For several days the dorm’s common area was devoid of a certain silverette. Ashe had made a point of avoiding Cormac and any place the redhead was likely to be, the lower level of the dorm included.
The fox-tailed demon sat in his dorm room, leaning against the wall above his bed, with a book in hand. He had to admit, without the flirty redhead around, he was quite lonely. He found some comfort in the red and white sweater that Cormac still refused to take back, but it wasn’t the same as actually being near the redhead, himself.
He wasn’t sure why he was even doing it, anymore. Cormac ditching him for Zak hurt, but not having him around at all hurt more. Ashe had quickly realized that he needed the older demon in his life in some form or another, but was afraid to seek the other out after avoiding him.
With his heart aching like he did, he found his body pulling him up out of his bed, the book left on the covers as he opened the door. He cast a final wistful glance at that book, wishing he could convince himself to stay behind. Then he left the room, feet treading a familiar path to Cormac’s dorm room. He heard voices before he got there, Cormac shouting- and it sounded like somebody was shouting back. Other heads peeked out of dorms, and several people jumped at the loud thump that followed.
Ashe picked up his pace, worried that Cormac had been attacked; even though the dorms weren’t a safe zone, there was a sort of general agreement that the rule would be followed as if it was, and anybody willing to break that was serious about killing their target.
Then the door was flung open, nearly smacking the silverette in the face; he barely jumped back in time, narrowly avoiding Abriel as he passed. The person fleeing Cormac’s room wasn’t as lucky. He ran into Abriel, the pair of them nearly falling to the floor. Ashe’s eyes widened seeing a head of silver hair not unlike his own, minus the fake fox ears.
There was a moment of silence, the watchers and Zakeri all silent as Abriel surveyed the flustered silverette, who was breathing heavily and seemed paralyzed. Ashe was as paralyzed as the other silverette, his eyes flicking back and forth from Zakeri to the door of Cormac’s dorm room, a terrible feeling rising in him.
Ashe knew, when Abriel stiffened, that the other demon had reached the same conclusion. “Cormac?” Abriel’s voice was threaded with a deadly anger, and Ashe almost worried about the redhead- until he realized he was more pissed off than pitying.
After all the time they’d spent together in the years they’d been at school, Cormac had left Ash the minute Zakeri showed up. After the moments they shared in the common room, he pretended there was nothing between them. After ditching Ashe for Zakeri, Cormac pretended nothing had happened. But there would be no after, that time. The after was gone, replaced by anger and a determination to not let Cormac rip into his heart once again.
Zakeri nodded, and it seemed like Abriel was of the same mind as Ashe, because the watchers blinked against the sudden bright light of the blue flames they hadn’t seen until a few days before. The door began to open again, and Abriel was there, shoving it the rest of the way. His sword was drawn before anybody saw it move, and most of the onlookers vanished, frightened by the angry demon.
None of the three remaining demons had time to react before Abriel had attacked. Cormac and Zakeri both made strangled sounds, one of pain and the other of shock. It was only a moment before Cormac collapsed, felled by the skilled swordsman. Abriel gave his sword a sharp shake, flicking the blood off its charmed surface, before sheathing it once more.
“Tell the dorm leader where the idiot is,” Abriel snapped, his icy eyes flicking between Zakeri and Ashe, saying he didn’t care who did it as long as it wasn’t him. Then he was stalking away, his proud head held high, more confident than Ashe thought he could ever be.
Unlike Ashe, whose thoughts ran sluggishly slow while he took slow steps toward Cormac’s body, Zakeri stood unmoving. His wide, dark eyes were fixed on the blood that pooled slowly out of Cormac’s body, spreading across the floor in a creeping crimson puddle. Ashe, who’d already been angry enough as it was, found his fury mounting as the other silverette remained motionless.
Zakeri had no right to act like that. What had happened between him and Cormac might not have been entirely his fault, but he’d been there and hadn’t done anything to stop it- and that meant it was partially Zakeri’s fault that Cormac’s body lay on the floor. And Ashe, who was usually so sweet even while bouncing energetically around the room, stalked forward, hissing, “Bastard,” before slapping the other boy.
His hand stung, but it was worth it to see the shock and all of the other emotions come back to Zakeri’s eyes. Ashe turned tail before Zakeri could say anything, leaving the dark-eyed silverette to take care of Cormac. And only when he was back in his room, his back pressed against the locked door, only then did he let tears spill past his closed eyelids, a hand against his mouth to muffle any noises he might make as his heart bled.
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