Chapter Eight
Ambrosius slept right through to the next day.
Whatever it was that Minerva had given him had worked, somehow. The moment he woke up, he was back to his usual stiff stubborn attitude and able to walk all on his own. He even made his own snack before he took it with him into my office to catch up on all the work he had missed previously.
I wasn't sure if he remembered anything that happened while he was out of it, because he didn't say anything. Either he didn't remember or he just really did not want to discuss it because he was embarrassed. I felt sorry for him, though. Two times he'd experienced drugs here, and both times, not even drugs could lift his spirit. Even when he had danced, there was a sorrow behind his movements.
It made me ache for him.
And it didn't help that every time I saw him, I remembered the way he moved when he danced. Like he was made of liquid music. So in tune with sound. And the way he pressed up against me, the heat of his body melting my defenses, the rich scent of him, sweat and sweetness mingled together into an intoxicating scent that I couldn't push out of mind.
Yeah, I was lost. I had only intended to make Ambrosius mine through body, not through soul. Now I longed to cradle what he hid beneath the mask his father had built for him.
If only he'd let me.
"Ambrosius, how do you feel?" I asked as I watched him suck salt off his fingertips with one hand, the other scribbling away at report that was already three pages in length. How could he possibly have that much to write? Was it all bad? Good? What could be good about our current situation?
"Fine." Was his curt reply. He didn't even look up. Kept his eyes on the page and moved faster. I was almost afraid he'd break the pen, or worse, my desk. I frowned a little, though, concerned that he was so engrossed in his work. He didn't speak about his mini-vacation, getting high, or anything. He just pretended it didn't happen.
"I was thinking maybe we could go into town this afternoon. Dev and Dania have scouted everything around it, but not the town itself, since a few days ago." I explained. Ambrosius still didn't look up. If anything, it looked like he was going out of his way to not look at me.
"Fine." He responded again. I said nothing. Just stood there and waited until he was done with his report before he stood up. I admired the way the clingy material of his baggy pants fell around his muscular legs, the way his cropped shirt rode up a bit further so I could drink in the sight of his taut muscles. I cleared my throat and averted my eyes before I caved into temptation.
"Grab your robes. I'll be out by the stables." I told him. He didn't give any indication that he heard me, just walked past me and out of the room. I sighed, frustrated. I walked out of the room, wondering why he was acting so stiff again, then jumped when I realized Dania was leaning against the doorframe outside my office.
"He's totally embarrassed." She stated, pushing off the doorframe. I gave her a curious stare.
"How do you know?" I asked. She scoffed as if it were obvious and gestured in the direction Ambrosius had disappeared to.
"You're a guy and you don't know the signs? You can tell when a man is embarrassed because he totally clams up. Girls? We have to let everyone know we're embarrassed. Flushed cheeks, sweaty, wailing about it for days. Guys? You guys lock it all up and pretend it didn't happen." She explained, and that made me frown. If Dania was right, and she usually was, it meant Ambrosius remembered what had happened. It hurt that he was embarrassed about it, though. It hadn't been his fault he was loopy. It was entirely Minerva's, and mine for letting the she-devil do such a thing.
"Well," I said at last, "He and I are going into town. Maybe I can talk about it with him for a little bit."
"Best of luck to ya, Simba."
"Thanks, Dania. You're in charge until Raven shows up." I said. Dania rolled her eyes, but nodded. I left her to head downstairs and through the house outside to the stables where the horses reared their heads and whinnied happily to see me. Instead of summoning Remi to feed them, I did it myself as I waited for Ambrosius. I saddled up Bethani and Reti, and by the time I was finished, Ambrosius was coming toward me, decked out once again from head to toe in the loose black robes. He climbed into his saddle with no problems and I took the lead on Bethani as we made our way down the path to the gates.
The beginning of the ride was incredibly awkward. Ambrosius didn't say a word. Just rode in silence, his eyes locked straight ahead and his back straight. Exactly like the soldier his father had tried to mold him into, but I'd seen what lay beneath that. The real Ambrosius was free-spirited, artistic, and loved sunlight.
"I apologize for what Minerva did yesterday." I said at last, unable to stand the awkward silence between us. Ambrosius's mouth twitched and he rolled his eyes before closing them tightly, then letting them open again.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Well, I do," I deadpanned and Ambrosius frowned, glancing at me out the corner of his eye, "I will make sure Minerva's properly punished for what she did. At the same time, I want you to know that... it wasn't so bad." Ambrosius pinned me with a withering glare, and this time, his cheeks turned pink and it had nothing to do with the heat.
