"Pete…" June whispered his brother's name, but this time, he couldn't even see a face that would roll its eyes at him. He didn't even care that his arms were severed from the teeth of the demons that acted at the last minute. "Pete, I…"
"June." Lantis's voice came to his ears as the demon grabbed onto him from the front. He caught June by the waist and entered an invisible state. The police had broken into the floor and were racing to the source of the gunshots. The demon dropped the head from his hand before he took June away.
In the blink of an eye, the two extra people were gone. The silver Audi also disappeared from where Lantis parked it. Footsteps echoed in the hallway, and soon they saw the strange scene. There was a man on the floor with a severed head, and there were guns around his body. It's just that… they also saw pieces of the gunmen that exploded.
However, there was no blood pool underneath all of them. In all the hallways of the building, this place was the cleanest as if someone had drank all the blood.
"…what the shit happened here…?" The captain of the SWAT squad whispered. He then picked up a finger from the nearest gun to his foot. "This… clearly isn't the patient's finger."
…
Crash! June crashed into the bathtub and soaked his torso in the cold water that the maid demon had drawn. As soon as Lantis reached the bathroom, the demon let go of June who was thrashing in his arms. The actor dipped himself into the water that was quickly dyed with his blood—from his severed arms and his face that bathed in the red fluid of three different people.
The cold stung him, but he just screamed into the water, uncaring if he somewhat drowned from what he did. If he had hands, he would have been clawing at a lot of things, even at his face. When he was done pounding the tub with his elbows, he slid down outside the tub. June never felt so drained and exhausted.
His entire body continued to shake from the cold water that kissed his upper half and dripped all over him. Blood also came out from the wounds, making him more and more lightheaded. June leaned his forehead at the side of the tub. "Lucirien… why…? Why did they have to drag Pete into this? I was the one they were after… I was the one they were after…"
"…I apologize, June. It's just the way it is for us demons." The grand demon only looked down at the mess that June was becoming. "The little ones had backed off when I was there. However, it seemed that someone dared to interfere—"
"Dared to interfere? Cut the superior bullshit. You still talk like your very involvement means anything to them." June laughed, even to the point that his body shook with it. "Can't you see that you had already lost your standing among those monstrous ones in the city? They don't care about you anymore. Dared to interfere… hahaha, they were never scared of you…"
Lucirien's blood-red eyes glinted in rage, and his hand reached out at June's puny human image. In a reflex, he would have killed this insolent human, this man who couldn't see how powerful a grand demon was. In a snap, Lucirien could turn him into splatters on the wall. All he needed was to think of it, and Neptune Verrier would be no more.
However, his hand only trembled. He brought it down and looked away from the pitiful human. His eyes were cast on the two demons in the unit, both heads poking from the open door of the bathroom. Lantis then looked back at the human squirming against the bathtub, breaking down into a laughing spree. "Neptune Verrier, I don't take lightly of insults."
"What you gonna do about it?" June even dared to move his head and grin in mockery. "You going to kill me, Lucirien? At the very least, you're a demon, right?"
"Your hunger had consumed you fully. Take the next days off." Lantis looked away, unable to continue gazing at the eyes of the man stricken with insanity. "I will reconnect your arms—"
"Aren't these perfect?" June leaned his head on the rim of the tub again. He looked down at the bleeding elbows as if he would not die from the wound. "This is the complete epitome of what we are! We can't help things… we have no hands to control things! We think we can… if we glare hard enough!"
Lantis flipped his coat to the side as he kneeled down and grabbed June's face. He was going to knock the actor out to keep him from talking, but the other readily opened his mouth and bit down on his hand. Not that it was painful to Lantis, but he still saw how hard June's teeth gripped his skin. It was as if biting down on it was how the actor continued to take out his anger at the demon.
At this, the demon looked down at the human some more. His glaring eyes grew softer as if he was seeing something else. Lantis released June's face, but the other was only biting down on the hand. Blood drew from Lantis's physical human form, and June just let it drip into his teeth and down his chin.
"June… I'm sorry…" This was not part of Lucirien's vocabulary, but he couldn't help but say it again. "It was my oversight. I… I must have indeed overestimated myself."
"…I'm sorry…" June moved his mouth off of the demon weakly. He then curled down from where he sat. "I said some bad shit… I'm sorry… I even forgot that I wouldn't be here without you. It was a thousand years of forced service. The fuck did I have the right to say those words to you…? So fucking ungrateful… I can't believe myself…"
June sniffed and rubbed his eyes with what remained of his arm. "I'm sorry. I'm just… very upset. We almost had him… I already had him in my hands…"
Even if the bathroom floor was cold and wet due to the pooling water, Lantis sat down in front of June. He made the arms appear out of thin air and started cleaning June's wound with soap and water. Both of their expensive pieces were soaked in water and blood, but they were more concerned with getting the arms properly reconnected.
June used his newly reconnected arm to rub his nose. "Aren't you mad at me? I said things that I shouldn't have. I can't say I don't mean them, but they came out too harsh and without me thinking about how it sounded to you. It's inexcusable. I'm sorry…"
"If I were to be honest, I could have killed you for those words…" Lantis only sighed as he caressed the arm that he just fixed. It still felt so tender from where it was reconnected. When he squeezed the area, June would even wince. "I chose not to. Not only did you speak of the truth, but I have also seen this event as my fault. Perhaps, I have indeed forgotten that even the other grand demons tend to forget.
"June, let me make it up to you for this." Lantis brought the hand to his mouth, June's knuckles brushing against the demon's lips. "They will never take something away from you again. Else, I will vanish from the two realms where I exist."
"…Lucirien…" June only watched his actions with puffy eyes. "You're far too weak. They will only take advantage of that… how can I help you regain your power? I'll do anything. Just be the grand demon that you are again… else, my mom might be the one dying on me next."