Redemption [malexmale]

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Training was harsh and exhausting.

Thankfully, no fights broke out. There were a few disagreements and dirty looks, but everyone seemed a bit too afraid to piss Ambrosius off again, so they were mostly well-behaved.

We finished the training session by mid-afternoon and Raven came to inform me that they had finished the barracks. It was an impressive building that stretched two stories high and covered a good amount of ground. We moved all the soldiers there, spreading them out between the bunk beds Raven had ordered for each individual room. There was a large main office there where Kasey and Constantine were posted near cameras that ensured there were no fights, but I did require that each room have one Greek and one Christian. While their fighting was driving me insane, they had to learn to put up with one another and what better way than to share a room?

I could already see my plans falling apart. It made me shudder as I sat in my tent at my desk, filing reports and transporting souls while I ate my dinner. Remi had been kind enough to whip up something special for the rest of us, while the soldiers were fed the necessary food to improve their health and strength.

"Not bad today," Remi commented as he sat on the edge of my desk, eating a bowl of fried rice and strips of fish, "You might actually be able to save Purgatory. Congrats." I nodded my head, then sat back in my chair, taking a drink of water before setting it back down.

"Yeah, I just hope they're ready by tomorrow to take their posts. We can't put off this extermination any longer. I have no idea how many souls are being forced to stay behind because of the wraiths' torture." I muttered grimly, raking a hand through my hair. Remi shrugged, licking his spoon, then sticking it to his nose, holding his arms out as if to say "ta-da"! I smirked, before someone threw open my tent and I scowled, turning to see Anita come in breathlessly.

"My lord, we have a problem." She managed. I shot to my feet and Remi sighed, dropping his spoon on my desk and following me out of the tent. The soldiers seemed to mostly be doing their own thing, except a small group that was in a corner, surrounding something. I cursed under my breath and had Anita lead me over. Ambrosius and Xenon met up with us half-way and we approached to see that the soldiers had gotten a hold of Castiel, who was curled up into a tight ball, his arms clasped around his head. Not that it was doing much to protect him. Castiel was bleeding profusely from a vampire bite on his throat, his lip was busted open again, his left eye was completely swollen shut, blood oozed from one of his ears, and his right wrist was more than likely broken judging from the awkward angle.

"What the hell is this?" I demanded. The soldiers whirled around to glare at us.

"He's a wraith!" One soldier snarled, flashing his fangs as the vampire that had bitten him.

"He's annoying." Another one deadpanned. The others just nodded in agreement. Ambrosius frowned at me and I returned it. The reason we kept Castiel inside was so he would be safe from the soldiers. They would find out he was a wraith and, because soldiers tended to be on constant kill mode to anyone who got in their way, well... Poor Castiel. He was still curled up, but was now choking blood up on the grass, indicating there was an internal injury.

"Jesus Christ," Remi snapped at them impatiently and shoved past a couple of them to go to Castiel, "His soul may be wraith, but his body's mortal, you assholes. This is why I hate soldiers. They're just a bunch of blind sheep. Couillon!" The vampire snarled at him and reached for him, but I moved fast and caught him by the throat, slinging his face into the dirt, my eyes narrowed on him.

"Touch him and you die." I stated, then turned to look at Remi as he helped Castiel onto his knees. Castiel managed a bloody smile.

"Cool. You're not kicking me." He managed, then slumped forward on Remi as he passed out. Remi looked uncomfortable, but took a deep breath and swung Castiel up into his arms and turned to face me.