"Yeah, it was probably really funny for you." He snapped, offended. I scowled.
"No, actually, it was very refreshing and I enjoyed being able to see a side of you that you're too scared to show other people." I answered. Ambrosius clenched his teeth, a tic throbbing in his jaw before he spoke tightly.
"Then I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted because it's not going to happen again. I am preparing my own meals and taking care of my own health."
"Ambrosius, please. I really don't want to spend the rest of the month with your father. I want to spend the rest of the month with Ambrosius."
"Ambrosius is dead." Ambrosius said with finality. I don't think I'd ever wanted to hit someone so much in my entire life. His stubbornness was frustrating. Granted, it wasn't his fault he was like this, but it was his choice to steer from it or towards it. I couldn't imagine him being happy like this... But that was what Hades wanted. Even though he wouldn't admit it, it was clear that he wanted Ambrosius to depend on him for everything. He wanted Ambrosius to love him and go to him for help, go to him when he wanted something, and go to him for happiness. Ambrosius had been taught that there was no happiness without Hades, and while I understood your need to love your parent, this was unhealthy. It was like the father who didn't want to let his daughter go.
Hades was suffocating him. I never thought I'd see the day when a god actually loved their child enough to act like this. Mortal parents? All the time. Gods? Usually they kicked their children out when they were toddlers or teenagers. Ambrosius was a teenager by mortal standards, and an adult by god standards. He should be out on his own, ruling his own realm of power, like the other gods. Did Ambrosius even claim a realm of power?
I had never thought of it. All gods had a realm of power. Hades ruled the underworld. Zeus ruled the skies. Poseidon ruled the seas. And what did Ambrosius rule? The cold empty senseless room his father locked him in when he misbehaved? The thought made me shudder when I remembered the memory the wraith had twisted in order to scare Ambrosius.
We arrived in town shortly after noon. The sound of exotic music playing excitedly, the stage occupied by dancers, children chasing each other with toys and pets, vendors shouting to get attention. Ambrosius, unlike the first time, ignored it all. He pretended none of it existed. It was disheartening to see that, instead of opening up more, he was closing himself worse than before. A little voice urged me to give up, but I chased it away.
I couldn't give up.
I had come to care for Ambrosius too much to do something like that to him. Everyone else may have given up on him, but I wouldn't. I couldn't.
We dismounted our horses near a small stable area and I summoned Remi to watch over them while we were gone. And he complained the entire time until his voice faded behind me and Ambrosius and I made our way down the street.
"Keep an eye out for cold spots," I told Ambrosius as we walked through the unsuspecting crowd, "Anything suspicious, go after. We can't leave any stone unturned." Ambrosius just inclined his head to indicate he understood, but otherwise, ignored me. He just marched along beside me, eyes analyzing everything around him, but not with child-like wonder as he did before. This time he watched things suspiciously, a soldier in the midst of battle.
"Has your father ever seen you dance?" I asked out of the blue as we walked. Ambrosius stiffened, but didn't answer me. He was ignoring me on purpose, and it pissed me off.
"Your father told you to do what I say. If you're going to be his bitch, act like it. I don't like people who do things half-assed." I informed. Ambrosius stopped walking and whirled around, catching me against the throat with his arm and slamming me into the nearest building, causing a few people to scatter in horror, hissing insults directed at Ambrosius. Despite the fact that he was pissing me off, I didn't appreciate those insults.
"I am not his bitch," Ambrosius snarled at me, his blue eyes suddenly glowing, "I'm his son, and you'll do well to remember that. You may have been able to manipulate me up until now, but it's not going to continue, do you fucking understand me? Stop trying to ruin my life."
"Hard to ruin something that doesn't exist." I deadpanned. Ambrosius seethed and he went to hit me, but I was tired of restraining myself, so I caught his wrist and twisted him around, knocking one of his legs out from under him and shoving him down onto his knees, arm twisted behind his back, his head bent. He was breathing hard, looking momentarily stunned at my retaliation. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"And I am Thorn, son of doesn't fucking matter. I am my own person and that is what makes me powerful. I don't weep when I step out of my father's shadow. I rejoice, because I am not a copy cat that will never reach full potential. I am a unique individual that can rip apart anyone who stands in my way. I am not manipulating you. The reason you think that is because you've been brainwashed into thinking that everyone else is wrong and your father is the only one who is right. Ruining your life? Ambrosius, you don't have a life to ruin. Your father's already torn it down and you let him. It's your fault your life sucks, not mine."
