Chapter 79

"Let me go see if I have a deck and scrounge up some food, I'm famished." Her spaghetti dinner that she had made for her and Ash's anniversary had wound up all over Ash and the floor, obviously, she hadn't eaten. "Why don't you get set up in here," He was guiding her to his room, which was like Thors so far as the set-up and the personalization was… all him. This was his main safehouse. "And I'll go grab a deck and something for us to eat. I think I have… canned goods."

"Okay." Melyssa stopped him again, hugging him around the neck this time, and closed her eyes, sniffling softly. "Thank you for letting me stay in here with you."

She pulled back and watched him leave the room, taking a minute by herself to look around. Melyssa decided to change into her sleepwear as well, pajama pants and a long-sleeved shirt since it was cold outside. Luckily, there was no snow on the ground here, but that didn't mean they couldn't get any during their stay. However long it would last, she didn't know. When Crow returned, she was sitting on the bed and staring at a photo of her and Ash, her head snapping up when the door closed. Immediately, she put her phone away and took the bowl Crow handed her, which had vegetable soup in it.

"Smells good."

"Ought too, even I can't screw up microwaving something." He joked, though it fell flat and maybe he shouldn't be cracking jokes either.

Crow dropped down in his chair, surveying her thoughtfully. He had rushed to her apartment in his day clothes, not bothered getting anything other than his weapons and wallet because this place was stocked with a basic wardrobe. He'd change after eating, balancing his own bowl on his knee.

"You look like you might cry." He said after a long silence, mostly silence, the sounds of them eating their soup was about the only noise outside of breathing. "Thinking about him?" When he went to work, -he had no intention of hiding here, just living here since the apartment building was obviously compromised- he was going to bean Ash.

"I miss how things used to be between us. He was always so thoughtful and kind to me, and never rubbed me the wrong way. We had such a deep connection and bond as friends…" Melyssa wished she could turn the clock back and never get involved with Ash intimately. "It was constant, Crow. He constantly wanted to have sex…and it got to the point where it physically HURT to do it. He even pulled me into the offices at work for quickies, it was almost as if he couldn't get enough…or I wasn't enough for him." That made her eyes lower to the soup and teardrops splashed into the liquid, her voice full of regret and pain. "We were better off as being just friends because he obviously has an addiction I can't sate."

Obviously, and that was a lot more than Crow had ever wanted to know about either of his friends, ever. He made a mental note to bring in a maid service on the sly at work to disinfect the entire damn building, not wanting to sit down in a spot they had been doing the nasty. "I'm sorry it didn't work out." He offered finally, not knowing what else to say other than Ash was obviously a fool.

"Yeah…I wish it would've never happened in the first place. I'm such an idiot to let a spell control me like that."

Melyssa set her bowl of half-eaten soup on the bed and drew her knees up, burying her face in them while wrapping her arms around them tightly. Things would never be the same between her and Ash again. More than likely, he hated her because she hadn't been good enough for him in a relationship. Her ARCUS II went off and she pulled it out, frowning at the video staring back at her. It wasn't playing, but she could clearly see Ash and another woman staring back at her.

Without preamble, she pressed the play button.

"Oh – oh Ash, oh baby that feels so damn good! Your cock feels amazing inside of me!"

"Yeah, doesn't it? Mmm, I've wanted to fuck you since the moment I saw you." Ash growled, pounding the cleaning lady at City Hall relentlessly…on top of Melyssa's desk. "Fuck that bitch, she was never good enough for me and I took pity on her, which is why I fucked her in the first place!"

The woman laughed wickedly, nodding her head while gripping the desk as tightly as she could. "Mmm yeah, she didn't look like she was very fun in the bedroom and she's definitely not good enough for a man like you…Goddess harder, pound me, Ash!"

Ripping back on her hair, he lifted his leg to plant his foot on the desk to really drive deeper inside her receptive body, controlling every aspect of the session. "Spread them thighs wider for me…"

Crow overheard it and moved to sit beside her, both watching the despicable footage in front of them. Melyssa was trembling from head to toe, unable to pull her eyes away from the footage or drop her ARCUS II, shutting her eyes the moment he bellowed out another woman's name in his climax. The cleaning lady at City Hall, of all people…

"He never loved me." It wasn't even half a DAY and Ash had already found someone else to screw! They didn't even properly END their relationship because he had hurt her so badly with what he said, after she had TRIED to surprise him with a romantic evening! Dropping the ARCUS II, Melyssa bolted to the bathroom and barely made it, emptying the contents of the soup right into it.

Wow, with a jacked-up face and everything, Ash had issues. Crow wasn't even trying to speculate on their sex life if Ash was already out banging another woman. This had nothing to do with Melyssa being enough, not really; this was Ash having a breakdown or something. He idly wondered if the Dark Ages spell had some effect on Ash because they had spent a lot of time together during those two years and Ash hadn't been… that way. Ash had barely looked at a woman until Melyssa had come back into their lives. Maybe he was just addicted to Melyssa…no because he had been plowing the cleaning lady.

Once she was done emptying her stomach, Melyssa didn't go back to the bedroom and instead went to the sitting room. She just wanted to be alone right now, the offer of playing Blade long forgotten. Burying her head in her hands, Melyssa curled up in a tight ball on the couch, crying and sobbing her heart out. Ash hadn't waited more than a few hours before finding someone else to satisfy his needs.

His nose had been jacked up in the footage and he was breathing a lot heavier than usual due to it being broken, thanks to her fist. She wanted to do A LOT more to him and shut her eyes, trying to block out the pain and anguish as much as she could. He used her for sex and she let him do it; she gave him her virginity and she could never get it back. Eventually, she cried herself to sleep and didn't feel Crow cover her up with a blanket or anything, dead to the world.

