“I don’ think I’d wanna be a
superhero, ‘cause then I’d have’ta fight people an’ I’m not really all that
fighty, y’know? Plus, there’s always a villain an’ that sounds awful.”
“You could be a superhero like a firefighter’s a superhero. Use your power to just save people, ya know? Doesn’t have to be a vigilante thing,” she pointed out, proud of herself for coming to that idea.
“Yeah. Just… thought I smelled food for a moment.” she laughed, still not quite putting the pieces together.
It had been the first time she’d really been out after what happened, so it was taking some time for her senses to adjust again now that they were considerably more sensitive.
She might not have realized the full magnitude of what she was saying, but he did. It was definitely time to cut their outing short before he had a mess to clean up.
“How about we head back and you can eat,” he offered, trying to be as subtle about it as possible.
The whole thing was giving him a headache. “Chance and Oona had another child?” The thought that the child was Sera’s never once crossed his mind.
“Sera’s with him? After everything? How? Last I saw of her, Azrael was putting her in an induced coma to keep her from hurting herself.” He couldn’t believe they had left her open long enough for Chance to snatch her again and he damn sure didn’t believe she would willingly go back to him.
Tass was glad he was sitting, to say the least. “Any other horrifying news?”
“No, Jack is Sera’s son. Kid was even more messed up than Manson when he showed up. Ava’s been taking care of him ever since.”
Cam’s hand ached from the punch, though he was relatively sure if anything was broken, it was just minor and would heal without attention. He was still angry, but hitting Tass had taken some of the edge off for now.
“Don’t know if it counts as horrifying, but Jack isn’t the last of Chance’s kids, unfortunately. At least this one might have a shot at being semi-okay though, since Chance is under blood oath not to lay a hand on anyone in the family ever again. You’ve got a few more grandkids from your other kids too, in case you were wondering.”
The absolute horror of it showed when Cam said the kid was Sera’s. “I saw the shape she was in. She couldn’t give consent…” And Tass was absolutely disgusted. Enough so to want to gut his own son.
“He doesn’t know how to follow rules. He won’t last with any oath, blood bound or not. Why wasn’t he immediately put back? What if he goes after Britt again?”
“How many? What are their names?” He knew he didn’t have much right to ask, but he had missed so much and he just needed to know.
He was shaking, horrified and devastated over it all. The first decades or so he had been gone, he had slept. Getting enough dust for it hadn’t been hard, his aunt had been stockpiling it for years. He had just wanted to not feel the consuming guilt and self hatred that had been devouring him whole.
But the news that Chance was free to do as he pleased once more settled in the pit of his stomach like lead, all the color gone from his face. “What do you mean Chance is free?”
“Apparently one of your dad’s exes had an axe to grind, so she sprung him loose for shits and giggles. Oh, and that was after it turned out he had another kid nobody knew about that he was originally going to use for that purpose.”
He still didn’t fully understand exactly how that whole mess had happened, but at least there had been minimal bloodshed in getting things back under control.
“Sera’s the one holding his leash these days.”
The whole thing was giving him a headache. “Chance and Oona had another child?” The thought that the child was Sera’s never once crossed his mind.
“Sera’s with him? After everything? How? Last I saw of her, Azrael was putting her in an induced coma to keep her from hurting herself.” He couldn’t veliebethey had left her open long enough for Chance to snatch her again and he damn sure didn’t believe she would willingly go back to him.
Tass was glad he was sitting, to say the least. “Any other horrifying news?”
He didn’t try to dodge or block the hit and it connected solidly. Enough to dislocate his jaw as he hit the ground.
He stayed down and popped his jaw back into place, giving it a moment to heal. He was sort of glad he healed fast, even by their standards.
“What do you mean Evander left?” Lyri was the only person his little brother truly cared about so to know he had abandoned her too was throwing him off more and more. He hadn’t thought things would have gotten this bad.
“You, Evander, some of the kids. Thras lost his whole family. Didn’t you know any of this?”
He’d have thought that if Tass cared at all, he might have at least checked in from a distance to keep up on the state of his family in the aftermath of his absence, but apparently not, and the fact just made Cam even angrier and more hurt.