Ambrosius growled low in his throat and twisted out of my grip, swinging around to attack me, but I dodged and pinned him against the wall, my grasp on his neck and threatening to knock him unconscious.
"Get off me!" He snarled. I glared at him.
"You're the one who keeps attacking me. Congratu-fucking-lations, Ambrosius. You're just like your father. Attacking out of rage and making people hate you." I responded, then roughly let go of him. Ambrosius breathed hard, reaching up to rub the back of his neck before turning to glare at me. I glared back at him when I saw movement out the corner of my eye. Someone had darted into the alleyway and a temperature shift set me off.
"Where are you going?!" Ambrosius demanded when I walked away from him. I flipped him the bird and he scoffed.
"Real mature, asshole."
"Says the half-pint who just tried to attack someone who's actually been in a battle."
"Fuck you."
"I would much rather fuck you." I told him honestly. Ambrosius froze in his spot at that and I ignored him, ducking into the alleyway when I saw the white robes that had caught my attention earlier. I curled my lip and went toward the person, feeling the temperature shift before I caught the person by the arm and whirled them around.
A slender man with dark curly hair framing an impish face and big topaz green eyes that seemed to swallow his face. There was an innocence to his physical features, but I saw right through the meat suit and saw the wraith staring at me from inside.
"Get out of the human." I ordered. Topaz eyes flashed black for a moment before returning to normal and he opened his mouth to bare rows of sharp teeth. I punched him in the jaw and he yelped like a kicked puppy.
"Ow," He shouted at me angrily, wiping blood from his mouth, "You didn't just hit me, you prick! You hit the human too!"
"Get out of him right now or I'll flay the flesh from your bones, you disgusting piece of shit." I ordered angrily, grabbing him by the front of his white robes and making him squeal again, writhing in my grip. Oddly enough, though, he wasn't flying out of the human and taking off like most wraiths would, which could only mean one thing and I grimaced. He'd kicked the human soul out and latched onto its physical being. The bastard had lied. The human was dead.
Which meant open season for me. I swung him around and slammed him into the side of a building, making him squeal again, waving his hands in surrender as Ambrosius came to join me, eyeing the creature with curiosity.
"Wait, wait," The wraith cried, "I didn't hurt anyone!"
"You killed the human occupying this corpse."
"I so did not," The wraith defended, "The shit actually passed his final test and his soul was sent to heaven. His meat suit dropped flat on its face, and since it wasn't in use, I figured hey, look! Free cars! It was like an episode of Oprah!" He said Oprah's name with such a twinkle in his eye and loud voice that I had a feeling he very much enjoyed the talk show hostess. Not that it mattered to me. I curled my lip.
"I will not have a wraith living in my realm." I spat. He gave me a smug smile.
"Shoulda thoughta that before you opened the gates to my kind, pencil dick." He answered. Ambrosius gave him a weird look.
"You are the weirdest thing I've ever met." He stated cautiously, folding his arms over his chest. The wraith eyed him like a delicious morsel and inhaled deeply and shuddered.
"Oh god, he smells great," He moaned, then looked at Ambrosius, licking his lips and his eyes flashing black for a moment, "You smell like fear." His voice changed to sound demonic and low. It was enough to make Ambrosius take a huge step away from him and the wraith moaned, thrusting a hand down to cup himself. I snarled at him in disgust and threw him down on the ground and he scrambled to sit up on his knees, reaching for Ambrosius, who delivered a swift kick to the creature's nose.
"Ow," He cried in horror, gaping up at Ambrosius, "That was totally rude! Would you kick a man reaching for a steak? I don't think so!"
"What is your name?" I demanded of the creature, who cast me a look of disdain over his shoulder.
"I don't have a name anymore. They took it away after I died. But you can call me Castiel. At least, that's what this bitch's wife called him before he died. So I'll take his name," He replied, then looked back at Ambrosius, his eyes twinkling, "Can I just have a little bite? Like, maybe an eyeball or something? You have really delicious looking eyes. I can just feel it squishing under--" Ambrosius whacked the creature upside the head and he yelped, clutching at his head and ducking down so his face was in the dirt and his butt right up in the air.
This was strange, I noted with a frown as the creature, Castiel, kept trying to get Ambrosius to feed him and each time Ambrosius answered with violent retaliation that seemed to actually hurt the beast. I had never heard of a wraith jumping into an empty corpse before. Did that even make it a wraith anymore? Wasn't it considered human?
