For several days, Cass remained locked in his room, pacing relentlessly in front of the windows. Though his imprisonment came with the explanation that his partner was still in quarantine, Cassius saw through the flimsy excuse. He knew it was a punishment for his mistake as he heard mutterings through the doors of events in Sector 8. 

Raielle had quickly and neatly contained the outbreak- it hadn’t made it out of the health center. Only a handful had been infected: the mother and child, the guard who had protected them, and a nurse who had attended to them. Cass’s actions had done little to lower the morale of Sector 8’s citizens. If anything, it had given them more faith in their leader as he dealt with such a horrifying occurrence so swiftly and gracefully.

Cass grew more anxious with each day that passed, desperate to talk to Emrys. The vampire lord would understand if he would let Cass explain what happened with Raielle- rather, his double, with the magic shifting over their eyes. That belief had him begging every day, pleading with the servants who delivered his meals, to carry his request to Emrys… but his master had not come to see him. He seemed cruelly content to simply blame Cass for Raielle Ascelin’s glowing reputation.

As the sun set on his sixth day in isolation, Cass felt like he was beginning to go mad. Pacing in front of the windows again, his bare feet soundless against the lush carpet, his anxious fingers were pulling threads from the cuffs of his worn sweater. Looking out the windows, he could see the courtyard full of bustling servants- both human and vampire. His master’s mansion had been frantically busy since his return from Sector 8, and Cass’s mind ran wild with speculation.

Cass knew his master well enough to understand Emrys would not take Raielle’s actions lightly. If his master raised arms against one of the vampire lords, it would turn Kamai into a brutal battleground. Cass’s stomach twisted, his chest tight, as he remembered the last time one of the lords had tried to stand against Emrys. Though it had been nearly a decade ago, Cass still a child at the time, he shivered with the memory of spending every day wailing in pain as he was forced to bring himself to the brink of death over and over in service to his master.

More than his own pain, he remembered blood running in the streets- the carnage left by warring vampires with no regard for the city’s human citizens. It had been a terrifying time, and if his mistake in Sector 8 brought a new war… Cass knew he wouldn’t be able to live with it.

As he turned to make another path across his floor, the lights in his room flickered. Startled, Cass blinked up at the elegant chandelier at the center of his ceiling. Emrys had seen to every modification to the city’s power grid personally, because the city depended on the underground generators. Cameras, temperature sensors, containment gates… the city could thrive in darkness, but without the monitoring system, it would be inviting chaos. Kamai’s electric system had been perfected over decades, and Cass had never once seen even a slight flicker.

For it to happen now… an uneasy feeling clawed at the pit of his stomach as he stopped in his tracks, staring at the delicate crystal lighting fixture as if it could give him answers.

The lights flickered again, and Cass’s heart leapt. Glancing to the courtyard, his gaze found the spots of lights on the cameras in every corner; they all blinked red, locked in stasis by the power fluctuations. He could hear alarmed voices rising below as the bustling servants began to notice the problem. Stepping forward, a hand lifted against the window, Cass watched the chaos- and froze, as he noticed a face which didn’t belong.

The thrall from Sector 8 was a still point in the midst of unrest; their soft blue gaze focused unerringly on the windows where Cass stood. His fingers pressed into the glass as his heart raced. Meeting their gaze, Cass wondered for only a moment if they truly saw him from that distance. Then their lips twitched into a faint smile, a hand raised as fingers curled inward to beckon to him.

Their invitation was a temptation which stole his breath away. Cass felt his heart stir with a desire he had smothered for as long as he could remember: a longing for freedom, release from the pain and bitter loneliness of his gilded cage.

Swallowing, Cass slowly shook his head, his gaze flickering for a moment to the cameras; still blinking red, but he was sure that wouldn’t last long. Leaving his room without orders would have him thrown into a cell under normal circumstances; given his current punishment, Cass was sure rebelling now would have much worse consequences. And yet even knowing what Emrys could do to him… there was a wistfulness to his gaze as he looked down at the foreign thrall.

For a moment, their expression was sad. Then they blinked, glancing away for a moment, and a smirk spread across their face. Raising a hand, their fingers touched one of the vibrant gems laced into the small braid behind their ear- and the grounds shook as an explosion roared on the other side of the mansion.

Cass’s heart leapt into his throat as he pressed close to the glass; he could just barely see the debris, flames in vibrant unnatural colors glowing against the night. For a moment, the servants in the courtyard were frozen in shock and fear. Then the lights flickered again- drawing Cass’s gaze to the shivering chandelier- before they died out completely.

There were screams of panic and fear as the mansion was suddenly dropped into darkness. After a moment, an emergency siren began to wail. Servants rushed out of the courtyard, shadows flitting through the darkness as they raced to respond to the summons. Still standing still amidst the chaos, faintly outlined by the green and yellow light of flames spreading through the east wing of the mansion, Sector 8’s thrall met Cass’s gaze once more.

Hand still raised, extended toward him, they winked- an invitation… a dare.

Pulse racing, Cass pushed away from the glass, turning to the solid, heavy door which was usually the limit of his world. He approached it slowly, afraid that at any moment the lights would come back on and his master would be waiting to punish him for his disobedience. Pulse rushing in his ears, he took his cloak from the wardrobe, clasping it over his throat. When he reached the door, still shrouded in darkness, his fingers hesitated before reaching out to the handle.

Grasping the cold metal, Cass half expected to hear the catch of the mechanical lock. But the mansion’s emergency protocols had automatically unlocked the residential doors to allow evacuation, and it swung open under his hand. Cass held his breath as he stepped into the hall; looking up at the camera which was focused on his door, a slight smile broke through his apprehension as he noticed it as dull and lifeless as the lights in his room.

His next step forward was more confident, bare feet whispering against the stone floor. The explosion had been on the other side of the mansion, so the halls were empty. Cass didn’t know the mansion well- but he remembered the paths through which Syrus had secreted him out on confidential missions. He paused again for a brief moment, glancing back toward his room visible through the open doors.

The image of the thrall surfaced in his mind as he looked at the moonlight washing his room in pale colors. Their soft blue gaze, their smirking expression, seemed to whisper, ‘Run’. Cass didn’t know why they had come for him, or gone to so much effort to free him. He knew he was mad to trust them, and it could get him killed. And even if they didn’t, Emrys would see him punished for his disobedience.

Cass knew… and he still stepped forward, away from the gilded cage where he had spent nearly twenty years of his life. He raced through the halls, and as he threw the last door open to walk out into the cool night air, Cass was full of a forbidden exhilaration. Hovering at the threshold, Cass glanced back into the mansion, knowing it was his last chance to turn back. To save himself the torture which was sure to follow his decision.

But for the first time in his life, Cass allowed his own desires to guide him, and he left his master’s manor behind to chase after the thrall who had made his heart race.