667: Issue #7 Pt. 2 "The Seventh Son"

“That’s everything; it really is a beautiful old house.” I had just finished taking Asher on a guided tour before we were headed to his new room.

“I’ve never been in a house this big before. Nothing ever this nice anyway.” Asher seemed at home as I led him to the room Violet and Henri had fixed up for him.

“It’s still early, but I figure you could chill out for a bit if you want and put your stuff away. Violet’s room is next door and I’m across from her if you need anything.” I opened the door for him and he sighed when he entered the room; must have been nice to get settled.

“Thanks, man. I may come find you in a bit so you can show me the field; a moonlit stroll sounds nice.” Asher started unpacking his bags and setting things up in the room.

“Sounds like a plan.” I bowed out of the room and shut the door just as Violet was coming out of her own room.

“Hey.” She smiled, but she looked a bit stressed out.

“Hey. Happy to be home?” We paused in the hall as I spoke.

“Yeah, but I have a lot to think about and I may go for a walk in a bit.” Violet leaned into the wall, staring at my chest.

“If you want company, Asher and I were thinking about taking a stroll through the field in a bit.” I offered but didn’t know if she was going to bite.

“Possibly.” She muttered leaning forward to pull down the collar of my shirt. Her touch was subtle, but it almost made me jump.

“What are you doing?” My hands caught hers just as she had pulled back enough cloth to see the top of my tattoo.

“Looking at your ink; I haven’t seen it since it was done.” She gently pushed my hands away and pulled down my shirt to look at the eye.

“It looks like it healed well with no signs of life.” Violet ran her finger over the raised lines and I felt myself getting a little hot under the collar.

“I think it’s just a regular tattoo. Asher must have realized the correlation not long after our visit and was able to subconsciously stop it from doing anything. We can fight each other’s powers, but we can still be vulnerable to them too.” I returned as Violet’s hand slowly fell away from my chest.

“Like with Missy.” She brought up a memory that she probably didn’t want to think about.

“And even Naomi’s powers found you in her sleep. We can be ruled by them if we don’t know how to fight it.” I think I was starting to really put things together.

“Well, let me know when you go for that walk. I’ll be downstairs in my usual spot.” Violet gave me a slight wave as she walked towards the staircase.

I decided to retire to my room and listen to some music until either one of them came to find me.

(*)

I had fallen asleep. The music from my vinyls had been so soothing after the past couple of days we had and I just passed out.

When I opened my eyes it was still dark, but the clock said it was after one in the morning.

I wondered if anyone had come looking for me, or if they were even still awake, and crawled out of bed to see.

The hallway was dark, but the little electric sconces on the wall gave me enough light to see where I was going. I could hear someone in the kitchen when I got to the bottom of the stairs and found Cassandra sitting at the island with a glass of wine, reading a book.

“I thought you were asleep?” She raised a brow at me as I entered the kitchen.

“I was, but I’m not now.” I went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water to quench the insatiable heat in my belly.

“You alright? You look hotter than normal?” Cassandra came around the island to check me out.

“Why, thank you. That is the nicest compliment I have gotten in a while.” I chuckled as she ran her cool hands down my face and arms.

“Something is bothering you, no?” Cassandra stepped back to examine me while I held the door open to the fridge and basked in the cold air.

“I think I had a nightmare or something, but I’m not sure.” I scratched at my head as I tried to remember it.

“Was it about Nate again?” She asked, stroking my hair as she spoke. It was weird when Cassandra got all motherly, but it was oddly comforting.

“Probably.” I sighed. I had been struggling with nightmares about Nate being killed in front of me for weeks, even though I never actually saw it happen.

“I’m so sorry about what happened to him. We did a good job covering his death up, but I know that doesn’t make it any easier on you.” She tried to comfort me, but it just got me ruminating even more.

“I just hated that there was no real funeral. I don’t even know where you buried him.” I decided to take a seat at the island; my knees were going weak.

“It’s better that you don’t know. There were marks on his body, sigils that needed to be destroyed. I don’t know what Jeremy was planning to do with his corpse, but it was left unfinished because Violet sent him back to wherever he came from.” Cassandra tried to reiterate what I already knew.

“I also hate that I have to keep this from everyone else.” I tapped on the countertop as I spoke.

“You know that we can’t talk about our rituals, Adam. We let you be involved because of your relationship with Nate, but no one else can know. And no one has even asked about it. It’s best to leave it alone and let yourself grieve.” Cassandra was now behind me, rubbing my shoulders; one of the few places on my body that the fire hadn’t taken over.

“I know. Let’s change the subject—what about the blood tests Josiah had done a few weeks ago?” I steered the conversation elsewhere.

“He just got them back earlier today; part of why he wanted you all to come home. He hasn’t even read them, but plans on going over them with everyone tomorrow.” Cassandra was working on a deep knot in my shoulder now.

I closed my eyes to enjoy the free massage when I heard a noise by the kitchen door.

“Oh, hope I’m not interrupting anything.” It was Asher.

“Not at all; come have a seat if you like.” Cassandra was working her way to my pectoral muscles and I almost melted; I had no idea how sore I really was.

“Couldn’t sleep?” I asked as Cassandra pointed to the fridge, offering anything that was in it to Asher.

“No. Had a hard time last night too. What I saw—what I did; it was all so intense. I felt like something just took over inside of me. I took Apollyon out without even thinking.” Asher grabbed a soda from the fridge and sat down across from me.

“You’re starting to get the hang of things. These abilities are innate; we just have to tap into them and learn how to control it.” I advised him.

“I guess so.” Asher hung his head as he spoke.

“Did you and Violet end up going for a walk?” I wondered if they had actually gone out or not.

“We did. We walked through the field for a bit and looked at the stars; it was really nice.” Asher’s eyes were distant as he talked about her.

“That’s good; maybe I can show you the swamp tomorrow and teach you how to wrestle a gator,” I smirked and Asher returned with a laugh.

“Sounds good. I think I am going to try and get some sleep so I don’t waste tomorrow like I did today.” Asher finished off his soda and dropped the can in the trash.

“See you in the morning.” Cassandra bid him goodnight as he left the room.

“You should probably get some rest too; we have a lot to go over tomorrow.” Cassandra gave my shoulder one last squeeze before shooing me from my chair.

“Thanks for the shoulder rub; I really needed that after last night. Get some rest too, Cassandra.” I nudged her with my hand, but she grabbed it and held on for a moment.

“If you ever need anyone to talk to, just let me know.” Her voice was sweet as she leaned in and brushed her lips against my cheek.

I wasn’t expecting that at all, but I nodded anyway and left the kitchen as quickly as I could without looking like I was trying to escape.