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Chapter Nine
Cassius
Peter and Willow returned as the light was creeping through the world, pushing back the darkness of the night. The sun’s rays began to peek beyond the horizon and the birds were chirping, a trumpet call to beckon the sun towards them and spread warmth across the world. My eyes were heavy and my shoulders were hunched over. I still hadn’t gotten used to fatigue yet. While sleeping was a simple joy that I had missed during my vampiric years, it was annoying to always feel so sluggish and weak. The human body was such a fragile thing, prone to aches and strains and tension in all the joints and muscles. It was easy to understand why some people would want to turn their backs on all this and become something stronger instead.
Willow looked sheepish as she returned, sheepish, but calm. Peter gave me a reassuring smile, indicating that whatever tension had risen between them had dissipated.
“I think you two should go and rest for a couple of hours before we speak to Brandon. The light is coming in now, so whoever attacked you won’t try it again, especially not when you’re in the middle of the pack,” Peter suggested.
I was happy enough to listen to his suggestion, although I wasn’t sure if he was quite right in saying that people wouldn’t attack. If they felt as though they could get away with it, or if they were justified in doing so, then surely they wouldn’t hesitate?
I tried to push the troubled thoughts away from my mind. It wouldn’t do any good to become paranoid, although if I did I felt it was justified. Willow and I linked hands as we walked back to our new home. We opened the door warily, afraid that someone might have left an unpleasant surprise for us. Thankfully there were no traps or anything of the sort. I staggered toward the bedroom and fell onto the bed, feeling the mattress groan under my weight. Willow lay beside me. She pulled the blanket over us and I felt myself succumbing to the warmth.
“I’m sorry for earlier. I just let everything overwhelm me. After we were attacked it felt like people were trying to push me away again,” Willow whispered, her words as soft as the night.
“You don’t have to apologize. I know it’s hard for you to be here. But I spoke with Peter and he does seem to care about you a lot.”
“He does. I need to forgive him. I think it was unfair to have such high standards for him. I hope our child isn’t going to be as harsh with me,” she wore a wry smile, and I was glad to see her being able to express such a thing. I slipped my arm around her and she nestled against me, resting her head against my chest. I let my heavy eyelids fall.
“I think it’s an immutable law of the universe that children are going to be annoyed and frustrated with their parents. No matter how perfect the parents are, there are always going to be moments where they argue. I think it’s the nature of families. We’re just going to have to make sure our arguments aren’t too dramatic.”
Willow murmured something unintelligible and then sighed. I had other worries on my mind.
“Do you think Brandon could be behind this attack?” I asked.
“Brandon?”
“I mean, he was one of your bullies, and he has not made a secret of the fact that he doesn’t like me. I fear that he doesn’t see me as a human, just as a vampire who can actually be killed relatively easily.”
Willow considered the matter for a moment. “As much as I hated Brandon in the past, I have to admit that he has actually changed. He’s matured. I don’t see the same cruelty in his eyes that I used to see. And I’m not sure why he would want to attack you.”
I shrugged. “Maybe he thinks that if I’m dead then Amara won’t bother with his pack. He must know that by sheltering me he is inviting her ire. Perhaps he wishes to offer my body in a trade for peace.”
“Brandon wouldn’t do that. He’s many things, but he’s not sly. If he was going to kill you then he would do it openly. He would not hide it from the pack. No, this was something else. But I will find them and I will kill them.”
“I didn’t mean to create a civil war between the pack.”
“And you haven’t. The people who attacked us did. I don’t care how they managed to justify it to themselves, but they’re wrong. Brandon will see that. He has to,” Willow said, although I got the impression that she was speaking more from hope than certainty. Her hand slid up my body and came to rest against my cheek. She stroked it idly and looked up at me. “This isn’t how I thought our lives together were going to begin.”
“I didn’t either, but I suppose any life with you is better than a life without.”
“How are we supposed to move forward though? Are we just going to live in fear of Amara attacking? What if she never comes for you?”
“She’ll come,” I said, a grave, haunting tone entering my voice. If I knew one thing for sure it was that Amara’s pride would never allow me to go unpunished. She would not allow me to find happiness. It was only a matter of time before she found me, and then she would try to kill me. I just had to find some way to get to her first. And still I did not know how she returned. I gritted my teeth as I tried to figure it out, but sleep came over me before I could make any progress.
*
I awoke a few hours later, and somehow I felt even less rested than I had before. My eyes were bleary, a dull ache made my head feel twice its regular size, and there was an awful ache within me that seemed to pierce my spirit, sapping my strength. I had to look around to make sure that blood was not trickling out of me, for it felt as though my vitality was being drained. The wounds I suffered didn’t help. There was a dark, purplish bruise upon my side. Every time I twisted my body a sharp pain surged through me. My lip was swollen, and there were scratches on my skin where I had been dragged along the ground. Willow was in a better state. The bruise on her face was fading, thanks to the wolf inside.
How I envied her having these supernatural powers when I was so… ordinary.
The sun was in full view now, having pushed back the moon. The pack seemed as it always had been, but I watched the wolves with warier eyes. It could have been any of them who attacked us. If I still had the senses of a vampire then I might have been able to tell them apart, but my blunt human senses were useless in this endeavor.
“Can you tell who attacked us?” I asked in a low voice.
Willow wore a sour look. “It all happened so fast and I was distracted. Their scents blurred into one, and I didn’t manage to pick any of them out. They chose their moment well.”
“We shouldn’t expect any less from hunters,” I said. It was a reminder of how deadly wolves could be. In recent times I had not been concerned about wolves. I had been safe in my fortress, and my abilities protected me whenever I was around them. Unless wolves were provoked, they were not dangerous, and we had not been in a state of war.
