Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 28

Finding a man who didn't want to be found was a much larger task than my husband himself seemed to have anticipated. The crowded streets gave sanctuary to a youth who had hidden among the undesirables his entire life, much as I liked to think I knew him better than anyone- perhaps I did; this part of his life had remained unexplored by me. Bits and pieces flickered across my mental catalog, but predicting where he might go in a foreign land left me uncertain. 

There was little here to comfort him, even less than he could predict with the nature of our current time. He might be frightened, running blindly into a hostile land full of those who would persecute him, yet I must remind myself that this was not a lycan but a man with a curse. I had to find him before harm came to him, surely we could not escape the icy grasp of time twice. 

Caspian had shown little fear, seeming to have preferred their current situation to the one they had left, it left me wondering what part of time had we interrupted? The whole concept was still foreign to me, spiraling, I run a hand through my hair with a heavy sigh. What were we changing? How would this effect us?

A benefit to me might have been knowing where the holding facility they were taking Caspian resided. A more experienced tracker could have slinked through the city streets, finding their way by scent alone. But with the heavy fog of the afternoon rush hour looming in the streets and the screeching of sirens as our venue went up in smoke, there was little to follow and even less to gain intel from. I only had two hour until midnight, I had to find him in short order.

Overhead, heavy beams of light flashed as they followed ghostly figures. Caspian's forces were receding into the depths and I was sure Lotta had ordered to track them down. Their movement only furthered the soot and debris in the air that blocked out any hope of tracking a scent.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I exhale into the cooling air as I attempt to fathom how it was the universe saw fit to continue to punish me.

Truthfully, I'd been looking forward to some alone time with the man, some time to reconnect and rediscover ourselves. Most of all, I was looking forward to time with our children, I'd been less of a father to them than my own sire was to me. Instead, I was attempting to clean up yet another mess. 

Such was my reality, back and forth between the push and pull of duties and desires.

Even in our newly formed family, our children were in hiding, Helen had been excommunicated and we were increasingly more estranged from those that remained from our time. I could only imagine it was my ungratefulness towards our good fortune that had warranted this punishment. The gods were displeased with us, of that I was certain, I couldn't imagine that Tyr had not seen this coming in some aspect or another.

Rolling my thoughts into the question of fate and destiny, both of which seemed rather cruel.

My watch chimes lightly, reminding me that we had a flight tomorrow morning, our surprise get away no doubt. Chispa had called it a honeymoon, booking the tickets and convincing my warlord to fly on a plane had been troublesome enough. Irritated, I shake my wrist to turn the watch off and sample the air. Deepening the bitter taste in my mouth, I lacked confidence in this adventure the longer I walked.

Finding this man in a sea of people seemed like a daunting task, part of me couldn't help but wonder where Verando's faith in my ability to track came from. The minutes ticked away like the countdown on a bomb, if I did not find him before midnight, the beast lurking inside would be unleashed. It was the final push, the last attempt to rekindle the war.

Caspian had been all to grateful for the appearance of the pair, unleashing extinct creatures into this world would be the final death nail. Werewolves could not be controlled, could not be reasoned with, there would be no happy ending.