Chapter Ten

"How are you doing that?"

Sayge looked up from her work to see a concerned Mehrcy. Under her hands was Ahnger's left arm. The male was still unconscious and cuffed to the bed in case he woke up. It would be a while considering how long Jane and Manny had been working on him. They said they pulled out at least eleven bullets out of him and were shocked he was still alive. Either way, Ahnger wouldn't be waking up any time soon. The time gave Sayge plenty of times to reset her seals and heal the male's arms.

Turning her gaze back at her work, Sayge ran her fingers over the seals which followed every move. They weren't gold like the day she set them or black because of the lack of darkness. The color was a dull gold with faint flecks of gold over the design. As Sayge recreated the seals, the burn marks on Ahnger's arms slowly healed.

"These marks were made from my seals," she said. "Anything inflicted by my seals I can fix. I wouldn't have to do it if he hadn't pushed them so far. Your son can be a major pain in the ass."

"Sounds like you know him."

"Hardly. If you want any questions answered ask Adam. All I know is that he can be stubborn and very unpredictable."

"How unpredictable?"

Sayge paused for a second. "He wouldn't let me go up to the attic to clean it out," she pouted.

Mehrcy pulled up a chair next to Sayge. She had just finished resetting the seals around his forearm and was healing whatever burns were left when the male sat next to her. Sayge was spending so much time on healing Ahnger's arm that she knew the sun would be high in the air by the time she was halfway done with his other arm.

"He wouldn't let you go in the attic?" From the way how Mehrcy said it, it almost sounded like he was curious about the son who tried to kill him countless times.

"Long story and one I'm not ready to share."

Tracing her fingers around Ahnger's wrists, the seals glided over to her fingertips as well as the burn marks. The more Sayge dragged her finger around the burns, the faster they seemed to disappear. Keeping on hand on the burns and the other on his wrist, both of the burns and the seals shrunk until all was left was slightly red skin and the seals back around the wrist.

Taking her chair and walking around to the other side of the bed, Sayge rolled up Ahnger's sleeve to see what the damage looked like. The more she saw, the more she regretted how far her seals went to burning Ahnger. Even Mehrcy grimaced when he saw the damage. Just like his other arm, this one held so much third degree burns that it was a miracle Ahnger's flesh was still on his bones.

Sayge got to work on the seals. Starting up around his neck since the seals were on his back, she traced her fingers over his skin and the seals from behind started to flow towards her. The burns around his shoulder seemed to take a bit longer to heal so she traced her fingers around the edge of it until it slowly obeyed her commands. Mehrcy watched carefully as the burn began to heal and the seal flowed down Ahnger's shoulder to his arm.

As Sayge started making her way down to Ahnger's forearm, the door opened and Adam came in with two folded blankets in his arms and Vegas darting around his legs. The dog ran past the male until he was next to Sayge. Vegas sat down with a wagging tail like he was expecting Ahnger to get up and play with him. He even whined when it didn't happen.

"Cute dog."

"He's not mine."

Mehrcy looked over his shoulder at Adam who was setting up a bed. "Do not look at me," he said turning around.

"Vegas's is Ahnger's dog," spoke Sayge.

"What?"

"Don't ask me. Adam's your guy."

"And I do not think Ahnger will like it if I told you."

Sayge looked up from her work. "You're still scared he might kill your or something when he finds out about the truck?"

"Aye."

Shaking her head, Sayge was about to look at her work when she noticed Mehrcy was quiet. Clearly the male was listening to everything they were saying. Hearing his son had a dog and might kill his friend over a truck the Brotherhood toed seemed beyond strange. Sayge knew the male had been hunting his son for some time and never expected Ahnger to hold any attachments to anything. She knew little about the battles between Ahnger and the Brotherhood four months ago since the Scribe Virgin didn't tell her. All Sayge knew was that the Brothers figured out Adam was Ahnger's friend and that was it.

While Adam was setting one of the beds, Mehrcy stood up and looked down at his son. Sayge got the feeling the male was feeling conflicted. He got his son back but he was still a threat. A threat that could kill the Brotherhood if he ever got the chance.

Some family reunion.

"The king wants to see him when he wakes up," he said.

"Well, the king's going to have to wait for a while. Ahnger's going to be out for a couple of days or so and will need to feed when he wakes up. These seals took their toll on him so he will be weak. I'm pretty sure the Brotherhood can call up a Chosen."

