(BL) The Villain wants a Divorce!

By the time that Cass was brought over to where Edgar was, Cass’s body felt tired. His mind was going a mile a minute, but the strength in his body wasn’t there. He felt like a damn trembling leaf and wondered, for a minute, if his body had lost muscle mass due to what he had done.

Lucian was rather grim-faced as he made his way towards the tent setup, Edgar smiling at them from under his hat as they approached.

”Cass.” Edgar scolded as they approached, handing over a goblet. It didn’t take a genius to guess what the vampire was handing over in a goblet to Cass. Cass needed Edgar’s support to even hold onto the goblet that was handed to him. His hands were shaking so much that it was making Lucian growl. ”Lucy.” Edgar’s tone remained the same, a warning there for Lucian as well.

”Sorry. I think because I was clenching them so tightly near the end my fingers can’t grasp the goblet.” Cass told Edgar carefully, frustrated that he couldn’t do something so basic. Edgar’s expression softened.

”Well, you did do some god-level magic back there. The Priests are all a titter, whispering to each other about what you’ve done. All I had to do was tell them that the gods called to you specifically back at the capital and they believed me.” His voice was quiet, conspiratorial. Cass watched the man carefully reach out, wrapping Cass’ hands around the goblet he also held before he raised the brim to Cass’ lips.

The herbal, iron-rich mixture touched Cass’ lips before it entered his mouth. Cass swallowed a few deep mouthfuls before he met Edgar’s gaze.

Something deep churned in his gaze and Cass’ breath caught. There was a moment where Edgar’s gaze sharpened, turning the bright blue of the monster within before it faded quickly. The man having far better control then Cass gave him credit for.

It was actually a moment of realisation for Cass. The two men who were often around him, often a little less human and more honest with their monstrous desires, were that way because they were with Cass. Cass thought, because he’d gotten so used to it, that they just had a hard time controlling themselves.

Nope. Cass was just intentionally dense when it came to them.

Edgar pulled the goblet back, reaching out his thumb to wipe away a drop on Cass’ bottom lip so that the others didn’t get any ideas. He smiled at Cass while Cass blinked a few times. Edgar’s gaze drifted away from Cass, scanning the area around them before coming back to him.

”It looks like Gideon is coming back now. How did your chat with the others go before you decided to show off?” Edgar asked, humour in his tone now that he’d had a chance to tend to Cass. Cass felt his face warm. While it was true that he had decided to show off a little bit, it was rude of him to say it like that.

”It went well.” Cass said carefully. ”They were clearly uncomfortable with the fact that Fiona wasn’t with us, nor Ava, but they seemed to just...accept it.” Cass told him and Edgar nodded, his smile faint.

”Of course. After the feat you just completed, I bet they’re a little too scared to go against you now.” Edgar commented. Lucian sighed.

”I also explained that it was none of their damn business.” Lucian muttered. Edgar seemed mildly surprised by that, before he nodded.

”Understood. I’ll just tell them that we’re temporarily separated due to special missions. Cass already sent out letters. Whatever happens at this point is out of our hands.” Edgar said with a rather non-committal shrug. Then again, who was Cass to even consider criticizing him?

Cass still wasn’t fully convinced that running away wasn’t a good plan.

He felt guilty even considering that. Not because he felt bad for the gods, but because he felt bad for the men who were taking care of him and so concerned about him. They had already lost one hero, what would it do to them if they lost Cass too?

Cass pushed those dark thoughts away. He had bigger things to worry about right now, including getting his strength back.

”Eddie, help me get Cass set up in the tent dedicated to him. I have to go get him some food.” Lucian said, and Edgar straightened up immediately.

”Of course! Let’s get moving.” Edgar shuffled towards the largest tent available. Cass didn’t remember allowing something that big to be packed, then again, he had left Sam and Edgar alone in the morning. Had they done this?

”Is this...my tent?” Cass asked carefully as Lucian followed Edgar. Lucian didn’t fully glance down at him, but Cass caught the way that his lips curled up in a smirk.

”What? It’s not big enough for you?” Lucian asked teasingly and Cass snorted.

”It’s too big for me alone. We’re going to have limited space, probably, inside of the dungeon. This is a ridiculous size for just me.” Cass protested and Lucian chuckled. He bent, his lips brushing against Cass’ ear as he continued to follow Edgar.

”Don’t worry, this is for all of us. For now, it’s just for show. We brought some smaller tents. This was Sam’s idea.” Lucian said, smirking at Cass’ slightly shocked expression. Sam did this? Not Edgar or Lucian?

”Sam?” Cass repeated and Lucian’s smirk grew into a smile.

”He told me about it in the few minutes neither of us were at your side this morning. He was worried about you, especially due to the fact that your blood was stirring. He wanted a meal to be nearby if you needed it.” It took Cass only a second to realise what Sam had implied, and then Cass’ face went red.

