Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 74

"Aren't they just animals? Could we not use what we use on the cows?" Jan asks as she wraps Randy's arm. 

"We're not cows." Cas interjects roughly, half drunk as he steps through the door. "There's a party outside- oh. There you are, traitor. Where the hell did you go?"

I didn't have time for this. tempted to lock Cas up early, I motion to Caspian to take care of himself and for once, the one-armed man obliges and removes the younger version. "We will have to consider it. Have Landon and K look up the ingredients and see if there are any adverse reactions."

"Allergies would be my concern." Helen frowns, crossing her arms over her chest.

"They're werewolves. An allergy isn't going to kill them, might slow them down, might piss them off, but it won't kill them."

Randy parts his lips, meeting my gaze and for a moment, I fear it might break me. My heart threatens to fracture, my breath catching in my throat, how was he looking more and more like my version with each passing moment? The intensity of his eyes, not yet piercing but still the same blue of an iced crystal. The gray hair, he'd gained some weight in his time with us, but mostly he'd begun to lose the permanent grimace. 

Even now, with pale, dark circles under his eye, and chilled, he looked so much more alive than he had when he arrived. 

"You all need to get some rest." I tell them, breaking the exchange before I lost it. 

"Nic..." Helen frowns. "Are-"

Was this how it felt for Adriam? Functioning as if you were a reanimated corpse, trying to find things to smile about when the very reason you existed couldn't be found? 

"We aren't going to talk about this." I put my foot down, I can't take pity on top of everything else. I was a damned King, I'd been through hell and back, I could deal with this. "Understand? Tonic and Echo's team will continue to search through the night. I want hourly checks on Verando, surely he would have needed blood but obviously, that's not an option here."

Relying on the wolf made me uncomfortable but it was what we had to work with. 

"Helen, I want you and Tyler to confirm that those stalls are as good as possible. Jan and John, you're going to take Darrius away from here tomorrow and Legardo will go with you with Silvia and Pascal. You need to scout around town and see if there's any talk about what occurred here. Ron needs a report for damage control. Gospel needs to be ready to fight back against any slander." 

Controlling the media was as totalitarian as I dared, much as I was for freedom, my family came first and my husband was a dictator after all. The uncomfortable glances tell me that I'm teetering on the edge. Standing up, I yank my shirt off because I can't take the heavy scent of blood any longer. "Verando is not here and much as we all like to forget it, I was the one who was the King of Romania. It's my job to keep this tour on the path that gets these two back home and our Alpha back to us. Now stop looking at me like I've lost my damned mind and get to work. Otherwise, you know where the door is and you'd best be gone by morning."

Turning on my heel, I pass Legardo who informs me that Darrius was attempting to sleep. With the memories of those I'd killed, those who'd died in my arms, flooding back to me from nearly losing Randy, my body was stuck in a weird sense of overcharge. It was like I was back in battle all over again, so close to the one who'd nearly died- it was a completely different feeling than I'd had in years. 

Back in those days, we were just surviving day to day, much as we still were it would seem. Only now, I didn't have the excuse of youth and inexperience. Solomonari perform best under stress, I take a deep breath and tell myself that it's time to pull out my training once more.