Ash had absolutely zero regrets about what he did with the cleaning lady. He hoped that miserable bitch was crying him a river somewhere for making him feel like he wasn't enough. Then not wanting to properly satisfy him, even though he had fucked her good and proper. He had taken her under his wing, been her best friend, and TREATED her differently than any other woman and her response was to be a manipulative, lying bitch during their relationship. She had never loved him, she had regretted being with him, letting him take her virginity, and the more he had tried bringing them closer, the more she had pulled away. Even this cleaning lady, with his broken, jacked-up face, had JUMPED on the opportunity to ride his dick.

Machias had given Melyssa a month off to cool down and for this whole breakup to blow over. He needed Ash more than her, as much as he hated admitting it. She was his secretary and could do work from anywhere, so Crow set her up an office within the cabin to do her work in. Faxing was a thing, email also and Machias didn't have a problem having her lay low for a while. In fact, Crow insisted on it, especially with McBurn back in the picture and Ouroboros breathing down their necks. He didn't tell ANYONE where she was, no matter how many times Ash demanded him to. Crow had finally had enough and belted Ash in the face, ordering him to never say Melyssa's name again, or else he would be sent to the morgue in a body bag.

Once that month passed by, Melyssa started feeling like her old self again with training and even cooked meals for when Crow came to the cabin. He visited a couple of times a week since it was a rather long drive to get here and called her every night on the ARCUS II to check up on her. At first, she wasn't comfortable staying in the cabin by herself, but the more she did it, the more she came to understand this was what she NEEDED. Being alone cleared her mind and heart since Ash had corrupted it, along with the Dark Ages spell, for the past two and a half years.

"Yes, brother dearest, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" Melyssa answered her ARCUS II with a smile, staring back at Crow through the screen, who rolled his red eyes at her. "You do realize you call me at LEAST five times a day, right? Not that I'm complaining or anything."

"Hey, if I don't, Emma sends me a message reminding ME not to be a jackass!" Crow was half-joking. Emma DID remind him via messaging frequently not to be a jackass because she was NOT happy about what Ash had done, but he was calling because he wanted to. "I just don't… I want to make sure you're okay, SIS." He even stuck his tongue out at her, crossing his eyes and everything. "So, I spoke to Rosalie, and she wants to try this thing on your apartment." Eight hundred years old and this was the first she had considered using blood magic, he shook his head, but kept his comments to himself. "She's also thinking about employing it elsewhere, I guess there's been some activity down in the sewers. It's been holding up the repairs needed to get the citizens what they were promised."

Emma had called her frequently from wherever she was, making sure she was all right and asking if she needed anything. Even Rean had reached out, in a purely platonic way, wanting to assure her they were all thinking about her during this difficult time. It was weird that Machias hadn't fired Ash from his bodyguard duty, but at the same time, the man was a powerhouse. Sex addict or not, Ash was an asset to bringing down Ouroboros, once the time finally came.

"I'm willing to try anything at this point, but I gotta admit, I'm liking it here. This cabin is peaceful and there's not the city noise like there is in Crossbell." That was good news that the sewers were being taken care of and Machias hadn't pulled back on anything. "Do they know what kind of activity?"

Nobody had known Ash would be like this.

Sure, he had been suggestive and lewd over the years when it came to women, but where Melyssa was involved, he had been an entirely different man. They were all still trying to figure out how to address this 'new' Ash and, honestly, if not for Crow vouching -Melyssa had video proof- nobody would have believed it because nobody would have wanted to. This was just that out of character for the man, especially when it came to her. Then there was the fact that Ash knew a LOT and could potentially do some damage.

It was an ugly situation.

"Some people have been caught down there and there have been several monster nests, of the very gross kind."

Ash could do and be with whoever he wanted because Melyssa wanted nothing to do with him. Not after that video footage was sent to her, which they still didn't know who had sent it. They thought it was Ash being a dick at first, but Machias had looked into it and it hadn't come from Ash's ARCUS II. The only way she would ever talk to him again was work-related, but other than that, never again would she have late-night talks with him. Never again would she go to him for advice or share a laugh. No more teasing. No more leaning on his shoulder for comfort whenever she had a bad day. Those days were gone and she had accepted that over the past month.

"Sounds juicy." She laughed when Crow groaned, ordering her to never say that again. "Well, at least you haven't been bored and been kept on your toes while in the city." When will you be back here? That question came out of nowhere and luckily, she didn't say it out loud. "So, anything else you want to report?"

"No, not really." Machias had given her leave to take all the time she needed and that cabin was a good distance away, so making the trip back and forth daily wasn't exactly feasible given his long hours. "Rean was brought in as a consultant, since we can't exactly hide the Ashen Chevalier's presence." Rean was also even-tempered and slow to react in a negative way to anything, so he was good for the actual mayoral duties, which involved peopling. And… handy with his Tachi. "I'll be coming out tomorrow, spend the weekend there. Rean is going to cover for me this weekend; Machias has some dinner and a ball he has to attend."

That made her frown. "Wait, there's a dinner and ball going on and you're not attending?" Wait, didn't she read something about that in the paperwork that was sent over? "Hold on." Was that what Machias had referred to when he said 'social gathering' the last time they spoke? "Hmm…" Sure enough, it was a ball to help raise funds for Crossbell City and the construction going on beneath the tunnels. This would be the perfect opportunity for Ouroboros to strike if they planned on taking over Crossbell City. "Don't bother coming here, Crow. Because I'm coming back to Crossbell City and attending this event." She was already off the bed, knowing she could shop early in the morning for a dress and be ready by the evening. "Wanna be my escort?"