'Have your eyes always been that red?' Irene held Kai's face in her hands, standing on tiptoes to look him in the eyes. 'Kai, you need to calm down. It's okay, we are okay.'
'He could have killed you,' He tightly gripped her arms, she could feel his fingers pressing in, bruising her. 'He-'
'He failed,' Irene said. 'He didn't kill me.'
'You are bleeding,' Kai spoke between gritted teeth, chest moving unevenly as he struggled to regulate his breathing. Behind her, she could hear orders to remove the would-be attacker's body and to clear the room.
'It's just skin deep,' Irene said, it burnt, the slash across her abdomen, if Kai hadn't been beside her and yanked her out of the way it would have been much much worse. But it wasn't. He had protected her.
Irene could hear the rain beginning to streak down the windows. Kai was beginning to look less and less human, scales covered his hands and flickered across his cheekbones, and his eyes were like rubies. Underneath her hands, she could feel his skin burning hot. She didn't know if she needed to push him away to protect herself or pull him closer to protect him.
'Son,' Ao Guang put his hand on Kai's shoulder. 'Let her go, Madam Irene needs medical attention,' Kai swallowed and slowly peeled his fingers off her arms. She didn't rub the spots where his fingers had left marks, but Kai could see the red crescent shapes left behind from his nails and recoiled, stumbling back away from her. 'Tian Shu, could you escort Madam Irene to her rooms and wait with her whilst her injuries are tended to.'
'It's just a scratch,' She put her hand over the wound, and felt her blood trickle through her fingers, she looked down. 'Oh.'
'Yes,' Ao Guang said kindly. 'I believe that you do require attention thought that you would prefer that in the privacy of your own space, though if walking there may be an issue I shall have someone summoned to you now.'
'I think I'm fine,' She said and took a wobbly step toward Kai.
'I will deal with this, do not worry,' Ao Guang said, nodding for Tian Shu to step forward and Irene was quickly ushered from the room.
'He was going to kill her,' Kai spoke through his fingers, hands pressed to his face. 'He would have succeeded.'
'What about the next one?' Kai asked. 'Or the one after- someone is going to succeed one day.'
'You know that. You are panicking for a future that may never happen.'
'Then it is not your place to decide what risks she puts herself in. You may be the next target.'
'All life is, son. Irene Winters is no more fragile than the next person, or you,' Ao Guang smiled sadly. 'You love her, do you? '
'How could I not?' Kai spoke bitterly as he shook his head. 'Father, I love Irene. I would not stand to see her hurt, even if it meant I did get hurt. But I failed today. I let the woman that I love with all my heart, all my soul, get hurt.'
'You know that this is inevitable,' Kai hated the way that his body trembled and his eyes burnt. His throat hurt with each breath and his heart was pounding hard enough to make his chest ache. 'You love her but it cannot last, not for as long as she is just a human.'
'You understand what I mean, Kai. Dont let this anger blind you. She is mortal. You cannot protect her from that. She will age. I am sorry but it is the truth, if it is not a knife today it will be age. She will not outlive you.'
'As long as we get a good long time together, I may be able to cope,' He said. 'But I will not have her taken from me before she is ready. Before she had actually lived a full life. It already is not fair that humans are short-lived, it would be a cruel twist of whatever fate there is to take her from me early.'
'You should be prepared for that to be a possibility. You live dangerous lives.'
'No,' Kai shook his head. 'I will protect her. I will do everything in my power to do that.'
'No. I will protect her from everything that I can. What? Do you think I will get myself killed for just a human? I gladly would.'
'I know you would and that is what I am fearful for. You throwing your life away. Would Irene want you to do that?'
'She would hate me for it but at least she would be alive to hate me.'
'You will only know pain from this relationship. That is the only outcome.'
'But I shall know so much love before that pain, and so will Irene. And I will take all of that pain to know just a sliver of that love. It is worth it to me. She is worth it,' He took a deep breath, his heart still ached in his chest but he could no longer feel the burn of blood in his veins and he looked at his hands to see 'normal' skin. 'I am going to go and see how she is.'
A doctor was still seeing Irene when he arrived at the rooms she had been given use of for her stay, sending Tian Shu back to his father before knocking on the door and waiting for a response.
He stood by the window as the doctor finished placing neat stitches into Irene's abdomen as he explained the necessary care she would need to take with them, information that he knew that Irene already knew but she just nodded along.
'Your eyes are still red,' She said as the doctor left. 'Kai?'
'I am sorry I let you get hurt,' She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and moved to stand but he quickly rushed to her side. 'Dont. You need to be careful,' he knelt on the floor in front of her and clasped her hands in his, bringing them up to kiss her knuckles.
'You didn't hurt me though, this is not your fault.' She could see the tension within him as he fought back the need to sweep her up into his arms and hold her tightly. 'You cannot protect me from everything, Kai. We have talked about this,' He lay his head on her thighs and she threaded her fingers through his hair.
'I need to though. The thought of you hurt or dying fills me with terror that I cannot describe. One day, when we have lived good lives together when I have loved you for long enough, maybe I can accept it then. But not now.'
'There is never going to be enough time,' Irene said. 'There will always be something.'
'I know. I know just... Not now. I won't let anyone take you from me now. Not yet.'
'Okay,' Irene said softly. 'Not now. Just dont sacrifice yourself for me, Kai. You promised me that you wouldn't.'
'I don't think I would know how not to if i tried. We are tied together, call it love, call it fate. I couldn't force myself to do nothing if I wanted to.'
'Then I am going to have to learn to survive better,' She gingerly leant forward to brush her lips to the top of his head. 'I can't have your blood on my hands. You are just going to have to teach me to fight. Once the stitches are out of course.'
I know this doesn't make ao Guang look like the nicest dad in the world but I swear he means welll
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