Page 9 of Cassian

Blake puffed up noticeably. “Listen, pal—” Cass tried to suppress a snort. It wasn’t the time, but he’d never heard Blake say anything so cliché in their entire time together, and it was honestly a little hilarious. “We want answers,” Blake continued, undeterred. “What the hell did you do to my friend last night?”

“The infamous Blake, I presume.” The bar creep looked him over slowly, not seeming a bit intimidated, even though Blake had multiple inches and some number of pounds on him.

Jesus. Had Cass really talked about him that much in his tipsy state? He could feel his face heating as Blake shot him a surprised glance before turning his full ire back to the room’s inhabitant. “We could have you arrested, you know.”

Maybe-Arthur—and Cassreallywished he had gotten the guy’s actual name— sighed heavily, like they were putting him out beyond belief. “All right. Come in. Let’s get the interrogation over with. But it’ll have to be quick.”

It looked like they had come just in time, because the man’s bag was on the bed, looking close to completely packed. Had he been about to run out? Or had he been waiting for Cass to come back first?

Blake wasted no time. “What did you do to Cass?

“I fed from him, then I turned him,” Maybe-Arthur said, shrugging a casual shoulder like his answer was completely obvious.

Cass fought the urge to roll his eyes.Great clarification, Maybe-Arthur.

Blake made a frustrated sound. “Turned him…how?”

“With my blood.” It might have been Cass’s imagination, but Maybe-Arthur seemed almost amused at Blake’s confusion. Was he just toying with them?

“Intowhat?” Blake asked, patience clearly wearing thin.

Maybe-Arthur cocked a brow. “Why, a vampire, of course. What else? I’m assuming he’s already fed from you? You have that look about you.”

“That’s—but—vampires aren’treal.”

“I assure you, they are.”

The two of them had a staring standoff then, Maybe-Arthur still looking sardonically amused and Blake looking like maybe he was going to start throwing fists and asking questions later. Cass had a feeling they weren’t going to get very far with the two of them at each other’s throats—especially if one of them came with a pair of unnaturally sharp teeth—so he inserted himself between them. “Can you tell mewhyyou turned me?” he asked.

“Oh.” Maybe-Arthur shrugged, his coy smile dropping. “Well, you were so sad. And awfully cute. I’m afraid I was a little impulsive. It seemed like a good idea at the time. You and I could have had a bit of fun.” He shot an annoyed glance at Blake. “But it seems you already have your tether.”

“My tether,” Cass repeated.

“Yes. Lucky you.”

“What’s a tether?” Blake asked, sounding put out to be left out of the conversation.

“Yes, Arthur, what’s a tether?”

Maybe-Arthur looked at Cass blankly. “Arthur?”

“Is that…not your name?”

“This whole time you thought my name wasArthur?” Definitely-Not-Arthur looked properly upset for the first time in that entire interaction, but then he huffed a sigh. “Look, as adorable as your newbie vamp cluelessness is, I’m afraid I simply don’t have the time,” he said, stepping briefly into the bathroom and returning with pilfered toiletries he stuffed into his bag. It was a surprisingly mundane act for someone claiming to be undead. “I was mistaken. This isn’t free territory, which means I need to go. And you’d be wise to do the same.”

He grabbed his packed bag, moving to step out of the room. Blake—foolish, loyal Blake—stepped in front of him, probably hoping to block him, but then Not-Arthur’s face changed, just like Cass’s had: his eyes turned black, his fangs dropped, and he did a weird…growl thing.

Could Cassgrowlnow?

Blake stepped back, clearly thrown by the change, and Not-Arthur took advantage of his shock and fled the room, faster than should have been possible.

And then there were two.

“So… I’m a vampire,” Cass said brightly, trying to smile in some sort of carefree, reassuring way. He was pretty sure he just looked constipated.

Blake frowned at him. “We’re not going to take that creep’s word on it.”

So they were still going the denial route. Cass sighed, fake smile dropping. “Oh yeah? Then what, Blake?”

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