Chapter 170: Exposed (3)
Madeline watched in horror as Alaric stepped back, raising his hand as a sign for his guards to get Cassian, but the young lad seemed unfazed as he stared at Alaric with his crimson eyes - the same color of eyes that reminded the young King of the sight of blood, and it was a look he greatly detested.
But then something strange happened.
Madeline thought she saw Cassian’s eyes soften, his fangs receding as he concentrated on calming himself. It was as if a switch had been flipped, and suddenly he was just a man again.
"Cassian."
Alaric seemed just as surprised as Madeline, but he didn’t let his guard down. He was still having trouble believing that Cassian was one of those things that abducted his people, but what he had witnessed with his own eyes makes it difficult for him to deny it.
"I always suspected there was more to you." He said, his voice low and wary as his expression turned stoic. "But this changes everything." His tone was firm and clear in the quiet hallway, and one couldn’t guess what exactly his thought would be.
Cassian only shrugged at his remark, his heavy eyes flickering over to Madeline once more, looking more relieved she was unharmed.
"I had to protect her," he said simply.
Those simple words made guilt take over, and the tears she struggled to keep intact spilled from her eyes, but then she seized in her crying when she heard Alaric’s order.
"Take him." He said to the guards who reached for Cassian. Luckily for Elian, he had turned human before Alaric showed up.
"T...take him to where?" Madeline asked when the guards reached to take Cassian away from her, but she refused to let him go.