#creaturesx

He swore he’d never let them take him again. Not after barely escaping with his life the last time.

Somehow, though, they’d tracked Mal down, laid in wait and trapped him for a second time, despite how careful he had been to stay as far under the radar of any hunters as he could, going so far as to avoid contact with humans as much as physically possible.

The only way they could have...

Malachi couldn’t bear the thought that he’d been set up again, but the only way they could have found him was through Ryland, and suddenly that seemingly-chance crossing of their paths again did not appear nearly as coincidental.

He couldn’t help think the worst. That history was repeating itself, only this time it had come to finish the job.

The chains themselves were made of iron this time around, not just spelled to prevent him using his magic, and the metal against his skin burned like fire, Malachi biting back everything he had not to scream in agony and give the Mahlendorfs the satisfaction of hearing how much pain he was in.

It was his first night home in two weeks and Ryland was exhausted already. He hated it here but what choice did he have? Dad said to get his ass back home and he complied because the alternatives were never worth it. 

He should have known something was off when the old man actually seemed happy to see him. Said he had a special treat for him. Then he asked what ammo was in the gun. 

Silver. It was almost always silver. Ry’s specialty was shifters, werewhatevers, things that didn’t do well with the metal. It was the only weapon he still had on him when he walked inside and even then he wasn’t thrilled about it. 

“Won’t be needing that,” Coltrane had told him, holding his hand out for the gun before steering Ryland around to the back, to one of the holding buildings. Soundproofed, easy to hose down floors with drains in the floors and incinerators for after. No mess, no bodies, no proof. 

He opened the door and pushed his son inside, locking it behind him and waiting for the response. 

It took Ryland a few seconds for his brain to catch up to what his eyes were seeing, a look of absolute horror twisting his features. This couldn’t be happening. This had to be a horrific nightmare. 

“Look- I’ve never been a subtle man, so I’m not gonna bother with small talk here,” Max started once he had finally made sure there was nobody else around to hear the conversation they were about to have. Not that he would wait to reach a proper place before engaging in this conversation. He couldn’t take the chance of letting her slip away.

[text: Cass] Yeah, cool. I don’t have work tomorrow so meet at 2 somewhere?

“No, sir. I understand. Yes, sir, I’ll be there. Two days, three at most. Yes, sir.” He set the phone back down on the cradle, stiff and clearly not in the best frame of mind. 

Checking in always sucked but it was worse when he was told he needed to come home for any span of time. It meant someone was paying the family for something and that was seldom a good thing. 

Even worse was knowing it was putting Lex into proximity with danger on top of everything else. Something he would need to take extra precautions with. 

“I’m going to guess, based on the fact that you’re staring at me like you’ve seen a goddamn ghost, that the family still thinks I’m going to fuck up. Am I right?” He was playing up his best, most harmless routine. The wounded I’ve changed thing worked with some of the younger ones, but none of them intrigued him more than Kit did. 

Pheme had given him plenty of details, her need to gossip something he could use. It was the only reason he even knew the other existed and he was curious if he could gain their trust enough to get consent to break them.

The situation was very simple in Max’s mind: the man right in front of him was the first immortal he had ever met and there was no way in hell he’d let someone like him, a possible friend that could stand by his side until the end of times, slip away. Nothing scared Max more than the thought of spending eternity alone, doomed to bury everyone he cared about.