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| Sebastien |
Sebastien watched Jackson leave the interrogation room as he clenched his fists in frustration. He made sure Wilson stayed in his seat and didn't attempt to break his cuffs, and then stepped out into the hall just as Jackson was about to reach the door.
"What the hell was that?" he asked before the kid could speak.
"What do you mean?" Jackson questioned.
"You were supposed to find out where the lab was, not make deals."
Jackson frowned at him. "He's gonna tell me where it is, he just wants to come with us. And I thought this would be a good thing. The higher our numbers, the higher our like...defences and whatever, right?"
He'd like to believe that, but he had a strange feeling about Wilson. That guy was up to something—he had ulterior motives—but Sebastien wasn't yet sure what. He was going to have to bring this to Lord Caedis, too, and there was no doubt in his mind that his boss would accept Wilson's offer and then make him babysit both Jackson and his muto pal.
"We don't know anything about him, Jackson," he said, shaking his head. "Why does he want to find this lab so bad? So bad that he's willing to work with hunters? Did you ever think of asking him that?"
"He wants to expose—"
"Expose the conspiracy, write a ground-breaking story," Sebastien mocked, waving his hands around. "I'm not buying it. Your friend in there is up to something—he's getting something else out of this; that's why he's so desperate to come with you despite the fact he's a species of Caeleste who despise wolf walkers."
Jackson's frown turned into a scowl. "I don't know what you're trying to say, but I know Wilson better than anyone. He's like me. He wants the story. He loves exposing corruption, and he's been looking into this wolf walker Lyca Corp. stuff for ages. I trust him...and you should too."
"Kid, I don't trust anyone. If he signed a deal with Lord Caedis, then it'd be a different story. But right now, your friend is holding valuable information, and the fact he was hanging out with hunters makes him a prisoner. We won't be making any special exceptions or bargaining with him."
"Just let me talk to the pack, please," he pleaded calmly. "I know they'll agree to it—"
"But it's not up to them or you. The choice is ultimately Lord Caedis'." He sighed and dragged his hand over his face. The last thing he wanted right now was to be standing around arguing. This was the only free time he was going to have in what might be weeks, and he wasn't going to spend it working overtime. So, he said, "You know what? Whatever." He looked over his shoulder at a guard standing down the hall. "You, get over here."
The man left his post and hurried over. "Yes, Officer Huxley, sir?"
"Take Jackson down to see his pack. I've gotta run an errand, so make sure no one leaves the room until I'm back. Got it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Wait, you said we could see Damon," Jackson insisted.
Sebastien sighed again. His free time was ticking away. "Yeah, fine. After he's done talking to his pack, take them all to the medical wing waiting room. Their Alpha's in surgery and one of their other guys is getting patched up."
The guard nodded. "Yes, sir. This way," he said to Jackson.
Then, Sebastien headed down the hall. He navigated the building's long, winding corridors, and once he reached the ground floor, he headed out the revolving doors and onto the street.
Despite the fact it was the early hours of the morning, there were cars on the roads and people making their way up and down the streets.
He slipped his hands into his pockets and crossed the road. But while he headed for his apartment, every time he saw a man or woman within his line of sight, he tensed up and examined their faces and the way they walked. After seeing those undead humanoids out in the woods, he was afraid that the infection had already found its way into Silverlake.
But he couldn't let his fears eat him up. He trusted Lord Caedis and the Venaticus. They'd do whatever it took to protect Silverlake and every other civilization they could from this. Sebastien had his own priorities, though. Just like everyone else involved in this mission, he had someone to protect.
When he reached his apartment building, he hurried inside, up the stairs, and to his door. The moment he got inside, he called, "Babe? Are you awake?"
But there was no answer.
He locked the door behind him and made his way through to the lounge. When he flicked the lights on, he looked around for anything that might suggest something happened here, but everything was in order.
Sebastien exhaled deeply and relaxed. Then, he pulled his coat off, threw it onto the couch, and headed down the hall to the bedroom.
He didn't turn the lights on once he slowly and quietly opened the door. As silently as he could, he moved over to the bed and sat on the edge. "Hey?" he whispered as he gently leaned over to see Clementine's peaceful, sleeping face. "Babe?"
