The Love Risk [boyxboy]

Chapter Nine

"You're asking me to choose between not just the species that I rule, but the world against the one I favor most of them all." He stated, making Claude grind his teeth together. Sen visibly tensed, his muscles bulging in preparation to fight Vladimir off. I waited for Claude to carry through with his threat, but he still wasn't moving as Vladimir glanced between Sen and Claude, then at me.

I froze at the way his icy blue eyes stared at me intently.

"Impossible." Vladimir stated, making me almost sigh in relief until Claude gasped and let go of me, stumbling back. I almost fell forward, but managed to catch myself as I whirled around to see Claude gasping for breath. I looked at Vladimir, who glanced at me and gestured me to stand beside him. I bit my lip, but before I knew what I was doing, I was scrambling to stand beside him.

He put his arm around me, holding me close enough so I could hear his heart beating in his chest. It was a steady, calm beat as if he wasn't scared or worried at all. I looked up at him to see him watching Claude, who was sinking to his knees.

"F-Fuck you." Claude managed, squeezing his eyes shut until the pressure seemed to lift suddenly, making him gasp for air. Sen winced and looked between Vladimir and Claude before deciding against another useless battle against Vladimir. Instead, he went to Claude and caught him by the elbow, jerking him up.

"We failed, get up." Sen ordered, but Claude shoved him back, struggling to his feet as he glared daggers at Vladimir.

"No! I'm going to watch you die," Claude shouted hatefully, making me wince at how crazy he looked all of a sudden, "All of you! You took Kristophe from me, you son of a bitch! He never would've joined you otherwise! And now because of you, he has to die! I'll fucking slaughter you! I'll watch Newell rip you and your beloved little parasite to pieces!" I opened my mouth to make our argument, but Vladimir tightened his grip on me and I fell silent instantly. Not because of his powers or anything, but because I knew he didn't want to interfer with Claude's rage.

"Good," Vladimir answered, making me blink and look up at him before I looked at Claude, who looked at us with angry confusion, "You still do love Kristophe. I'm glad you'll do anything to get him back." Claude sputtered angrily, but only curse words flew past his lips until the sound of a cell phone rang, making us look at Sen, who grimaced.

"That's the boss, Claude. We need to go." Sen ordered, grabbing Claude's elbow. Claude still didn't shut up as he screamed.

"Fuck you, you goddamn fucking thief! I'll fucking rip your head off and feed on your entrails! I'll make you wish you were never born! Do you fucking hear me?!" He shouted as Sen dragged him off, the sound of his voice echoing down the staircase making my ears ring.

We stood there for a while, eyes locked on the end of the staircase in case they chose to come back, but they never did. We were left alone at the top of the staircase that was splattered with dark red blood.

I didn't know what to say. I expected to feel cold and shaky and sick after everything, but for some reason, Vladimir's arm me felt like the warmest, most comforting thing I could have at that moment.

"I have this feeling... That you knew this was going to happen." I spoke at last, looking up at Vladimir's calm expression before a smile tore across his lips as he looked down at me. The sight of his blue eyes that used to make me feel cold suddenly felt perfect.

"I could say the same to you." He responded, making me wince. He smiled anyway and tilted my head up towards his so he could study my face, his smile working into a frown.

"He did a number on you." He stated, obviously annoyed. I grimaced a little, taking this chance to pull away from him so I could step back, tucking my hair behind my ears as I cleared my throat awkwardly.