The Seasons

Chapter 4

Slaine got a call three days later from Neo that his friend had finally turned up. The two had been sitting in the dark red and white lounge room, with Slaine grading some essays and Wing staring at the notebook with the lists he had made. Of course, when Wing heard that, he proceeded to have a meltdown because, oh, f**k. Had he gained an enemy from fantasy creatures he didn’t even know existed until 72 hours ago? So, when Slaine told Wing to get off his ass and follow him, he refused.

This, of course, pissed the vampire off, but f**k, what was Wing meant to do? Happily meet the vampire government person and beg to be spared? Well, no, that would not be happening. Wing had his ego and pride to think about, and begging to live wasn’t his plan. He had been prepared to die rather than beg those people who had taken him in the first place, so there was no way he was begging him.

Slaine didn’t like this, so he stormed out of his house. Wing relaxed in his seat, thinking he had won. So, he turned his attention back to the TV and played his episode of trashy reality TV, which he couldn’t get enough of for some reason.

But when he heard faint footsteps, he froze. He paused his episode again, looked at the door, and caught his reflection in the mirror. He did look better. He didn’t look as dead as he felt. Huh, that must have been a good sign. And after looking in the mirrors in his small room, his body had healed perfectly. Now, the ridiculous healing speed was something he could look forward to, but all of this government s**t, absolutely not.

The door flew open, and Slaine wondered how far Kevin had been when he had heard the mer-man’s footsteps. Kevin was still grumbling something to a blank-looking Slaine.

“Oh, you could at least pretend to be embarrassed,” Kevin snapped as he stared at the short vampire.

“Pass. That’s not how it works.”

Wing frowned. That was not how what worked? But he didn’t get a chance to ask as Kevin stormed over and threw him over his shoulder. He barely had time to reach for the notebook Slaine had graciously given him when asked.

“Oh, come on! You could at least put a shirt on, and ooh, are these scales?” Wing asked, clutching his black moleskin and lightly touching the scales on the dark skin.

“Don’t touch my scales,” Kevin replied. “And I was in the middle of something when Slaine came bargaining in.”

“You could have locked the door,” Wing replied as Kevin carried him out of the room.

“We always lock the door. So Slaine learned to pick the locks, smart little shit.”

“Aww,” Slaine said in a monotone voice. “You think I’m smart.”

“Why are your scales purple and blue?” Wing asked as he tried to make at least himself comfortable on the man’s broad shoulder. He had learned the hard way Kevin was stronger than all of them combined, and the only ones who could beat him were Aether and Luna.

“Because I am purple and blue.”

“But,” Wing said, frowning. “You’re black? No offence.”

“Why would that be offensive?” Now he couldn’t see the mer-man, but he could practically hear the confusion in his voice and the frown on his face.

“Oh, one of my old university friends got offended when I pointed out that we were the same skin tone, and then he was like, ‘You’re calling me black? He was South Asian. He had melanin too!”

Slaine snorted. “Humans are weird about skin colour.”

“But why are your scales blue and purple? Is there like some sort of system? Oh, this one is gold!”

“Gold scales run in the royal blood, and my scales are blue and purple because my tail is.”

Wing didn’t like being upside down anymore, and he let out a little groan. “I promise not to run away, so can you put me on the ground? I feel lightheaded.”

“Vampires don’t get lightheaded,” Slaine deadpanned.

“You would too if you’d been hanging upside down for the last ten minutes.”

Kevin sighed, pausing in the street. “Promise you won’t run?”

“I promise.”

Kevin stopped and roughly dropped Wing on the ground, and the moment his feet were on the ground, he ran away.

Slaine was in front of him in a second, his arms crossed. Wing sighed as he came to an abrupt stop, millimetres away from Slaine, who he towered over. Slaine looked up at him, a scowl on his face. Wing gave him a wry smile. “It was worth a try, right?”

“No. It wasn’t. Kevin!”

Kevin muttered something, he heard Jasper and Atticus’s names, but that was it as he was thrown over the merman’s shoulder again. He sighed. Well, it had been worth a shot, right?

Wing dropped his neck, and he could only see Kevin’s ass. “I like your ass, Kevin,” he said.

Kevin snorted. “If Jasper heard you say that, he would kill you.”

“Slaine would save me.”

Slaine scoffed as the trio continued walking. “No, I wouldn't.”

Wing caught a man and woman giving him strange looks, so he smiled and waved a little. The man, brightly lit by the harsh white streetlamps, gave him the finger before placing his hand on the woman's lower back and urging her on.

“Okay. We’re being looked at weirdly. Can you put me down?”

“No, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Did I say that right, Slaine?”

“Jasper would be proud,” Slaine deadpanned.

Kevin refused to put Wing down the entire walk to The Seasons, even when they arrived at the purple-lit alley where the bar/cafe was. Kevin only put him down when the three were inside, Neo had taken a seat, and Slaine was blocking the door. “Why do I have to sit?”

“He’s tried to run away already once, and I had to get Kevin while he was f*****g to drag him out of the apartment.”

Jem snorted as he drank his drink. “Damn, Jasper must have been pissed.”

Kevin kept his face blank. “You are welcome. Goodbye.”

Wing watched Slaine, and if he timed it right, he could do the same thing as Elizabeth, who would be here one moment and gone the next. The moment the door began opening enough to fit Kevin’s bulky frame, he ran. He groaned as he tripped over Slaine’s extended foot, which he saw a moment too late and fell face-first on the hard floor.

He looked up to see Slaine looking down at him, an unimpressed look on his face. “Neo, drag his ass back.”

Neo sighed as he walked over and picked Wing up by the back of his neck, and dropped him on the couch as he walked by.

“So,” Slaine said, eyeing everyone. “Where is your contact?”

“He’s over there.”

The terror seemed to set in as Wing stared at the body on the couch. He couldn’t see his face, but he knew this would be the man to decide his fate oddly. And he was not prepared to die.

~*~