Apparently not, because Castiel still had the craving for fear, and without realizing it, Ambrosius was like a five-course meal to these creatures. So why was Castiel asking and not just possessing Ambrosius or using his powers?
"Come on," Castiel pleaded, ignoring his bloody nose, "It won't hurt, promise! See, pinkie swear!"
"You're disgusting." Ambrosius snapped. Castiel whimpered like his words actually hurt him. I shook my head and reached out, snatching Castiel up by his hair and making him hiss.
"Ow ow ow! Ow ow ow ow," He chanted, reaching up to try and pry my fingers away, but to no avail, "This is hair, you know! Not a leash!"
"You're a wraith," I snapped, "How are you in an empty corpse? Why can't you leave the host?"
"Uh, because now that dude's body is mine? It's like buying a house. You're fucked once you've bought it. Unless you burn it down."
"I say we burn it down." Ambrosius deadpanned. Castiel squeaked and grabbed onto my arm, trying to get behind me so I stood between them. Ambrosius arched a brow and looked at me, mirroring my confused stare. I grabbed Castiel again and wheeled him around to stand between us, and now Castiel eyed Ambrosius cautiously.
"So, what? You're mortal?"
"Not exactly," Castiel assured, pausing to rake Ambrosius both with suspicion and hunger that made Ambrosius narrow his eyes threateningly, "I was a witch in my mortal life. So, now I'm also a witch. And immortal. Except punching me still hurts and I can't go through walls. Now that hurt when I found out the hardway. Did you know walls are really painful? Like, for real. They're hard. I forgot how hard they were. Speaking of which, you got any aloe vera? My nose hurts."
"I think he's insane," Ambrosius told me dryly, "We should put him out of our misery."
"No," Castiel whined, "Come on! Ah, here! I can cut you guys a deal. You guys let me go and I can tell you where the wraiths are hanging out when you go out on patrol." Ambrosius and I frowned at him suspiciously.
"Why would you do that?" I demanded. Castiel wrinkled his nose up.
"Uh, let's see," He held up his hands to tick all the reasons off on his fingers, "First of all, they're all assholes from the Burning Years. They think, oh, I'm a hundred billion years old, so I'm better than you and it's like uh, yeah, says the dead guy. Second of all, they hate me. I only came here because nobody knows me here, therefore, nobody can hate me. Bah-boom! Third of all, they all smell horrible. It's like walking into a Mexican strip club. And, ah... Oh wait. I think those are all the general reasons. Wanna hear the minor reasons?"
"No." Ambrosius said flatly. Castiel pouted. I frowned.
"And why would I be foolish enough to let you go if you're going to feed on the souls of my realm?" I demanded. Castiel shrugged.
"Why would you let anyone go? A lot of people eat cows. Poor cows. They didn't do anything to deserve the name BigMac. People eat 'em anyway and you don't kill them for it. Why kill me for it?"
"Because you're killing people who are trying to earn their second chance."
"Don't I get a second chance?"
"No."
"Fine," Castiel huffed, folding his arms over his chest, even as I twisted my grip in his robes, "Then kill me. Go ahead. If it'll fill that empty void in your soul that my kind are going to feed on like Muslims after Ramadan." Ambrosius and I shared looks. I wasn't sure what to do, to be honest. I'd never encountered someone like Castiel. It was very obvious his magic had driven him crazy. The way he babbled was certainly not natural. Nor were his eyes. Or him in general. A wraith with a human form. Or semi-human. He said immortal, and while that meant no amount of beating him could kill him, decapitating him might work. At the same time, he was offering a bucket full of information we could use.
If he truly knew where the other wraiths were, we could wipe them out with a sneak attack. Of course, that still left Castiel to dispose of afterwards, but I didn't want to promise him freedom if I wasn't going to do it. That kind of thing was dirty.
"We're taking him back with us," I told Ambrosius, making Castiel's eyes widen and Ambrosius look at me in disbelief, "But I'll put a seal on him so he can't use his magic to feed on us. That should hold him off until we decide what to do with him." Before Castiel could protest, I made two hand signs, a fist and then held up two fingers, muttered a few words in Hebrew, then touched my head to Castiel's forehead and he squealed in pain, slapping at me uselessly. His forehead smoked and burned as a black pentacle shaped onto his forehead.
