The Seasons

Chapter 45

After another hour of contemplating, Blue sent everyone home with instructions not to do too much in case they accidentally triggered the prophecy. Of course, Jem had loved this idea, but Wing not so much. How did he know what too much was?

Could he have his daily scheduled meltdown? Could he go to uni? Could he catch up with his work? Or was he expected to sit in the lounge room, staring blankly as the minutes slowly ticked away on the giant clock?

Cairo handed him a bag of blood, and he crashed on the couch beside him, adjusting his grey shirt. “What are you thinking about?” he asked as Wing used the metal straw to pierce the bag and drink from it like a juice box.

“How much is too much,” he replied after a minute.

Cairo let out a little laugh. “I wouldn’t worry too much about the prophecy; Wing, Neo, and I are old friends. And I’m sure Blue and the rest will figure something out.”

“What if they don’t? What if I die?”

Cairo sighed as he ran a hand through Wing’s dark hair, and as much as he hated to admit it, he leaned into the cool palm. Cairo didn’t remove his hand from his hair as he began fiddling with a strand, and Wing didn’t ask him to. Instead, as he sighed, he slid down the couch so it wasn’t too painful for Cairo.

“Wing, you were human when this happened, but there was a curse, and it should have happened five years ago. If it had come to fruition, Jem, Grey and Slaine would be dead, and so would Levi, but he’s irrelevant. The point is, if they managed to break a curse that had taken the lives of so many others, they could surely c***k this. I know it’s scary, but we will all come out of this alive.”

Wing nodded as he rested his head on Cairo’s lap and stared at the table. He was glad he no longer blushed. Otherwise, he would have been bright red. Indeed, this was as Thorne had said, and he had simply ‘imprinted’ on Cairo because there was no way, not while he was in the middle of a huge life or death situation, he had managed to catch feelings for the man.

Sure, he was attractive, incredibly so and always looked out for Wing, but that had to be because he had always wanted someone to help him feel safe and comforted, and Cairo had, so he was confusing the two. Not to mention, Thorne would absolutely beat his ass for somehow having feelings for his father.

Cairo played Supernatural, and the Wing made himself comfortable adjusting as the older man grabbed the blanket and placed it on his lower body. The two silently watched the Winchester brothers take names and kick ass.

Almost four hours later, Cairo’s phone rang, jolting Wing awake as Cairo gave him an apologetic smile and answered.

“Hey, a body was found. It was a male fae.”

Wing swallowed as he played with the hem of the blanket. “How’d he pass?”

“Disembolement, and they took his womb out. His hair was cut. He had a word carved onto his leg. Iustitia. Any idea what it means?”

Cairo hung up and gently nudged Wing to get off of him; Wing stared at him as Cairo ran a hand through his hair before groaning. He whispered a silent f**k as he stared at the black flooring.

“Did he just say that a man had his womb removed?”

“Fae have the ability to give birth, male or female. Wombs are precious to them. Life is precious to them, and since the womb creates life, a hysterectomy is horrible and practically shunned by the fae. And hair is precious to them; it represents their power.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need the apologies; I need them to do the one task I asked them for, the whole reason I came here. They said they would help me find the group, or Iustita, as they seemed to call themselves. I need help. That is why I came.”

“We are trying, but we are going off on what we have so far, and not much for this group. But we do have the prophecy and are following that, and when we get more information on the group, we’ll go after them too. We tried the ditch I was found in; you were with us when we went to the four abandoned warehouses, and you saw nothing there.”

“How many more people need to die before we manage to find them?” he whispered, and Wing stared at him, leaning in and hugging him.

Cairo tensed before sighing and relaxing a little. “Not many more, I hope. We will find them soon.”

“I’m sleeping with you tonight,” came the muffled reply.

“Of course,” Wing replied, holding him close.

The two turned the TV off and went to Wing’s room. After settling for the night, Wing stared at the ceiling, hyperaware of Cairo.

It happened one night. Cairo had been drunk, and when Wing had woken up the following day, Cairo had been fast asleep next to him. He had apologised profusely the following day, and Wing hadn’t minded; it was the first time he had slept beside someone who wasn’t Thorne, so he didn’t care. So, occasionally, he would fall asleep alone and wake up to Cairo’s face in the morning, and he didn’t seem to mind at all.

Cairo mumbled something, shifting as he threw his arm over Wing’ wasit, essentially trapping him, not that he minded. He snuggled into Cairo, and he soon drifted off to sleep.

~*~