Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 145

Arriving back at home brought on a whole new range of emotions. I was excited to see our children, and yet terrified of what this new norm would be. Verando's hand tightened on the steering wheel and I rested my palm on his knee as we drove down the replica of the entrance to my Romanian home. The trees were a nice touch, shading the path in such a way that it almost felt like we were entering a different realm.

Darrius waits for us on the porch, with only a few members of our hodge-podge family. He's running toward the car before Verando can get it stopped and I jump out to greet him, despite the cursing from my husband. "Bloody hell, Nic." he spits at me, disappointed in my lack of restraint as I kneel to capture the child in my arms.

 Holding him to my chest, plastering his face and cheek with kisses. I'd missed him so dearly, how was he already bigger than when I last saw him? Taller, losing the toddler features in exchange for boyish charm. 

Verando is eerily still as he stands beside us, eyeing the porch where Adriam's face clouded with worry as he held Xavier, who slept peacefully in the Frenchman's arms. 

Victor approaches, almost as if he were bait to see how in control Verando was. 

My husband seems to appreciate the tact in which they handled the situation. It was what he would prefer, he wouldn't want it any other way. We would have to think of protocols to decipher him from the other mind lurking underneath the surface. Verando lifts his hands, allowing the Russian to pat him all over and rid him of his weapons save for the Karambit which burns the man the moment he attempts to touch it. 

Not a surprising detail to me, but it seems to make Verando curse as if it stung him as well.

Victor leaps backward, dropping the various knives and guns, causing disappointment to cross Verando's face. "Really? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a gun in this day and age? Must you drop them so carelessly?"

"What was that?! Why did you do those things? The zap! Here! On my finger!" Victor demands. I swallow back the disbelief that all Lycans of this group were so emotionally scarred by magic. 

Were they going to accept him? Was he no longer one of them?

"Death's weapon of choice, cupcake. Perhaps use a touch more caution. We're in uncharted territory with this whole situation." Verando retorts shortly, making the Russian hesitate as he resumes his search of the man's body. Patting him roughly, almost as if to trigger him if it were so possible.

For a moment, I wonder if they'll fight, it must be crossing the man's mind that this person was now a threat to them all.

But, after a long moment of silence, Victor relaxes his shoulders. "This is true then. You are now harboring Death. But you smell same, look same.. almost. Younger, maybe. Good, were looking quite old."

"I am Death, not harboring. Think of it as a job description." Verando keeps his hands raised as if he were being held at gunpoint. He seemed more prepared for this reaction than I was. Twiddling his fingers, the glint of the ring makes Adriam's face pale and I worry the man might be sick. 

"Gods, no." Adriam manages, muttering a Hail Mary before holding the sleeping child that much tighter. 

"'Fraid it's permanent, gentlemen. Recruitment and all. I'm a horseman." Verando's tone turns somber, those light eyes lock with the large honey-colored orbs gawking at him from the porch. "Say your piece, Adam, I can't stand like this forever." My warlord shouts across the grass. 

"No heartbeat, no heat-" Shaking his head, the Frenchman hands off the child to Legardo as if he were worried he might shift. His body trembles, radiating the threat that this form is unstable. "How do you expect me to help you if you aren't alive? I ask for a body, a life to work with, you bring me back this damn husk."