the decision to go that far."

Lev flinched, hard enough that Lio let out a low growl. There was a beat of silence, at least until Auxilio's hackles flattened, and then Lev said quietly, "I'm coming with you."

"Then the dog stays in the car. Sorin isn't the biggest fan." Cyrus heaved himself out of the car, and shut the door behind him. Lev handt expected him to agree so quickly. Cyrus was already halfway to the house before Lev could unbuckle and stumble after him. Cyrus shot him a glance, mouth tipped down, before opening the door, and calling quietly for Sorin. There was a beat of silence, heavy and intimidating, and then Sorin appeared from another room, already speaking.

"Couldn't your kind leave well enough alone?" He didn't even spare a glance at Cyrus, instead fixing his glare on Lev, who had peeked around Cyrus. The sheer aggression in the single look had Lev rocking back a step automatically. "Couldn't you leave me to grieve in peace?"

Cyrus slid forward a step, hands held out placatingly. "Rin, I'm fine. See?" He stilled when blue white flames sprang to life at Sorin's fingertips. "Sorin-"

"You must think I'm an idiot," Sorin said hotly, "To think I'm going to fall for this. You think I don't know some angels can shapeshift." The way his shoulders had gone rigid didn't instill confidence in Lev.

"I'm not an angel," Cyrus protested. He kept his hands up, fingers wide, a smuch an action of soothing the agitated demon as it was a promise he wasn't doing any magic. "Use your nose, if you won't use your sense. Did you even see my body? My heart didn't even stop, Sorin. I'm right here."

"A witch then. Spells. I felt him die." Sorin brandished something that had been hanging around his neck with the hand not on fire. A ring, Lev realized, which didn't help his confusion.

Whatever it was, it seemed to be enough to make Cyrus go still completely. "Sorin, I-"

"Get out," Sorin interrupted. Even Lev could hear the tremble in his voice. When neither of them moved, his flames grew brighter. "I don't know what the hell you think this is going to do except piss me the hell off, because you certainly succeeded in that."

Sorin moved, and at the same moment Cyrus jerked back, shoving Lev towards the door. An invisible force speared into what little there was of Lev's magic. There was an unmistakable pull, a sucking sensation that had Lev stumbling against the doorway, right as Cyrus muttered something under his breath. And then he was walking forward and if Lev's knees hadn't been threatening to buckle he would have tried to pull Cyrus back, because hadn't he come to help?

Cyrus didn't even flinch at the flames, though Lev gave a soft cry of warning. Cyrus just reached through the fire, untouched, somehow, and grabbed Sorin's face gently, as if the flames didn't exist. "I'm right here," he promised. "I'm right here, Sorin." For a moment the flames burned brighter, bright enough Lev tugged what was left of his shadows around him to ease the strain of watching. Not that he needed it much longer, because Sorin's magic vanished abruptly as Cyrus pressed their foreheads together. "It's me. I promise."

The low, broken sound that came from Sorin startled Lev. The demon lurched forward, and Lev was convinced that he was attacking for a moment. Instead, Sorin slid his arms around Cyrus. Lev winced at how his fingers dug into Cyrus' back (bruises were no doubt in Cyrus' future) but Cyrus just held him close. After that there was plenty of stilted conversation, half choked replies, something about broken rings, but Lev felt like he was intruding. The safest course of action, now that he was sure the only thing Sorin was going to do was sob into Cyrus' shoulder, was to retreat to the car.

Auxilio seemed happy to see him as Lev slid into the backseat with the hound. He wasted no time shoving his nose into Lev's armpit. Lev pressed his face to the hound's head. Lio huffed, shifting to poke a cold nose against Lev's neck instead. Lev took his time soothing the hound, wondering why Silas picked such a demanding hound when Lev was already stressed. At least the hound distracted him. Unless that was the point.

Even as he thought that, Lio nudged him again until Lev brushed a hand down his back. Well, it worked, anyway. He didn't mind Auxilio as a distraction. At least he was a cute distraction. Demanding, but cute.

Lio was the first to notice anything wrong, ears pricking without warning as he swung his head towards the house. Lev eased back out of the car with caution. As an afterthought he leaned the door so Lio couldn't escape. It didn't take long for the front door to slam open. Sorin was there, face splotchy, jaw set-

And then he was gone. Lev blinked. Gone, just like that, and Cyrus only a heartbeat too late to catch him as he stumbled through the doorway. Even from the car Level could see the loss and the hurt, the confusion. Without pausing to consider Lev crept across the yard, up the steps. Cyrus stared at him blankly.

Lev wasn't stupid or tactless enough to ask if he was alright. Instead, when Cyrus sank down onto the steps, he settled beside the witch. Cyrus let out a tiny breath, head dropping low as he whispered, "Sorin said he couldn't do this. And he left me." The 'again' hung heavy and unspoken in the air between them. Lev had to wonder why they'd driven out here, gone through all of that, and then ended up right where they'd started. He would never say that out loud, though, not while Cyrus went on to whisper, "He said he loved me. And he left me."

And, well, what do you say to something like that?