The Seasons

Chapter 26

As Cairo walked behind Rex Superno through the large black doors into the main foyer of the building, dread crept up through his bones, but he ignored it as he walked with his shoulders back and head held high. He scanned his surroundings, and nothing had changed.

A large blood-red chandelier hung in the middle, with black walls and grey flooring. A sizeable curved black and red marble reception area was in the middle, manned by a short, dark-skinned fae and a broader werewolf, with black sofas on either side as the waiting area. Large windows were often left covered due to the presence of vampires, but since they were not around then, they let in the summer sunshine and the heat. The two at the reception counter bowed their heads as Rex Superno and Cairo walked past them down one of many long corridors. They took the lift to the sixth floor, Rex's residence, and he tensed but said nothing as they stepped out into the penthouse.

Much like the interior of the bottom floors, the walls were also black with grey wooden flooring and dark wood-toned furniture with hints of red.

“So,” Rex said as he walked to the kitchen and poured himself some scotch. “What do you have?”

“Not much yet, sir. I have only been there for a month. They know about the Iustitia, but their private matters kept getting in the way of them searching further into it. They do not know that I am there on your behalf, they believe I have gone behind your back just as you requested.”

“Tell me about the vampire with purple eyes and Chaos’s blessing.”

Cairo tensed. How did Rex know about Slaine having the blessing? He didn’t even know until a couple of days ago. He had been pestering Blue into telling him, and they gave up and told him to get him to back off.

“I don’t know much about him. I know that he turned Wing and that the one who turned him, someone called Levi, who was the cursed vampire, had a relationship and after breaking the curse, he left.” Cairo tensed as he stared at Rex, who had taken a seat on the black leather sofa, and he stood off to the side.

“I see,” he said, swirling the drink in his cup before siping. “So, why does someone like that have a primordial god’s blessing? Call Natalie in, tell her I want her to find everything about Slaine, and I want it on my desk by tomorrow.”

“Yes sir, is that all?”

Rex Superno narrowed his dark eyes on Cairo, who tried not to tense up as he kept his face blank. “I sent you there so you could spend time with your son, Cairo. I want you to remember how easy it is for me to break him.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Have any of them questioned Iustitia?”

“No, sir. As I said, they haven’t gotten very far into the investigation. So far, they have all seen the files I brought with me.”

“I see,” Rex said as he stared at Cairo. “One day, we will no longer have to cower in the shadows; you see this, don’t you, Cairo? Humans and Entia will be able to live together; that is all I want. Vampires could go out in the sun with umbrellas to protect them from the sunshine and humans won’t see them as odd. Once the humans learn of the fae inhabiting the woodlands, they will no longer cut them down. We’d be helping them too, don’t you think? We’ve seen the state the world is in right now. The Merpeople are losing more and more water due to plastic every day. Once they learn of them, merfolk could help clean the oceans. I agree, some bloodshed is occurring right now, but we both know how vindictive some creatures are, but if we had their best abilities all morphed into one being, we’d be helping everyone, don’t you think?”

“Yes, sir.”

“There is a meeting tomorrow, meeting room six, floor six, at six pm, don’t be late.”

“Of course, sir. Is that all?”

“Yes. Make sure to remind Natalie.”

“Of course, goodbye sir.”

Cairo was dismissed, and he stopped by the fifth floor to find Natalie in her office. He knocked on her door and heard her faint ‘come in’. He smiled as he walked in, and Natalie smiled as she stood up; she was wearing a dark green suit, her blonde hair tied up, and she walked over, wrapping her arms around him. “Oh, Cairo,” she said as she pulled away. “How have you been? How is Thorne?”

He shrugged as he took a step back. “He still hates me, so I’d say swell. And he kept slagging me off to his best friend, which wasn’t fun.”

“Why to his best friend?”

“It’s a long story, really. But how have you been?”

She rolled her eyes as she groaned. “I swear, when you weren’t here, Rex Superno had a stick up his ass more than usual.”

Cairo exhaled; he was exhausted, it was almost four in the morning, and he knew Natalie didn’t need sleep as she was elven and only needed four hours of sleep to function. Still, he was a wolf and sleepy, so he bid his goodbyes to her and went to the west wing where certain workers of Rex Superno lived.

He slid his card through the scanner, and the black double doors beeped open. The hallways were lined with black doors, which blended in with the black walls. The only tell-tale signs of the doors were the red door knobs and the small number on the doors; he walked down the corridor void of decorations and stopped at his door. Number, 001.

He sighed as he scanned his card once again over the doorknob, and he heard the faint click of it open; he slipped inside, and the first thing he did was check for any cameras or microphones, and when his search came up clear, he slipped into the black and grey bathroom. One clean, he changed into some sweatpants and climbed into his bed.

Even if he didn’t miss this place, the bed was terrific. He shuffled around, trying to get comfortable, knowing how tired he was. Yet he stared up at the ceiling as if sleep would not come. He stared at his room, hoping the familiarity of it would help him drift off easier, and yet it didn't. The room was too quiet; it seemed like he had gotten used to sleeping in the apartment, hearing Wing walking around, muttering to himself.

He stared at the black wooden desk pushed underneath the window with the pc and stacks of paper. The small black shelf with some misc books on it and some odd knick nacks, the large dark red rug or the small black couch pressed against the corner or perhaps the closet, but he still found himself wide awake.

Cairo scowled as he threw the duvet back and decided he would tire his body out, so he worked out. Five minutes turned into ten which turned into fifteen. And almost an hour later, when he could no longer feel his muscles, he wiped the sweat off and fell into a deep sleep instead of showering again.

~*~