Cassius fell asleep four hours after Rexton left. It was well past midnight when he finally felt his drowsiness give way to sleep, but in those four hours, he'd been tortured with his panic thoughts. Rexton was on the verge of finding out what exactly had happened that night when the demon had attacked Cassius. The bite and the connection he had with the Third Eye would eventually come to light.
He didn't know what he could do now. After using up all of his energy trying to escape, he was left at a loss.
Asleep, he opened his eyes.
Darkness surrounded him. He could tell right away he was dreaming. The feeling of floating in midair hit him like a tidal wave. Nothing about the darkness or his own thoughts felt real at all. And if he were in the Veil he would have been able to tap into his magic. That was what made it possible for him to communicate with the Veil and the Third Eye in the first place.
His magic was numb in this space. Unlike when he wasn't able to use his magic in reality, this feeling of numbness was buried under a layer of water. He tried to draw it to the surface, but he was met by his own blurry thoughts. They were hazes of the real ones, something he could only see in the distance. He gave up trying after what felt like hours. His body fell slack.
The darkness wasn't as scary as he thought it would be. Perhaps it was because he knew he was dreaming and couldn't be harmed in this place.
He was lowered to the invisible ground. His feet hit the ground and it felt like air pushing against his naked soles. When he looked down, he was wearing a black shirt and black pants but they weren't any he'd seen before. The shirt wasn't cut like the undershirts they made him wear in the military. Instead, it was flowy at the arms and had a slight v neck cut jaggedly at the collar. The pants were flowy as well, giving him a lot of room to move around without being uncomfortable. It wasn't the most practical for fighting.
He looked up from his clothes and looked around. As if waiting for him to look, a light flicked on in the distance. He watched it and then looked behind him. His magic was fading away from his reach, but he still wasn't worried. This was a dream. He didn't need to worry about anything.
He walked towards the light. The first step shocked him. The floor bounced beneath his feet. He looked down and gulped. The ground was an abyss. The longer he looked down the more he felt like throwing up. He took another step, firmer this time, and headed towards the light.
It was a speck no bigger than his thumb. As he drew closer to it, he saw that it was floating in the middle of this darkness. He thought it was curious he was dreaming about something so strange, but his dreams were usually nightmares.
The last true dream he'd had was before he was taken from the HIVE. Dreaming after that had become a curse until he found a way to stop it.
This was the first dream he'd had in years.
The light bobbed up and down. He paused, his hand raised to cover the shining light. Through the space between his fingers, he peeked at it. He stood there, grasping for a reason, but of course, there was none.
"Cassius."
He jerked his head around. The darkness hadn't changed. The voice had come from behind him but it felt like it was closing in around him. He looked up and circled around. The light followed him in every direction.
"Hello?" The soft-spoken question felt like it was being wrenched out from his throat. He didn't sound like himself. It sounded like he was screaming from the depths of an ocean and he was drowning. The sound gurgled up from his lungs.
The pain followed right after. He grabbed his throat. He tried to open his throat to scream, but he couldn't get anything out.
The light drew closer. It shined over his face. From the darkness, it grew bigger, eating away at the abyss that ate at Cassius. He felt trapped.
This wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare.
This was what he'd been afraid of when he used to fall asleep at night. He thought it was over, but now it was all rushing back to him.
But that voice. He'd heard it before.
He gasped. He bent over, hands outstretched. The floor came crashing down on his face. There was no up or down. There was just falling and pain.
Water poured from his mouth, nose, and his ears.
Hands grabbed onto him. The voice came at all directions, whispering his name in a chant. It pierced his eardrums, shooting pain throughout his entire body with each pronounced syllable. He couldn't make out anything else it was saying. There were unknown words thrown in with his name. The words were becoming a blur of things he couldn't comprehend. He wanted to scream his heart out, but the pain caught his breath, It squeezed his insides, wringing him dry of any strength.
The hands were gentle though as frightening as they were. He wiggled and squirmed as the hands tried to keep him from moving. He didn't like this. At first, he thought he could go with the motions until he could make himself wake up. But now he was starting to see that this might not be a dream.
He couldn't tell either way. Right then, he was too worried about the hands and the voice he once thought he could trust. It was doing something to him. He didn't know what but ti really didn't matter.
He kicked out with all his strength, trying to reach for the person behind the hands. The darkness showed him nothing and the light seemed to be only imaginary, not a true source.
Then, the voice was right beside his ear. But it was a different voice. The soft words the other one spoke were washed away. This one was tough, like running nails down thick leather.
"Mukaika."
Cassius looked up at the face looming over him in horror.