Mehrcy quirked an eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like that!"

If Mehrcy thought she was the one who fed his son, he was dead wrong.

After the male left for Sayge to continue her seals in peace, Adam dropped the blanket he was holding. Vegas jumped from being startled and snarled at him. Figuring he wanted to say something, Sayge looked at the male in time to see him unraveling the blanket to reveal a small bag. As he opened it, some clothes were packed along with a knife and some money.

"What is that?" asked Sayge.

"Supplies," Adam said.

"Why do you have supplies?"

Taking out the knife and tucking it into his boot, Adam tossed the bag over his shoulders and tightened the straps. Walking over to the door and opening so he could take a peek, he closed it behind him and walked over to Sayge who sat in her chair with a weary expression.

"I must go."

"How? We're surrounded by Brothers and you can't dematerialize."

"Tis where you are wrong. I am having one of my lucky days."

"Adam! You can't leave. They'll think you're on the run or something."

"But I must go." Adam looked at the door as if expecting someone to come in. When no one did, he looked back at Sayge. "During the fight, I got a lesser to give me information. I know the honorable thing to do is to tell the Brothers but I must do this alone."

"What about Ahnger?"

"Tis for him. I will find my way back once I know if this information is true."

Sayge didn't get a chance to argue with Adam. Once he stood straight up, he was gone.

"I hate these fucking seals!"

The ranting had been going on for hours to where Ahnger could no longer catch any sleep. Lifting an eyelid, he watched as the darkness paced around in the field. It had been saying the same thing over and over for what felt like days.

After the seals pushed the darkness back into its world, it threw a tantrum in its world since it was back to being stuck. Ahnger found himself exhausted both mentally and physically. The best thing he could come up with was to stay in the darkness's world since he wasn't in any pain. His arms flexed at the thought of those seals burning him. Never expected to feel such pain like that in his life.

Lying on his back, Ahnger yawned as if he had been asleep for days. The night sky greeted him and this time the clouds weren't floating around in the sky. Just because it was a clear night in the darkness's world, Ahnger tilted back to see the shadows lift from the figure in the distance.

"Damn it!"

"Will you quit acting like a child?"

Ahnger turned his gaze away from the figure and sat up to watch the darkness continue its pacing. It ignored his comment and paced around until its path was visible in the grass. The darkness continued to mutter to itself or repeat the same phase to where Ahnger flopped back down and rolled to his side.

As he flexed his arms, he figured they were no longer burnt in the real world. He didn't know why but Sayge came to mind. This time his whole body tensed as he replayed what happened. He remembered turning into a wolf with the darkness fighting by his side in an attempt to kill those who had harmed his brother. He remembered shredding the lessers to pieces with his fangs and claws. He remembered how much he wanted to destroy all those who wished to harm his twin. Then all of those thoughts burned the moment he saw Sayge enter. He watched as she fought against the Brothers and fell in shooting range of a lesser. Not even the darkness hesitated when Sayge came in harm's way.

Ahnger was overwhelmed by so many secrets it was a miracle how he hadn't drowned in them. But he might as well tie a boulder to his legs and toss it into the ocean since he was in a way prisoner of the Brotherhood.

"This is your fault! You should've left that female to die," barked the darkness.

"You know perfectly well I couldn't," remarked Ahnger.

"But ever since she showed up, things have gone terribly wrong. You said you were going to take care of her. How is leaving her to the Brotherhood taking care of her?"

"I was hoping they would keep her away from the battle." Rolling to his other side, Ahnger buried his nose in the grass. "So in a way, I did take care of her. And it's not like she knows anything. She still sees me as a complete asshole."

"But how long do you think you can keep up this damn charade before she finds out?" questioned the darkness. It finally stopped its pacing and was sitting on its hunches. "You're little act might as well have cost us."

"You were the first to jump ship when she was in trouble. So if you want someone to blame, take half of it and be done with it. I already have my hands tied with this Brotherhood situation. We can deal with Sayge later. There are other matters to attend to."

The darkness didn't have a remark. Instead, it tossed its head to the side as if no longer wanting to discuss their situation. Seconds later the darkness laid down with its head resting on its paws. In silence, Ahnger and the darkness laid under the starry night in the darkness's world. But the more Ahnger stayed in this world, the more he knew he was just avoiding the impossible. He would have to wake up to face the Brothers eventually.

