How had things gone so wrong? Sure, Luan had been aware something was probably gonna go down tonight, having heard snippets of Arlans conversation with a stranger. But he didn’t think it would be to this caliber and that he’d end up a hostage, no less. 

Was he a hostage? Or did that only count when a ransom is requested? 

So, prisoner then. 

Definitely prisoner. 

Plus, this man was into cruel and unusual punishments. 

Luan was doomed. 

They came upon a door, larger than the rest, as if to account for the added size this man brought to the human body. Muscle head was being generous. He was huge. 

Inside, from what Luan could see slung over the giants back, was what appeared to be an apartment. 

Though, having purchased one for himself, Luan could tell this one had to be worth a hundred times the amount he’d paid for his. 

A rich mass killer. Nice. 

Luan had to wonder if that was a lucrative line of work, poisoning a room full of the rich and famous. 

At least now he didn’t have to answer to the cops, seeing as the other men were taking care of the bodies. 

Except, he was a witness that the man didn’t seem to have planned for, and he had been kidnapped by the guy because of it. 

Really swell way to spend the evening. 

Going further into the apartment, they came to a locked door, the man fishing out a set of keys and grabbing the one that fit perfectly on the first try. 

It seemed impossible with the number of keys on the chain and the fact they were all the same coppery gold that made each one look the same as the last. 

Maybe they just looked the same because of the limited view Luan got over the giant shoulder that was now his home. 

It was hard to really see anything clearly when you were craning your neck to that degree. 

The door led to a study, a giant desk situated near a large set of floor to ceiling windows, bookshelves taking up most of the walls. 

A couch was in front of the bookshelf across from the door, sideways a ways from the desk. 

It was this couch Luan was unceremoniously dropped on, letting out a grunt as he was finally back facing the man that had caused him the most shame in his life. And that was saying something. 

He scrambled to a sitting position, not liking to be at the mercy of this man more than was necessary. 

A large hand came up, taking hold of the mask covering the man's face as it was pulled off. 

Luan really shouldn’t have been surprised by the gold eyes that met his silver ones. 

It was Dante Jin’s party, after all. Made sense he’d feel the need to commit mass genocide on his unsuspecting guests that came to curate favor and enjoy themselves in an expensive setting. 

“Of course it would be you.” Luan was trying to make his words boil as though he wanted to kill the man before him. But after the last few encounters with this guy, he didn’t really have the same bite as with other people. And that was really unacceptable. 

Luan went to stand, eyes narrowing as he did, only to feel a large hand encompass his shoulder, the slightest of pushes knocking all strength from his legs and mitigating any form of protest. His body thumped back onto the plush surface, bouncing a bit as it did. 

“Careful, petal. Don’t want you wandering off into some other horrible situation before you’ve escaped from this one, do we?” He was wearing a smirk again, like this was a fun stroll through the park, rather than a ruthless abduction. 

Guess they were really even now. 

“And just what situation would that be?” Luan was questioning this man as though he hadn’t just witnessed hundreds of people die gruesomely by those large hands that made any part of him they came into contact with feel small and delicate. 

Dante leaned forward, hand falling next to Luan’s head on the backrest of the couch. 

He felt hot breaths fall on his face, eyes glowing with each second they inched closer. 

Luan tried to shrink away, plush cushions making his weight sink further down. 

His breath stuttered in his chest with the way Dante took up all his focus, making it impossible to think with the close proximity. 

“What's the point….” Danted drawled, lips coming next to Luans ear as he spoke. 

“Of inviting the filth, if you don’t plan on cleaning them up a bit?” Luan shivered, goosebumps popping out across his skin as he felt the words brush his ear. 

“Did they all deserve to die like that?” Luan whispered, a rare sense of fragility slipping into his tone. 

Dante pulled back, looking at him closely for a couple of seconds. 

There was no malice to his look, simple curiosity that wanted simple answers. 

He got to his feet, going to the desk and rifling through papers before grabbing the one he was looking for. 

Coming back to the couch, he held it up to Luans face, containing only a simple symbol. 

“This is the symbol we used. Every person who died today had this printed on their wrist. And trust me, each one deserved what they got.” 

Luans brows furrowed, taking the paper and looking at it closely. He didn’t remember seeing this on anyone. 

It had been rather hectic, though, so he wasn’t sure. 

“When were you putting ink on your partiers?” Luan looked back to Dante, eyebrow raised as he took the hulking man in. 

Despite the situation being so dour, Dante huffed a laugh, as if Luan had asked the funniest question in the world. 

“That’s what's important right now, flower?” 

“Stop calling me that!” Luan growled, standing to his feet as he went to smack him. 

Dante easily dodged the half-hearted slap before throwing Luan back to the couch with a flick of his finger. Seriously, that's how easy it was for this man. 

Luan snarled, glaring harshly at the smiling giant as he was once again forced to sit like a rowdy child. 

“And stop treating me like a feather you can just flick away!” He yelled, getting ready to stand again, only to feel the large hand fall to his head, fingers running through the strands of hair. 

Dante yanked at the ends, pulling Luans face up as he looked down at him. 

He tilted his head, observing the angry man at the ends of his fingers. Luans hand grabbed his arm, clenching the fabric of his sleeve as he tried to make himself exert force and get him to let go. He was almost able to muster that strength when Dante spoke. 

“I wouldn’t mind it.” He said softly, his other thumb brushing across Luans chin as he leaned closer. 

“Mind what?” Luan was breathless, unsure how this situation had happened, or how to stop it when Dante was making him feel all kinds of dizzy. 

“Mira’s plan. Turning you into a mother.” His lips went up, golden eyes flitting over the flushed, wide-eyed man that was gracefully choking on his own spit. 

So, it was definitely Dante’s fault that Mira was insane. At least Luan was good at reading a bad influence. 

Now he just had to kill that influence, and Mira would grow up peaceful and deranged free. 

Plus, no one left to make Luan almost die from flustered indignation. 

“You’re insane.” He whispered, nose wrinkling as he met the man’s amused gaze. 

“Maybe. But you don't mind, do you, little flower?” He punctuated his words with a sharp jerk on Luans hair, pulling a sharp gasp from his lips. 

Luan shut his eyes tight, not wanting to see the aggravating look he knew Dante was giving him. 

That was practically a moan, for crying out loud!

He definitely couldn't face him anymore. He'd have to learn to live like a blind, masked freak that couldn't be seen in public anymore. 

It was the only way to hide his shame, at this point.