There was no time for him to fully comprehend what was happening. He saw its face for the third time. All the other times it visited him it had been hidden by the shadows. It loomed over him. The plains of its face mirroring his own, but there were parts of it that didn't match. There was a sense of repulsion rising from beneath his covered feelings. The face diverged from his own face, from the characteristics that made it obvious that he was a Mekiah. This being was of another world. He'd known that the moment he saw it.
Reality was merging with fantasy. The Veil was trying to force his life into the next. The legends had been true.
It grabbed him. Without any warning, it jerked him forward.
It sunk its teeth into his throat until the ends met his collar bones.
Cassius screamed. The pain shot through him like fire. Through his veins, his blood slowed until he thought he might faint. His eyes drifted to tiny slits. He could barely see the beast's face.
It said something, but his hearing was fading away. He tried to push away from it. The blood ran down his neck, staining his shirt.
He couldn't tell if this was a dream. He couldn't sense anything that could tell him the difference between the real world and this nightmare.
Cassius woke from the nightmare. He sat up in the bed, sweat beading at the top of his head. He swallowed the dry saliva that had pooled at the back of his throat, swiping back his damp hair. He ran his hand down his face. Pushing the pads of his fingers into his eyes, he let out a deep sigh and fell back on the bed. As he stared up at the ceiling, he thought how strange it was that he was laying here, where Rexton would have slept. he shouldn't have thought about it. It wasn't right for him to do so, but there was no use in fighting against his own thoughts. There wasn't anything he could do about them except to accept that he was tormented by his own crush.
He blinked. Almost horrified by his own confession, he tried to reason once more with himself.
He didn't like Rexton. Having a crush made it seem like he wanted to be with Rexton. Like they could ever have a stable relationship. They barely talked without the outside world affecting their conversation.
He groaned and turned on his side. He grabbed the pillow from under his head and pulled it close to him.
As much as he tried, he couldn't get Rexton out of his head. Or the demon from his dreams.
***
There was a knock to the door.
Cassius finished the last button on his uniform jacket. He didn't have to move when the door opened. A guard stepped into the room. She was a tall woman with black sleek hair pulled back in a high ponytail. His eyes fell onto her hand. She was holding his leash.
He turned toward her. By the look on her face, she wasn't here to start trouble like most of the guards liked to. To Cassius, she seemed like the type who was here to clock in and clock out. There wasn't much to it except serving her time to provide for her family.
He didn't know much about the Remu outside the military and what he was vaguely taught when he first came to the military base. Those years were far behind him. Most of the information that didn't matter for everyday use just faded away.
She stepped forward. He let her get close to her to snap the leash around his neck. The collar bit into his throat, too tight for comfort, but this for keeping him tied down, not for comfort.
She gave a small tug. He clenched his jaw. His teeth bit into his bottom lip. His tongue pressed to the side of his cheek as he tried to bite down the curse on the tip of his tongue.
There was a knowing look on her face. The small smirk tugging her lips made him want to roll his eyes, but he was trying to overcome that side of him. He needed to be serious and be taken seriously. Rexton was starting to think they could be buddies. He needed Rexton to be afraid of him.
She led him out of the room, down the halls of the base, and toward the docking area. He only knew this was the flight area because it looked almost identical to the layout of Parlera's base. The only difference was the emblem placed on the doors and the people guarding them.
He made it a habit to analyze each hallway they passed. Who was there, what access was needed. They were small details that he stored in the back of his mind in case he would ever need them. He was slowly building up all the intel he'd lost when he was transferred to Keshtin.
Though it seemed like a lost cause as of late, he was passed the point of feeling sorry for himself. He had to grow up. That time was now.
They stopped in front of a large set of metal sliding doors. She scanned her keycard and they stepped through.
The doors opened up to a metal facility with only one thing at the center of it.
A jet.
"Good. You're on time."
Cassius turned with the female guard.
General Rexton, followed by Levi, Kera, and Mattius, stood, not in his regular general's uniform, but it a sleek army suit that fitted even more firmly to his silhouette. His hair was held back by a black headband, almost unnoticeable, but it was the first thing Cassius had picked out.
He looked younger. Like he'd de-aged five years.
It was almost unsettling.
Rexton nodded to the woman. "Thank you, Commander Leo."
Leo gave a short nod to Rexton and handed over the leash. Rexton took it, his eyes now on Cassius. Cassius stared back.
Commander Leo left the facility, leaving Cassius with his new SWARM. He glanced around as Rexton began to speak.
"We're leaving to Unikar. All the information on the case is in this file."
