An attempt had been made on her life as soon as Cass left the fucking capital.
Cass was livid to hear about it, especially since Cass had gone into heat shortly after and she hadn’t tried to contact him before or even explained to Sam what was going on. Sam was shocked to hear it, as was Byron, which told Cass that they truly had kept them in the dark.
That was when his Aunt explained why.
It had nothing to do with Cass, and everything to do with the humans who had attempted to harm them. She was pissed, of course, but if she hadn’t moved to Cass’ manor things would be worse. They would have confined her and her people to the palace under the guise of ’protection’ and would have either killed them off quietly or monitored them.
They would have said it was an assassin, but they knew the truth. It was also foolish that they thought it would kill them, and Cass was in complete agreement when he heard her laugh on the other line.
Dark, dangerous. They had only dealt with Cass’ mother before, they had no idea what fairies were. His mother had been a polite, calm fairy. She had been trying to cozy herself up nice and close to a couple of humans to get married, get pregnant, and make her deal. She had no reason to be mean.
His Aunt, however, had every reason to burn the place to the ground, besides one. Her daughter was pregnant, and her health came first and foremost.
Now Cass felt like an asshole for delaying the planting of the nursery tree. He didn’t think it was something as easy as transferring a pregnancy to another tree, especially one that would be so weak, but it was a bitter thought in the back of his mind. He even asked her, after apologising that he hadn’t planted the branch yet and why he hadn’t, and Aunt Alysora confirmed that it wasn’t possible.
Transferring couldn’t happen, not until after the baby was born. They were stuck here until Ailia gave birth, and that made all the fairies around the orb on her part growl. Cass was actually impressed with how they were holding up, and he slid his gaze to Byron.
"Do you want me to send Byron? He might not be as big as Lucian when it comes to size, but he’s still a dragon, and a fairy. If they realise who they are fucking with, they might back off." Cass suggested and Byron narrowed his gaze. He seemed delighted to be of use.
Aunt Alysora wasn’t of the same mind. She didn’t want to scare them with the power of a beast they knew was dangerous. They wanted the humans to realise that they let the monster in. They were slowly sinking their roots into the foundation of what they had built and they would topple this place on their own.
They were just...currently housebound, but that was fine. There was a lot that they could do. Trees spread their seeds far and wide through the wind, and that was just what they were at the moment. A tree gathering strength and nutrients.
Speaking of, the trees were thriving after the offering that Cass had made. The nursery tree was doing quite well, and that led them onto the conversation of what Cass had just done. They eventually got to the main reason why she had called. The fairies.
They were all eager to work for Cass, wanting to be near not only Cassian, the fairy prince who had survived in a city without living with a nursery tree, but also Cassian, the impossible being and hero chosen, magic wielding speaker for the trees.
Hearing how they described Cass only made the man turn bright fucking red. What the fuck kind of description was that? Sam was delighted, as was Edgar. He could feel a new nickname brewing, but he cut it off before they could even get it out.
Cass would have to get back to her tomorrow after they assessed the damage that was left behind by his words tonight. She was completely fine with that, but Cass was able to give her a few rough estimates since they were still working with a rather barebones crew after the first mass exodus after he fed the nursery tree. It would only go higher than that, and he also let her know he was planning to hire a couple more people from the town as well.
He liked supporting the local town, and they liked him more when he did that too.
That back and forth lasted about ten minutes, before she asked the pressing question. Had the red dragon arrived yet?
The pause was heavy, tense. Cass let out a slow, measured breath before he answered in the negative. His Aunt tried to cheer him up, letting him know that shedding was a difficult process, but he was probably on his way back as they spoke. Cass nodded, knowing that she was right, but he was anxious to have him back.
Cass had been fine before now, able to think of him fondly because he knew that he was coming back. Lucian had said he would be, but what if...something happened? It wasn’t like all of the dragons were gone and Cass had gone out of his way not to know more about the dragon for his own sanity. Now he was kicking himself for being so stupid.
If he had asked him more questions, gotten to know him better on a personal level, he might not feel this anxious right now. He might not be worried that some damn dragon hunters had snuck into his den, or hell, worse, another dragon with a bone to pick. A shiver went down Cass’ spine.
If there was a next time, Cass was pretty sure Lucian would have to beat him off with a stick so that Cass wouldn’t go with him. Realising that, coming to terms with that thought, shocked Cass. The worst part that settled deep into Cass’ bones?
