Midnight City (boyxboy)

|Thirty Seven: Your Blood|

"I'm human."

Cassius simply blinked at her, golden eyes staring into suddenly hazel ones. Any spark or fleck of luminescence had disappeared from the once vibrant irises, and now he stared at something human. For hours he had been kneeling by his sister's bed, waiting for her to wake up from her injury induced slumber. For once she looked tired- imperfect. As humans did when they were physically exhausted, she displayed this outwardly with her disheveled appearance. Where unblemished, clear skin once was, were dark circles underneath her too-normal eyes, as well as makeup smears down her sunken cheeks. And her chest rose and fell as she took shallow, human breaths, struggling for oxygen with her now-human lungs. 

There was a pang in his chest when he took a step towards her and she flinched, as if afraid that now she was no longer a vampire, he would hurt her- or kill her. The smell of dried blood filled his nostrils as he approached, flooding his senses immediately, which caused him to pause his movements. Suddenly he remembered how starving he was. He couldn't remember the last time he drank anything.

"How?" he whispered, as if speaking any louder would only cause her pain.

"Ask your lover," was her response. Each word was icy on her tongue, a cold shiver running down his spine just as he gulped.

"Sam did this?" Cassius questioned in bewilderment, but his voice sounded broken. He knew Claudia could see how much this hurt him, how her wound would also wound Cassius in other ways. And Sam was gone, he had wounded his sister and escaped soon afterwards. He didn't believe that this was intentional. Claudia was supposed to help him escape. Did she even try? "Did you help him escape?"

Slowly, she shook her head. "I couldn't do it."

"You weren't able to or you didn't want to?" he snapped.

Her silence told him what he needed to know.

"I asked you to be there for me, Claudia," he breathed. "You told me that you believed Sam is good."

A wheeze fell from her lips as she struggled to produce an incredulous laugh. Her once glossy hair fell flatly in front of her thin face, which was now flushed with redness from trying to fight for her life. What had Sam done to her? The thought made him sick. She attempted to sit up in her bed, wincing in pain, not surprised when her brother did not rush to her aid. Now she understood where his priorities lay, even if they were skewed. "I believe that he is a monster," she hissed. "You didn't see him, Cassius. You did not see what he turned into."

"He was defending himself," the Prince argued weakly.

Another croaky sound emitted from her hoarse throat before she said, "He is the most powerful being in the realm. He is untouchable. He cannot be killed."

At that, his heart dropped to his feet, weighing him down so his chest felt heavy with the decision of who and what to believe. Of course, he believed that he loved Sam, that the boy was not dangerous. However, he also believed that Sam didn't know what he was capable of. The prophecy brought them together so Sam could be used against him, and there must have been a reason for that.

When he stayed silent, Claudia continued, fighting for breath and words both at once, "Father is afraid of him. The guards whisper about what happened." She visibly shuddered, cringing and grimacing at whatever information she knew that her brother didn't. "When he still had Sam, he asked him why death wasn't here yet. 'Where is it?' I don't know what Sam is, but he is nothing like the angels we have encountered."

"You're insane," Cassius snapped.

"I am not," she argued. "I am human. And I am afraid. I am afraid because one day I will die, and Sam will live on forever. You will live on forever. I am scared because your forever will not be as eternal as his forever, do you understand me? He will hurt you, and he will kill you."