Kera handed out black manila folders. Keshtin's insignia was stamped into the front in silver foil. She shoved the folder into Cassius's hands. He took it, staring after her as she fell back into line. The look she sent him could have fried him alive. Thankfully, she had control over her magic.
"Cassius will be leading us. Levi and Kera will safeguard," Rexton said. He walked toward the jet, pulling Cassius along and leading the others. "Mattius, I want you to head to the second location with me."
Cassius flipped the file open. Attached to the top was their first location. It was an abandoned apartment building. The magic tracings left behind were a definite match for the ones left behind by the demon. He turned the page, skipping all the graphs and data sampled from the site, and landed on the second location.
He almost tripped when he saw the image.
"Parlera?"
Rexton turned to him. His eyes flickered over Cassius's face. Then he looked back at the others and continued to walk toward the jet.
"We'll be following standard protocol. I don't want anyone going rogue. That means you Mattius."
Mattius snorted.
Rexton ignored him. The door of the jet opened. Two guards stepped out. Rexton acknowledged them with his signature nod. The stairs leading up to the door of the jet was only wide enough for one person and the platform at the top could just barely fit the two guards. Rexton led the way while Cassius had to follow him. Levi walked behind Cassius way too close for comfort. Cassius could almost feel him brushing against his back.
The inside of the jet was spacious and more polish than any of the jets Iza had been issued.
There were two rows of white leather seats facing one another. Behind that were two separate chairs turned toward a brown wood table. Mountain on the far wall was a large flat screen television.
Cassius looked behind him. To the left was the door which they entered. To the right was the bathroom and straight ahead was the entrance to the cockpit.
The inside of this jet was more extravagant than the entire base in Parlera. This kind of wealth was only something the highest of Exterus could possess.
As if knowing what Cassius was thinking, Rexton gave him the sliest look Cassius had ever seen. On anyone. Period.
His bewildered look slipped through his mask and an annoying smirk spread over Rexton's face. No one else saw it which made it only worse. He turned away from him, hating how much he could get away with while Cassius had to sit back and just deal with it.
The inside of the jet was spacious enough for them to wander without bumping into each other. Kera sat down beside one of the window seats and Levi slid next to here though she was giving him the side eye. Mattius went towards the back to the leather chairs.
The only seats left were the two seats opposite Kera and Levi and the seat next to Mattius.
Rexton waved Cassius forward. Cassius rolled his eyes at Rexton's smile and sat down. Kera looked up at him from under her eyelashes. She shook her head and went back to accessing the file.
"They found traces of VEB and DE at the first location. Only DE was found in Parlera." Levi leaned over Kera's shoulder to see what she was looking at. She swatted up and pointed to his own folder. He flipped it open.
Cassius went back to the first location. The data section listed what was positively found and others that couldn't be identified.
"What's DE again?" He knew VEB was a variation of the Mekiah magic strand. Otherwise known as DNA. It would make sense if the Mekiah from his other mission was running with a demon.
"Demon Energy," Rexton said. He pointed to the graph attached to the bottom of Cassius's file. "The same found in the hotel. Look at the next page. Tell me what you see."
Cassius glanced up. Their eyes met. He couldn't help it when his eyes fell to Rexton's lips. His face burned as he did as he was told, turning to the next page.
The graph was almost identical. But the data at the end showed a large spike.
His eyes widened. "The Veil..."
He sat forward to get a better look at the page. "It's jumping between the Veil."
Levi's jaw dropped. "Like, actually jumping?"
"Will we be able to catch it? That much magic is a call for more than one SWARM." Kera looked to Rexton.
Cassius thumbed at the page, still not sure what to make of the new discovery. The thing about jumping in and out of the Veil was that it was impossible without being fried alive. Mekiah and Exterus had limited amounts of magic. Though Mekiah were born with more resistance to the Veil's power, even Cassius wouldn't be able to do it now with the Enhancer strapped to his wrist.
His hand shook. The page rattled. He let go, closing the file, and leaned back in the seat.
Rextion unlatched the leash and folded it onto his lap. "We won't need backup."
"Sir," Kera said, "I like to believe we're tough enough for this, but with a new Tracker, we'll be susceptible."
"There won't be anything to worry about."
Cassius slid down in his seat. He covered his face with his hands. He had a bad feeling about this.
When he removed his hands, all three of his SWARM members were looking at him.
"Cassius will be going after the demon."
That was what he'd been fearing.
He thought maybe he could get away with capturing the Mekiah, the one he let go back at the hotel.
No. Instead, he was faced with tracking down a demon who was strong enough to jump through the folds of the Veil without a bruise.
He was fucking screwed.