"Owww," Castiel moaned, reaching up to cup his forehead and crossing his eyes as if he could look up at it like that, "Holy crap, dude, you totally ruined my meat suit! Do you have any idea how long it took me to heal from his car accident? Seriously! Uncalled for!"
"Stop talking," I ordered, then turned to Ambrosius, "Let's get to Remi so we can get back." Ambrosius nodded and I kept a strong grip on Castiel as we moved along. People made a path for us as we moved down the street and Castiel squirmed in my grasp, reaching up to touch at his forehead every so often.
"Is this permanent? Will it still be there after you unbind my magic?"
"Who said anything about unbinding your magic?"
"I'll starve to death!"
"Then starve."
"You are just so cruel," Castiel griped, "Why are you doing this to me? I didn't do anything. I never hurt you. Maybe Cruxis did, but I didn't!"
"Cruxis?" I demanded, pulling Castiel to a stop. Ambrosius eyed the wraith warily, and kept a good distance, much to my relief. Even with the binding spell placed on him, I didn't trust him. He could lash out with something, if even his fist.
"Yeah," Castiel replied with a sniff, "But I'm not telling you who he is because you're being a jerk and won't let me go. So there. See how you like it."
"See how you like it." I scoffed and we continued own the street. Castiel returned to wailing and making a scene. People curled their lips at him or spat in his direction as if he were a prisoner of war, which in a way, he was. We arrived at the stables and Remi looked up, flinching as we approached.
"Ew, is that a wraith?" He asked in disgust.
"Ew, is that a shifter?" Castiel mocked. Remi narrowed his eyes and I could tell he was seconds away from beating the wraith senseless and while it was tempting, we couldn't afford to lose any information he might carry. I made a gesture for Remi to calm down, but he just made a rude noise and vanished into a stream of smoke that sucked itself back into my ring.
"Oooo," Castiel taunted, "A slave too? At least I'm free." My ring blazed hot and I didn't want to be the only one in pain, so I pressed it to Castiel's arm and he shrieked in pain, shrinking away from me and hissing at the ring. It cooled off with Remi's satisfaction. I took out a length of rope from the pack on Bethani's saddle and tied it tight enough to chaff Castiel's wrists, then connected him to the back of my horse. Castiel whined, shaking at the ropes uselessly.
"You're not gonna give me a ride?"
"Considering your kind has pissed me off, no. You're walking." I stated flatly. Castiel scowled, but thankfully, said nothing more. He just chewed on the rope and made spitting sounds when he got sand and hair in his mouth. I shook my head, then climbed onto my horse and Ambrosius did the same as we steered them through town and Castiel stumbled behind us the whole time. We were about halfway home when Castiel began to sing in a very bad attempt at AC/DC's Highway to Hell.
"Livin' easy! Lovin' free! Season ticket on a one way ride! Askin' nothin'! Leave me be! Takin' everything in my stride! Don't need reason. Don't need rhyme!"
"Please," Ambrosius groaned, covering his ears, "Please kill him. Just, slit his throat or something. At least cut his tongue off." Castiel sang louder in response.
"No stop signs! Speedin' limit! Nobody's gonna slow meh down! Like a wheel! Gonna spin it!"
"Shut up!"
"Nobody's gonna mess me around! Hey, Satan! Payin' my dues! Playin' in a rockin' band! Hey, muma! Look at me! I'm on my way to the promised land!"
"I'd kill him," I admitted to Ambrosius, then cut him a glower, "But you were kind of a dick earlier. Think of this as my punishment."
"This is just cruel." Ambrosius insisted, then flinched as Castiel ran to catch up with us, singing much louder to the point where now I was tempted to kill him.
"I'm on a highway to Hell! On the highway to Hell! I'm on the highway to Hell! On the highway to... Heeeeeell!" He shouted, eyeing Ambrosius on purpose. Ambrosius glared at me and I glared back at him, praying to see the gates to my mansion soon.
"And I'm goin' dowwwwwn! Alllllll the wayyyyyy! OW! I'm on the highway to Hell."
"Shut up!" Ambrosius and I shouted in unison. Castiel pouted.
"Well, it's true."
"No," I said dryly, "You're in purgatory and you're on your way to my basement in pieces if you don't shut your mouth." That threat seemed to subdue him, for now. He still grumbled lyrics to other similar songs under his breath. Ambrosius just rode in angry silence, probably plotting my death, but to be honest, I didn't care. I was a little fed up with his attitude right now, and while I knew it wasn't his fault, I couldn't help feeling angry.
This was going to be the worst month of my life.