“Do you even know that your son somehow managed to get out of his chains?”
He was shaking, horrified and devastated over it all. The first decades or so he had been gone, he had slept. Getting enough dust for it hadn’t been hard, his aunt had been stockpiling it for years. He had just wanted to not feel the consuming guilt and self hatred that had been devouring him whole.
But the news that Chance was free to do as he pleased once more settled in the pit of his stomach like lead, all the color gone from his face. “What do you mean Chance is free?”
mythsandmonsters:
“I hope you fucking feel this!”
The moment Tassos stood up, Cam was the one moving toward him, swinging a fist straight at his face as his rage boiled over.
“Asher is my son. Lyri was pregnant when you left. She was so messed up by you and Ev leaving that she didn’t even notice. I had to tell her so she’d start eating again before she had a miscarriage. It took so long to convince her I wasn’t going to leave her too, so you better have have an exceptional excuse for nearly destroying her.”
excuse for nearly destroying her.”
He didn’t try to dodge or block the hit and it connected solidly. Enough to dislocate his jaw as he hit the ground.
He stayed down and popped his jaw back into place, giving it a moment to heal. He was sort of glad he healed fast, even by their standards.
“What do you mean Evander left?” Lyri was the only person his little brother truly cared about so to know he had abandoned her too was throwing him off more and more. He hadn’t thought things would have gotten this bad.
mythsandmonsters:
“Do you have any idea what you did? We nearly lost Lyri and Asher because of you. She stopped eating and taking care of herself. If you think I’m going to let you just walk back in here after that or risk you doing that to her, to us, you’re fucking delusional.”
His anger was gaining traction, burning hot and fast as he went over those months in his head and how both he and Lyri had almost fallen apart from the heartbreak, but even now, she was his priority.
“Asher?” He got caught on that name. He didn’t know anyone in the family by that name and his confusion was clear.
He finally stood, but he made no move to close the distance. “I wasn’t asking to come back. I know I ruined that. I didn’t even expect to see anyone. I just wanted one moment to.. Hell, I don’t know, feel something again for once.”
mythsandmonsters:
“This isn’t your home anymore,” Cam growled, his jaw tensing as heartbreak and rage battled to see which would come out on top in how he reacted once the shock subsided.
“You saw to that when you left.”
That hurt more, but Tass could hardly argue that point.
“I know… I’m sorry…” his voice was quiet when he spoke, the usual flirting banter he was known for gone, replaced by nothing but a shadow of the man he had been once.
mythsandmonsters:
It had been so much easier to hate him when he couldn’t see his face, easier to stay angry and cling onto that to keep himself from falling apart, but in doing that, Cam also didn’t give himself a chance to grieve, heal and move on.
“Why are you here?” he muttered, the words an accusatory whisper that barely made it out of his mouth without dragging all his pent-up emotions with it.
Tassos better have a damn good excuse for everything he’d done, even if that still wouldn’t be enough to calm Cam right now.
It hurt to see the emotions raging like a storm in Cam’s eyes. He had never meant to hurt anyone, but after everything with the kids, with Britt almost dying, the twins… He had needed to leave. The guilt had been consuming him.
“I don’t know,” he finally settled on, gaze settling on the floor as he picked at a loose thread on his frayed jeans. He looked like he hadn’t really slept in years.
It wasn’t really like he had nowhere else he could go. Truth be told, Tassos wanted to be here. Even if only for a few moments. He had forgotten what it had felt like to be home. Of course, his luck had never been stellar and he was still perched on the edge of the bed when Cam walked in.
“…Hi.”
Cam was frozen to the spot, speechless, his stomach twisting in knots at the sight of him, not even sure for a moment that he was real, but it was evident from the look in his eyes that he looked like he’d seen a ghost and the memory still haunted him in the most painful of ways.
An almost sad smile touched the edges of his lips, but he didn’t move beyond that. Honestly, he was glad Cam had stayed with Lyri. It meant his sister had been taken care of. Truth be told, he didn’t know what to say after this long. Sorry just didn’t feel anywhere near good enough and he doubted they would ever consider letting him back into their lives. He had fucked up everything.
ofviolentdeath 