Page 10 of Castian

Alek silently pressured him with his gaze.

Disappointed, Castian complained as he tossed the succubus away from him. “And here I thought I could teach her a lesson.”

Releasing him, Alek retreated a step observing the hanging human bodies all varying in age. “They will be punished; farming humans is illegal.” His eyes went to a particular woman’s body, who appeared to be in her teens. “Whoever is living will go to the bowels.”

“No.” The Succubus released a defiant cry of protest as she pulled a blade from inside her uniform and stabbed Castian in the stomach. She laughed; her teeth bared. “Fuck you, you dog. Humans’ wastes are blessed to be fed on by their master—urch.”

Her eyes opened in shock as a strong hand grabbed her by the throat, and squeezed. She choked as she scratched at the fingers holding her neck, but the fingers only tightened around throat.

“Awe, and here I thought you’d let me be a good man.” Castian muttered, his head lifting so that he could stare into her horror filled gaze. “Thank you, for ruining my attempt.”

He crushed her neck, before dropping her dead body to the ground, his tone mocking he said, “It seems like I killed our only witness.”

“Not really,” Alek said from behind him. He held up two males who were shaking. The two demons couldn’t maintain their human-like appearance due to their fear, their flesh peeling back to reveal green scales. Castian judged them to be low grade demons. “Found them hiding, they will do.”

Straightening his hat, and ignoring the sizzling sound of his wound healing, Castian gave Alek a look of gratitude.

“Thanks, you’re not too bad for a bat.”

SHRAN

CASTIAN

“You killed one of them.”

It wasn’t a question. Castian kept his hands busy on the puzzle in his hands when he met Raijin’s probing stare. The Ogre had managed to convince the annoying Fox to give them their own headquarters and each of them had been given the choice to remain in the self-proclaimed barracks or move into apartments. Castian had opted for staying in barracks, it wasn’t like he had anywhere else to go.

“Yes, I wasn’t going to but then she stabbed me," he said, in mock shock. “After Alek went through all that trouble of getting me not to kill her. Damn shame really, but then again if the mere mention of theBowelstriggers someone to try to kill you, they really don’t belong there. Right?”

Raijin nodded. “True, some do prefer death rather than being locked away.”

“If only it was nothing more than being locked away,” Malcolm growled from where he sat in the corner. His legs crossed as he flipped through a file. “The bowels isn’t a place that just anyone should be thrown into.”

“And yet, here you all are.” The tone of superiority could only belong to one person. Tiller entered the office, giving a cursory gaze around. Castian wondered what the man was looking at, but on the feet of his thought Tiller spoke. “It appears that you’re sincerely enjoying this ‘Captain’ role.” He smiled, but as with everything else it wasn’t sincere. He turned to them, “Alek has finished questioning the meat dealers and it seems this Asher person did indeed buy an Ease pass to the human world.”

Castian fingers stopped on the puzzle, as he grew tense.

“Unfortunately, he left earlier than we anticipated,” Tiller sneered. “And this changes our plan a bit, but where there is a will, there is a way.”

“Why do you councilman enjoy your riddles so much?” Castian asked, cutting in. “Is it because the only thing you rotting shells have are words?”

“Castian.” Raijin’s tone held warning.

Castian scoffed. “Dear leader, I have yet to say anything truly nefarious.” He grinned, at the obviously irritated Tiller. “Sorry, you know.” He tapped his head. “Sometimes my thoughts don’t stay where they should. Madness is a bitch to deal with.”

Tiller narrowed his eyes on him. “I’m sure.”

Turning his attention to Raijin, Tiller continued, “With our connection in the human world, we were able to track him down. We’ve confirmed that he does indeed work for Renson.”

Stiffening, Castian carefully kept his expression blank at that announcement. A queer feeling of hope filling his body. He hadn’t experienced that in a long while. He once again started fiddling with his puzzle.

Tiller tapped the desktop twice, and the room darkened as something like a hologram popped up of an intricately designed family shield. “This is Renson, a warlock family that along with Napier, Colton and Shran, are known as the Ring of Syed. They are the beau monde of the warlock families. While their base is in the human world, they deal with the council when it involves trade and human relations. The circle is not only heavily guarded, but they rarely allow outsiders anywhere near them for anything more than an interview.”

Tiller flicked his hand right. The circle of family sigils was replaced by a picture of an invitation. “Lucky for us they will be having a celebration of the Battle Syed, the final battle against the Unseelie coming up. They hold an anniversary party on each other’s estate. This year it will be held by the Napier family, which is run by Tillon Napier, who took over after the death of his elder brother and father.”

Hearing this, Castian hands stilled once more the puzzle in his hands. His limbs growing stiff.

“Unlike the other families, Napier is less strict on his guest list and often invites notable stars and influential people to his events. This supposed house party is coming in a few weeks, the event is said to last around four days. Which is plenty enough time for us to find Asher, but also ascertain if there is another behind him other than this lord person.” Tiller finished, waving once more to change the image to that of the heirs of each family.

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