Reaper

Chapter 10 -Kouzen

It had hurt the way Evander had tugged at his horn and it had been a pleasant hurt until his head was jolted backwards with a yank. He actually felt bad kicking Evander but it had been a reaction he couldn’t control. Mack was an i***t and he deserved the beating Evander was giving him. He rubbed his neck and sighed, blushing slightly at the realization Evander had claimed him back. He looked at Malcolm trying to calm the fight and slowly slid out of the door. He needed to think.

He heard Evander try to offer him food from the bottom of the stairs and paused. It was wrong on so many levels how actually kind of nice they were being. It made his heart flutter but Evander should make his heart pump with anger. He sighed and rushed out of the door before the dragon followed his scent.

He wanted to call his dad to come get him but he’d have a lot of questions on why he was in this area of town. There weren’t kids who would attend his school here, he supposed he could lie and say he met them outside of school but his dad would poke through that argument immediately. He stopped as he saw a familiar face, and then frowned as he registered them: Lucas.

“Hey! Horns! Why’re you poking around here, huh?” His voice was suspicious, puffing his chest up as if getting ready to take him on.

“Evander brought me, I’m going home though. Just leave me alone,” Kouzen put on a front. He was tired, his emotions were everywhere and sounding tough wasn’t easy. He didn’t want to put up with the wolf, he was almost as bad as Evander.

“Don’t lie to me. Evander wouldn’t bring you anywhere near here. This is our hideout,” Lucas got close enough to prod him in chest forcefully.

“Leave me alone if you don’t believe me! I’m just trying to go home!” Kouzen shouted at him. He historically hated raising his voice, it made him feel out of control. Lucas grinned, shoving him backwards after getting a rise out of him, “I mean it, Lucas! Leave me alone!”

“And why should I?” Lucas shoved him again making him stumble backwards. He tumbled to the ground, feeling something break. Frantically he checked his pocket and pulled the soul out, looking at it. There was a large crack traveling around it’s outside and the clouds were swirling around wildly. Little whisps escaped out of the crack until it was clear. Tears ran down his cheeks and Lucas laughed, “Man, I see what Evander gets out of this. It’s so easy to just f**k with you.”

“You…I… it’s gone. He’s gone! Y-you asshole!” He had no idea what would happen next. The only way he knew to interact was the shroud and he quickly popped his shroud out as he got back on his feet. Lucas’ eyes went wide and he backed up. Kouzen took in a long drag of the fear that seeped out of him and tried to activate the soul. The man appeared and looked at him, then around.

“Hello? Where am I? I don’t know where I am,” he was older, scared.

“I’m here, can you see me?” He reached for the spirit. He could hear Lucas in the background running and hollering for someone. He did his best to tune him out.

“Hello? I’m lost. I’m so scared. God?” The spirit turned all around, the panic sweeping all around the shroud. None of his memories played for him.

“G-God’s not here. I’m not God. Can you hear me?” Kouzen’s own heart rate was increasing as its emotions swirled. It continued to yell, trying to reach out to him. He was getting angry with Lucas, why couldn’t these assholes just leave him alone when he asked.

“Kouzen!” Evander called to him now. His own emotions went haywire, he still didn’t know how to feel about the events of the afternoon.

“I can’t talk to him! Lucas broke his soul! I can’t… help him,” Kouzen sobbed. The poor man kept calling to him for help. He felt something alter the shroud and turned, Evander was walking right into it, “I don’t know what’ll happen! Stop!”

“Kouzen, you need to let it go,” Evander’s hand grasped his like in the apartment complex. Hiccups escaped him and he tried to pull his hand free but Evander held it tighter.

“I hate you! Let me go,” He roared, his shroud shaking and growing around them.

“Then get out here and hate me! Stop hiding in here,” Evander yelled right back at him. He tried to yank his hand away harder and the spirit caught both of their attentions. It exploded out of the shroud, shooting like a comet back towards the building it had been extracted from. Kouzen’s shroud melted away from around them, leaving them with their hands clutched tightly together.

Kouzen fell to his knees, Evander kneeling down after a moment and staring into his eyes. He hated him so much, his insides twisted into knots. He just wanted to get away from him, why wouldn’t he let him just get away? He began to cry again, bowing his head as hiccups shook him.

Evander quickly stood up, picking him up as he had in the apartment. He hauled him back to the clubhouse, shoving his friends out of the way, “Get the f**k out of my way.”