Having no idea how much time had passed in the real world, Ahnger decided it was time to return.

Closing his eyes and opening them, he found himself staring at a ceiling. Almost immediately he missed the night sky. But now that he was back in reality, there was a feeling he wouldn't be seeing a night sky any time soon.

As Ahnger was about to rub his forehead, something cold held his arm down. When he tried lifting his arm again, the coldness kept his arm pinned. Ahnger tried his other arm to feel the same hold. Lifting his head to see what the problem was, he grunted when he saw his wrists handcuffed to the bed.

"What the hell?"

Just then, Vegas jumps out of nowhere and lands right on Ahnger. Pain shoots through his body that he would've hunched over if it weren't for the cuffs restraining him. The dog barked and licked his face, causing the male to curse at the cuffs. Yelling at the dog to back off, something in the corner of his eye catches his attention. It doesn't take him much to see Sayge's white hair in the dark room. When the female sits up from the bed across from him, he shakes his arms.

"Did we have a good time because I don't remember."

"Three days in a coma and that's the first thing that comes to mind," she snorted.

Getting up from the bed and clutching the blanket close to her chest, Sayge walked over to the bed and sat down on the chair. She raised an eyebrow when Ahnger shook his arms again like she was supposed to do something. When she told him she didn't have the keys, he blew his hair out of his eyes. Then Vegas yelped and jumped off when Ahnger jerked his arms up and the sides of the bed connected to the handcuffs ripped clean off.

Sitting up with the new attachments, Ahnger held up an arm as the bed piece dangled around. When he looked at Sayge, she glared at him like he did something wrong. Ahnger tried ripping the cuffs off with his other hand but they didn't come off as easily. Flexing his fingers and giving it another try, he felt slightly embarrassed that he couldn't rip off the cuffs with his bare hand.

"Having trouble?"

"Well, I'm usually able to tear these things off."

"Sounds like you have experience."

"Plenty. But my arms are usually cuffed above my head."

Sayge punched Ahnger in the stomach. The male grinned as he watched her face burn bright red. As for his arms, Ahnger would need to pick the cuffs or get the key and he wasn't ready to face the Brothers just yet. Besides, the more he looked at Sayge, he noticed his gaze kept lingering on her neck.

"You said I was out for three days?"

"Yeah. With my seals and you getting shot so much, we're all surprised you're still alive."

"I've been shot many times. This was no big deal."

"Whatever. Now that you're awake, the Brothers will want to talk to you."

Ahnger blew his hair again as he reached past Sayge where a little table rested. Going through its containers, he found a scalpel and started working on the cuffs. Twisting and turning the scalpel, Ahnger looked around the room. There was a clock on the wall saying it was barely five in the evening so most of the mansion would still be asleep. This gave Ahnger a good three hours to figure out how to get away. Just thinking about escaping brought up Adam who wasn't around.

"Where's Adam?"

This time Sayge blew a strand of her hair. "You're friend took off."

"Probably for a good reason."

"I just told you Adam left and you think it's for a good reason?"

Ahnger halted his work and flicked the scalpel around his fingers. "I know Adam more than you," he said. "Considering the shit we just went through, he probably found some lead on the lessers and I following up. He's done this before. Since you say it's been three days, he's backing up claims as we speak. If not, he would be back already."

"Oh." Sayge reached down to pet Vegas on the head. "We'll, I should at least go tell them you're awake. You haven't fed in three days. From the way how you thought you could rip those cuffs off, you must be weak."

"Why go tell if you're already here?"

Sayge slapped him on the head. She then stormed out of the room with Vegas tailing next to her. Ahnger laughed as she slammed the door behind her and unlocked the first cuff. He could imagine if she did allow him to feed off of her. Thinking about it made him hard and reminded him he hadn't had sex in a while. Surely he wouldn't have been able to stop if she did over her vein.

Ahnger smiled to himself. The darkness said she was getting too close to the truth and it wanted her far away just like him. But there were times where he wanted her close until he would never let her go. He had felt the same way so many years ago. It was now becoming hard to keep her at arm's length since she was sticking to him like glue. It was only a matter of time before she crossed that distance and the two of them wouldn't be able to turn back.