Clementine murmured in response.
"Sorry, I just got in."
With a quiet grunt, Clementine rolled over to face him. "You finished work?" he asked tiredly.
Sebastien shook his head as he ran his fingers through his mate's tousled, blonde hair. "No, I just snatched an hour away."
Clementine opened his eyes and gazed up at him. "Just an hour, huh?"
"Well...forty-eight minutes," Sebastien said with a smirk as he glanced at the clock.
"You better get your ass in bed, then," Clementine said, tugging on Sebastien's shirt.
But as much as Sebastien wanted to crawl into bed with him, he needed to put his mind at rest. "Actually, babe...I came to check on you."
"Check on me?"
"Yeah. There's this.... You know the cadejo virus shit we're dealing with right now?"
Clementine nodded.
"Well, we think it might have evolved and spread to humans. I was scared that maybe we discovered it too late, and people were already infected here. I was...I was worried something might have happened to you."
"I'm okay," Clementine said softly as he lifted his hand and placed it on the side of Sebastien's face. "You know you don't have to worry about me."
He huffed quietly. "Yeah, but I do anyway."
Clementine gazed at him for a moment...but then shuffled over to the other side of the bed and made Sebastien lay down beside him. Then, he caressed Sebastien's ashen hair as he asked, "What happened out there?"
"A lot," Sebastien said with a sigh, staring into his mate's piercing blue eyes. "The hybrid I told you about—"
"Jackson?"
"Yeah. We found his friend. We should be getting the location of the lab any time tonight. I don't know how long I'll be gone for once we set out to find it...but a part of me wants to ask Lord Caedis if I can sit this one out."
"Why?"
"Because I want to stay back here and protect you. We've lived long enough to know that shit always finds a way in. No number of walls or guards are gonna be able to stop it. Sooner or later, someone's gonna get infected and bring it into the city. I want to be here when that happens. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Clem."
Clementine smiled as Sebastien pressed his forehead against his. "Sebastien, you know Caedis won't let you stay here. And they need you out there. You've seen first-hand what this virus does." He stroked the side of Sebastien's face. "You're also the only kludde left in the world; they're going to need you if you come across the Diabolus."
Sebastien grunted and closed his eyes. Frustration gripped him tightly as he remembered what Wilson and Jackson talked about. "Yeah...there's a super high chance the Diabolus will be at the lab. We think Lyca Corp. might be creating demon-wolf walker hybrids for them to use against the Nosferatu."
"That would make sense. Wolf walkers can kill a vampire with a single bite...and with the strength of a demon, Caedis' covens wouldn't stand a chance."
"But why the cadejo?" Sebastien mumbled. "That virus can't infect mature demons or vampires. Using them to take out the rest of the wolf walkers makes sense, sure, since they were one of the Nosferatu's most powerful allies, but would the Diabolus really go so far as to create a virus that could potentially wipe out everyone?"
Clementine adorned a look of pondering. And after a few moments, he slowly said, "What if they're trying to draw Greymore out?"
That was a good point. Could the cadejo threat have been created as an attempt to draw Fenrisúlfr out from wherever he was? The Diabolus had been working very hard to take out the Nosferatu's most dangerous allies. They'd used the Holy Grail to hunt down and kill the asmodi demons, they'd killed enough wolf walkers to force the Zenith to send what remained of them out to the secluded tundra of Ascela, and now...could they have their sights set on the strongest wolf walker to walk this world?
It felt like his brain was throbbing. He was tired, overworked, and aching from his fight with that cadejo monster. "Maybe," he said. "I'll bring it to Heir Lucian and Lord Caedis later. See what they have to say about it." He frowned at Clementine. "You know, I really don't get why you don't just come and work with me. You've got the smarts for this kinda stuff, babe."
Clementine shrugged dismissively. "No offence, but after the weird devil-deal Caedis roped you into, I'm gonna stay far, far away from any job remotely close to the Nosferatu."
"I don't blame you. But it's not all bad. The pay's good...I get to boss people around. And every once in a while, I get to meet these crazy hybrids and ancient Caeleste species." He smirked because he knew Clementine was going to enjoy what he said next. "We brought a muto in today."
