Midnight City (boyxboy)

|Twenty Nine: Never Let Me Go|

Cassius stared at the wooden door in front of him, hand outstretched to reach for the golden knob. Whatever was inside called to him, a darkness daring him to come closer, to just take a step. Whether that was the missing page or not, he didn't know. But he had to find out. 

Behind him, Theo's heart was beating wildly in his chest, so loud that the Prince's vampire hearing picked up on every thump. Perhaps if his own heart pumped blood like the wizard's, his would be doing the same. A fraction of the door was already open, not enough to expose what was inside, but so much that it would only take a nudge to fully reveal whatever was waiting for them. 

He wished Sam was there with him, but still he had heard nothing from the angel about his whereabouts. He never returned from his visit with Uriel, and perhaps he was still on his quest for answers. However he just hoped he was safe. That mark on his back made the angel a target, one he bet any skilled angel wouldn't miss. One arrow and Sam was dead. One more visit from the dark assassin and he would be no more. 

"We've been stood here an hour." Theo's annoying voice cut through the silence. At the sound of his complaint, the vampire simply hissed at him with his fangs, a threatening glow to his irises. Cleverly, Theo took a step back and defensively held up his hands, as though he could shield himself from the vampire. Even if he used his magic, Cassius would be able to rip his throat out before he even blinked. 

"I'm assessing the situation," Cassius countered. 

"Well do you wanna assess the situation a little faster? I have other things I could be doing right now." 

Cassius scoffed. "Like what?" 

"Anything but this." Theo finally took the leap of faith that Cassius had been contemplating for the past hour, using his foot to nudge open the entrance to the secret room. The door creaked on its hinges, a groaning sound that went through every vein in their bodies. 

Both of them gaped. "You're kidding," Cassius deadpanned, taking an angry step into what should have been a door to rutting Narnia. Instead, it looked to be an office, smaller than the size of the vampire's bedroom. Even Nick's living room was bigger, and that was saying something. 

It had a few shelves, with about three dusty, old books on each. A pot of black ink sat on the smooth surface of the oak desk, some of it spilled onto a piece of what would have been blank paper, had it not been for the onyx splotches marking it. A simple, matching oak chair was tucked into the work station, an exposed bulb dangling overhead. The room was so damn small that Cassius' head almost touched the ceiling, and he would have had to duck if he hadn't taken off his crown. 

Nick was rather disappointed when Theo came to retrieve it, claiming it would have made a spectacular wedding present for his fiance. And Cassius almost let him keep it. Almost. But for some reason Nick rubbed him the wrong way. 

"Well this is underwhelming. I was expecting some sort of torture chamber," Theo commented, not balking at the menacing glare directed at him. 

"Have you met my father? He wouldn't keep a torture chamber a secret. He delights in knowing that everybody can smell his poor victims. He's fed on humans in council meetings," Cassius said. 

Theo shivered. "No wonder his appearances are rare." 

Another glare. 

"Let's just find the page and leave," Cassius muttered, already beginning to rummage through drawers and shelves for that damned piece of paper he so desperately wanted. His father had clearly gone through a lot of effort to hide it, which only made him want it more. If his father wanted him to leave it alone, he should have framed it and used it as some wall decoration that Cassius would blindly ignore. The way he decorated the manor was hideous anyway.