Page 142 of Remnants: Disruption
Chapter 52
Infliction
November 15th, 1030 A.D., Morning
When a human touches Affliction, one of two things happens. They experience an Infliction event in which they develop a fantastical power, or they die.
Infliction, Dr. Blair Andrews, MD, PhD, 1023 A.D.
Warmth brushes against my back and thighs. My eyes flit open to a soft, red hued light in the corner of a lavish bedroom that I vaguely recognize.
Lips press to the back of my neck and I nearly melt.
“Morning,” I whisper, turning over in the space beside Cass. “Is it morning?”
Her orange eyes are lit with something I can’t quite identify, but there’s a note of hesitancy to the tremble in her lips.
“It is, indeed,” she says and I can’t even smell morning breath. It’s simply unfair how perfect she is.
I stretch and she runs a palm down my abdomen, brushing lightly over tender flesh that I know she’s more than capable of managing.
“We should discuss something,” she says, and I realize she’s wearing the same clothes from the night before. She’d taken off her cloak, but she’s wearing the Tempest athletic shirt and joggers.
“I don’t know that I like the sound of that,” I say, and she swings her legs out of bed and stands before I can even get a hand on her.
“Cass—” I start, but she turns to me and my stomach bottoms out. “What’s wrong?”
She has an incredibly uncharacteristic look of pure fear on her face. The facade of calmness from a few moments ago has shattered.
I scoot to her side of the bed and manage to grab her wrist before she can back up again. Pulling her forward, I wrap my other hand around her waist and pull her into me.
Hardened muscle flexes against my hand as she lets out a breathy shudder.
“You asked about my powers,” she says, and I try to rub out the knotted back muscles while she talks.
“I did,” I say slowly, meeting her intense gaze. “You don’t need to tell me—”
“I do,” she says quickly. “I owe it to you.”
“You don’t owe me anything, Cass,” I whisper, moving both hands to behind her back. Mostly so she doesn’t make a break for it.
She shakes her head and finally sinks into me like she’d been resisting it.
“Sit with me, please.” With a sigh, Cass lets me pull her onto the bed.
She turns to face me, folding both legs under her and looking smaller than I’ve ever seen her.
“How—” she huffs out a little, looking like she might have a panic attack. “How much do you know about me?”
I frown but oblige the strange roundabout way of doing this.
“Let’s see,” I sigh, taking her hand in mine. It’s colder than I expected. Like she’s somehow managing to shrink further into herself, including her blood vessels. “Considering how evil the NCPD turned out to be, I imagine what I know is mostly false.”
“Humor me,” she says, and her weak smile is enough to push me on.
“When you jumped me in the cafe, I’d just read a book that said you never chose your name. It said that historical reports of you had been that of a large being traversing the countryside and it was uncertain as to whether or not you were a Remnant or a changed beast.”
Cass’ face has molted to a paler white than I’ve seen before.