”A meal?” Cass hated the way that his voice broke. He could not believe that Sam had referred to them as that, but the smirk, the glimmer in Lucian’s gaze told him that he was wrong. Sam had referred to them as meals.

”He’s a loyal man.” Lucian said. ”Too loyal, I would like to say, if he wasn’t the one who kept you alive in the face of our shitty behaviour and treatment. I’ll let him get away with calling me a meal for you, since I too think it is my duty to be at your beck and call. If I’m reduced down to something to be consumed, I just hope I’m the tastiest thing you’ve ever had.” Cass had nothing respectable to say about that, especially since he could feel the outliers, the people they had hired, trying to listen in on what they were discussing.

Edgar stood at the edge of the tent, smirking, and Cass ducked his head towards his chest, hiding his burning face. Lucian laughed loudly before he bent, stepping into the tent and placing Cass down on something soft. When Cass raised his head he realised that the space was covered with blankets and pillows. It looked less like a tent that one would be travelling with and more like a love tent.

Cass’ face warmed more.

Lucian watched him, his gaze reptilian before he let out a soft sigh. He raised his hand up, pushing his fingers through his hair in a way that was far too attractive for Cass’ mind at the moment.

”Keep thinking like that for a little bit, yeah? I’ll be back shortly with your meal.” Lucian told him, his tongue darting out to wet his bottom lip and Cass flinched. Edgar’s shoulders were shaking where he stood in the doorway of the tent.

”It’s not even close to the end of the month yet, Cass.” Edgar teased, his blue gaze warm as Lucian backed out of the tent. Lucian chuckled.

”Hey, keep your mouth shut, Eddie. Don’t curse the man like that. What if it comes early?” Lucian muttered and Cass felt his face heat.

”Don’t you curse me either! Why would you even say that?” Cass asked, horrified. He could not imagine something worse than his heat coming early and in a dangerous dungeon. Lucian huffed.

”Well, I’ll still be with you if it happens early.” Lucian muttered quietly and Cass blinked, before he sucked in.

”Lucian, it would be terrible if they both aligned. You know that, right?” Lucian’s silence while Edgar stood there, watching them, his eyes big. He clearly didn’t know what they were talking about, and there was a small, satisfied part of Cass that was a little bit pleased about that.

Lucian hadn’t told Edgar and Gideon why he was leaving, at least not to the same level of detail as he told Cass.

”I know better than anyone that it would be catastrophic.” Lucian muttered. ”I would hurt you, terribly.” Lucian actually sounded quite depressed. ”I’ll be back shortly.” He practically fled, nearly bowling over Gideon as he came over to the tent. Gideon watched Lucian leave, his hand reaching up and rubbing his right shoulder absently as he came to stand next to Edgar in the doorway of the tent.

Both men were staring down at Cass, contemplative.

”What was that about?” Gideon asked and Edgar shrugged.

”Don’t know, but I do think Cass knows given the look on his face. Whose keeping things from us, hmm?” Edgar meant it in a teasing way, clearly riffing on how Cass had reacted to them meeting up and chatting without him.

However, Cass felt his stomach drop out of his damn ass at the realisation that yes, that was basically what Cass had done. Edgar watched as Cass slowly grew pale, his already weak hands trembling more. Edgar bent, realising he probably shouldn’t have said that, kneeling down to hold onto the back of Cass’ head as he raised the goblet to his lips.

”Sorry, sorry. I was just teasing. I didn’t mean for you to look so stricken. Truly, some things are meant to remain between two people. If it was said in confidence, that’s okay Cass. I’m not mad, nor is Gideon. Here. Drink some more, okay? Please stop looking like that.” Edgar’s soft, soothing words, his gentle touch had Cass calming down slightly. God, he felt like such a damn idiot. This being in charge of the dungeon was really taking it out of him.

He knew it was only going to be worse once he was inside, but they’d already done a ton of dungeons. Lucian had been in other hero parties. They would be able to get through this, he was just...nervous. There. He’d admit it.

Cass was nervous that he’d fuck this all up and get everyone killed. He didn’t care so much if he died, but Gideon, Edgar and Lucian were innocent in the grand scheme that the gods had made. The bet they had wagered.

Cass didn’t mind dying, he’d already done that once. While it would be shitty to die before he got to see his sister again, even at a distance, he’d be okay with it. If the world ended, it wasn’t his damn problem anymore.

The way that Cass’ chest ached at that thought told him that he wasn’t as unaffected as he wanted to be. Cass let out a bitter laugh, nearly choking on the liquid Edgar was feeding him. Fuck.

This wasn’t very ’I’m a powerful mage’ of him.