“What was that?” Lucas was on his heels, Mack not too far behind him. Kouzen buried his face against Evander’s neck to avoid looking at them. Evander’s arms got tighter around him and he felt him whip around to look at them. They kept walking after a second and Kouzen felt him sit with him. No one else seemed to come close to them.

“Horns. Look at me.” Evander’s voice boomed in annoyance. He was used to that voice.

“Shut the f**k up. I didn’t ask you to come get me,” Kouzen spoke against his skin.

“Someone needed to come get your wimpy ass,” Evander was still holding him, his heart was pounding so hard Kouzen could feel it against his cheek.

“I hate you so much. You shouldn’t have gotten involved,” he started to push on Evander’s chest to get up.

“Do you even know what was happening out there?” Evander ground the words out by his ear as he pulled him in, not letting him free. He didn’t respond but after a moment he started beating against Evander’s chest.

“Van, you want help?” Malcolm’s voice came to them closer than he anticipated. It was laced with worry.

“No, it doesn’t hurt. He’s a complete wimp,” Evander sounded almost amused which made him angrier. He hit him harder and he finally let go of him to grab his wrists.

“Let me go or I’ll take your soul too!” Kouzen managed to wrench his body away but his hands were still trapped. He tumbled onto the floor but was stuck between his knees, looking up at Evander with puffy eyes. His wrists hurt and he yanked at them making Evander rumble again.

“Then do it, horns,” Evander sneered at him, “Take my soul if you think you’re a tough guy.”

The vines rapidly sprang forward, curling down his arms. Evander watched them unphased, staring into Kouzen’s eyes as they spread across his chest. He barely flinched as he felt them caress his soul and then snorted as Kouzen pulled them back. He couldn’t do it, he just wanted to be let go. He wanted to run away.

“Are you done now, coward?” Evander’s gaze was pure smolder. He looked like he’d burn him to a crisp. Kouzen lowered his gaze to the floor and let himself be yanked back up onto his lap. Evander tugged his horn to make him look at him and he averted his gaze, “Look at me.”

“I don’t have to do that,” Kouzen’s voice trembled with his last burst of bravado.

“Look. At. Me. Now,” each word was accentuated with a billow of hot air that smacked into his face. He dragged his eyes up to Evander’s with a stubbornness that made his face light with rage. He stared at him a moment longer, “Gods I hate you so f*****g much. Your stupid face and these ugly ass horns. You’re so f*****g obnoxious and you make me so angry.”

He started to tell him he wasn’t a walk in the park either but his mind reeled as Evander’s mouth covered his. His eyes got wide, Evander’s angry ones boring into him as they kissed. His tongue dragged along Kouzen’s lip and he instinctively opened his mouth, opening himself up to be conquered by the dragon. He plunged into his mouth with years of pent up frustration aimed at him, they tangled together Kouzen still the weaker fighter as Evander took him over completely. He let out a little groan and Evander withdrew, placing a little peck to the corner of his mouth before panting hot breath against his cheek.

“The feeling is mutual,” Kouzen responded, just as breathlessly. The room was tense for a long time, Evander finally letting him go.

“Go get food. You need food,” Evander growled at him. Kouzen got up, he wasn’t his boss. He glanced to the door and another growl from Evander told him if he ran he wasn’t going to get far. He walked over to the pizza and blushed as the gang all looked at him. Malcolm handed him a slice on a paper plate.

“It’s cooled off, sorry if it’s not hot enough,” Malcolm offered a small smile, trying to be polite.

“It’s fine,” Kouzen mumbled back. He started to sit in one of the kitchen chairs that had been frankensteined back together. Evander snapped at him and pointed at his lap. He shook his head no, his face hardening to stand his ground. Another jab of his finger towards his lap and Kouzen’s body obeyed reluctantly. He glared at him, starting to sit beside him in defiance but he was dragged to his lap, “I’m not your property!”

“You’re my prey as we’ve discussed. You will listen to me,” Evander said pointedly, “Lucas, if you ever put your hands on him again, man. I might have to break them.”

“Is this why you’re so crazy today? You like seriously fought me,” Mack folded his arms, dumbfounded.

“Don’t touch my prey and we won’t have a problem,” Evander looked at all of them before stopping on him. Kouzen’s face turned pink, burning as he slowly ate his pizza. The guys across the room slowly went about their business, trying to acclimate to Kouzen’s presence. It was an easy atmosphere after only a few moments, everyone sitting and eating pizza as they chatted. He stayed quiet, just taking it all in as Evander radiated possessiveness anytime someone looked at him.