His mate's face lit up with curiosity. "A muto?"
"Yeah. The little hybrid's friend turned out to be a giant tiger. I never thought I'd see one."
"Did you see him shift?"
"No, but Jackson wants to bring him along when we go to the lab, so I'm sure I will."
"I read that they have this sort of golden shimmer to their fur. It's one of the reasons they were hunted so much."
Sebastien nodded slowly. "I feel like this guy is up to something, though. Jackson's convinced he's in this for the story, but it feels weird."
"Weird how?"
"Like there's something more to all of this. I just...." He exhaled in frustration and rolled onto his back. "I suck at piecing things together, man. There's all these pieces floating around in front of me and I'm just grabbing random ones and trying to force them into place," he exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing the air as he spoke.
Clementine reached up and grabbed one of Sebastien's hands. "That's why you leave the piecing things together to the investigators, Seb. You're the muscle. You go places and kill things."
"I know, I know."
"Just tell Caedis. They're gonna read his mind anyway, right? So they can find out what he's really up to."
"I don't know about that. Lord Caedis seems to want to let Jackson choose what to do. If it were my choice, yeah, I would have just got straight to mind reading, but we went with the personal approach first."
Clementine shuffled closer and rested his head on Sebastien's shoulder. "Shh," he mumbled. "This is supposed to be your time away from work, right? Just stop thinking about all of that for a little while and get some rest."
As much as he might want to lay there and try to figure out all the answers, he knew that wasn't going to happen. There was so much he didn't know, and no matter how hard he tried, he wasn't the best at thinking up possibilities or grasping at straws. Could all of this cadejo business be the Diabolus trying to draw Fenrisúlfr out by mass slaughtering his wolves? Maybe. But it could also be a million other things, and there were a billion things he didn't know about Caedis and the history of the Nosferatu and the Diabolus.
No. Clementine was right. He should wipe this off his mind and leave it up to the investigators. His job was to ensure Jackson did as he was told and found the Lyca Corp. lab.
He sighed away his thoughts and nuzzled Clementine's soft hair. "You're right," he said quietly. "Sorry. I don't mean to bring my work home with me."
"It's okay," Clementine said. "How long do you have left?"
Sebastien looked at the clock. "Thirty-two minutes."
"Good," Clementine said, pulling the blankets over them both. "That's enough time for you to get some sleep."
With a slight laugh, Sebastien made himself comfortable. Then, he closed his eyes and let himself rest. There was a long mission ahead of him, and he wanted to enjoy what time he had left to spend with his mate before going weeks without him.
But then his worry returned. "Clem?"
"Yeah?"
"If...things get bad here while I'm gone—"
"Seb—"
"Just...listen, please."
Clementine waited.
"If things get bad...if the virus does get inside the city, promise me that you'll go to Heir Lucian. I know you don't want to be anywhere near that building, but it'll be the safest place if something were to happen."
Although he didn't sound very happy, Clementine said, "Okay."
Sebastien kissed his mate's head. "Thank you."
"Now let's get some sleep."
He smiled and wrapped his arms around Clementine. "Sounds good."
Sebastien closed his eyes and held Clementine closely. He didn't want to give into his fear and worry, but now that they were resting in silence, his anxiety grew thicker. He knew how dangerous this mission to get to the lab was, but he couldn't help but wonder...what if this was the last time he saw Clementine? What if this was the last time he got to hold and kiss the man he loved?
He scowled in dismay, trying to dismiss the thought of it. But he couldn't. What if he was walking into his death? He had a bad feeling about all of this, and that feeling got worse with each passing moment. What if he left to go and find the lab...and the zombies got into the city? What if he wasn't here to help Clementine get out if the place was overrun?
Sebastien held Clementine a little tighter. No, Clementine was the smartest person he knew other than his superiors. He had to trust that he would get out if something happened. But...what if he didn't? What if leaving to get to the lab was a horrible mistake? There was no way for him to know. But he had to go. The cadejo virus would destroy everyone and everything if he didn't. He had to be brave...for himself and Clementine. And he had to believe that in his absence, the man he loved would be okay.
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