Greykin Valley

| 80 | Him

A tense silence fell over them as Caedis wordlessly thought to himself. The expression on his face journeyed from concerned, to angry, to cautious. He then set his gaze on Sebastien and said, "Show me."

Sebastien admittedly felt nervous about sharing his memory with Caedis, but he didn't have a choice. He slowly lifted his hand and edged it shakily towards his boss' face, but Caedis hastily placed his middle and index fingers on Sebastien's temple and his thumb along his jawline, and then he grabbed Sebastien's wrist and made him put his hand on his face.

Once he positioned his hand correctly on Caedis' face, Sebastien closed his eyes and concentrated.

"Show me zhe exact moment you saw 'im," Caedis ordered.

Sebastien nodded and recalled the moment he saw the antlered wolf. He felt Caedis digging around inside his head, like a snake slithering through his brain. But he stifled a whimper and stopped himself from grimacing, waiting for the moment the memory was over and Caedis let him go.

But the seconds dragged on into minutes; Caedis examined the memory over and over again, and Sebastien was beginning to get a headache. He held on, though; he knew better than to question his boss.

"Vhere's Jackson?" Caedis suddenly asked as he let go of Sebastien and backed off.

As his skull throbbed, Sebastien rubbed his temples and groaned quietly. "Uh...he's upstairs...with his pack or something." He shook his head and frowned hauntedly. "It's him, right? From Alder Estate."

Caedis nodded slowly. "Ve knew 'e vould show 'is vace again—vas inevitable. 'E needs a new body, and vould seem zhat 'e's chosen Jackson to be 'is vessel."

"What do we do? We've already delayed the lab mission so much already, but we can't send Jackson back out there with that thing, can we?" he asked anxiously.

His boss adorned the same expression he always did when he was thinking. Every moment that ticked by made the silence feel more tense, and when he finally spoke, his words were firm and decided. "Ve can't postpone zhe lab mission again. My gvandson vill be vith you, as vill several of Cyrus' volves. Ve know zhe phantom can't visk getting 'urt, so 'e von't come near Jackson if 'e 'as allies avound 'im. Zon't take your eyes off 'im; make sure 'e alvays 'as at least vive of you vith 'im at all times, and if you so much as see a glimpse of zhe phantom, you summon me. Understand?"

Sebastien nodded. "Y-yeah, I understand."

Caedis pulled a small glass vial from his pocket. He cut his palm with his claws, and then he let his blood drip inside. Once it was pull, he plugged the vial shut with a small cork and handed it to Sebastien. "You vemember zhe vords?"

"Of course, My Lord," he said with a nod as a shiver of trepidation shot through him. He'd only ever seen others summon a powerful deity, but he was confident that he'd witnessed it enough times to get it right.

"Go. Let everyvone vest vor zhe night. You vill leave at dawn vor zhe lab," he instructed, and then he turned around and disappeared through the double doors.

Sebastien looked down at the vial of blood. In his hand, he was holding what was probably one of the most precious things in this realm. Anyone who wasn't loyal to Lord Caedis could take it and wreak horrific destruction; someone who knew how to transmute could transform it into anything they desired—money, power, or even someone they'd lost to death. But not Sebastien. No. He'd do exactly as Caedis instructed—if he needed to.