The thought, the feeling, it wasn’t borne from just Cassian’s feelings. It was from them both. Their joint feelings for Lucian screamed that he wasn’t about to suffer through a shed alone ever again. Not if Cass was alive.
His Aunt shook him out of his deep, serious thoughts by asking him about how his heat went.
His serious thoughts about Lucian shifted as he felt his face warm.
"Uh, it went...well." Cass mumbled, embarrassed, and glad that she couldn’t see him right now. She would be able to see the marks on him and Edgar and he could just imagine how she would rib them both.
From the way she laughed over their orb connection, she had a feeling about it already.
"Good. Is Edgar able to walk?" Edgar gasped, Cass gasped, and Byron burst into laughter.
"We’re all able to walk." Cass declared, his face warm and she chuckled.
"I worried you were going to push him too far." She told him and Cass growled.
"You worried I was going to push them too far? What about me? You have no idea how-" Cass cut himself off to the disappointed booing from the fairies on the other side. It had been a damn trap. They had been trying to get more information from him about what had happened during his heat. His face burned.
"Awe. He caught on too soon. I knew we should have been a little more subtle." She joked while Cass glared at the damn orb.
"I’ll cut this call if you aren’t nice to me." Cass warned and a chorus of pleas came from the other side. Cass frowned, but it flickered between a frown and a smile. This felt...good. Fulfilling, even if he was annoyed. Edgar who was also an active participant leaned in, stage whispering.
"You should see his thighs." The explosion that came from the other side of the orb as Edgar grinned, satisfied. Cass was appalled that he’d given them any information, but Edgar winked at him. "Also, Cass has to wear sunglasses now. More of his traits are appearing, but he’s still cute so it doesn’t matter." Cass crossed his arms, his face burning.
"Edgar." He warned and Edgar stuck his tongue out at him.
"What? They’re your family, and they care about you. They should know a couple of things about you, and I would argue that knowing that your body is continuing to change while you’re feeding is important. I would like to know if our roles were reversed, and since they can’t come visit you right now, this is important." Edgar shrugged. "So what if a little bit of it is embarrassing. I fully expect you to tell them embarrassing things about me too, Bunny." Cass scowled without any heat at Edgar.
He was right, and that annoyed him more.
"You didn’t have to tell them about my thighs, though." Cass complained and Edgar blinked.
"But that’s what I’m most proud about. A shame that my skin bounces back so quickly. I would have proudly worn-"
"Edgar Vespertine!" Cass bellowed, a little of Cassian peeking out. Edgar blinked, Sam blinked, and Cass felt even more embarrassed. Edgar pulled him in, laughing as he hugged the stubborn, horrified, fairy.
"Oh, you’re so cute, Bunny." Edgar teased, squeezing him. Cass had no words to say in the face of the handsome man hugging him, even teasing him and playing with his family that cared about him and showed that they cared about him.
"Fuck you." Cass mumbled and Edgar laughed harder.
"Absolutely." The man answered and Cass wanted to squeal.
Thankfully, Ailia was the one who took over after that, asking if she could speak to Sir Deacon for a few moments. Cass said that he was busy, but Sam rushed off to see if he had a few moments to spare.
Thankfully, the man was coming back to the office for a moment of rest and Cass, Edgar and Sam stepped out of the room to give the two friends a moment to chat. Cass caught a glimpse of the smile that was crossing Sir Forsythe’s face as he spoke to his friend and Cass’ chest tightened.
It was a good thing for him. He needed people who he could also rely on, and to see him that excited to hear from Ailia? Cass would need to send him to the capital for a mini vacation soon, for his own sanity.
If his friends couldn’t move, he could move for them. That seemed reasonable to Cass.
The end of the day brought no news of Lucian, but that manor was in chaos. Cass and the owners of the manor went to bed, knowing that in the morning things would be different. Gideon offered to stay up, but Byron and Sam said that they would have it handled.
The humans should get their rest, and Cass and Edgar had already done enough. Edgar wanted to protest that he hadn’t really done anything, but Sam stared at him.
He had, because he had taken the load off of Cass’ shoulders, stepped into the role that was meant for Fiona with ease, and that was enough. He was doing a great job, also helping Sam manage the schedule and running the house. Cass hadn’t known that, and with Sam revealing that, Edgar was embarrassed too.
So, the trio was sent to bed, and after a bit of chatter, they did just that. Everyone was hoping when they woke up that the house would feel a little fuller.