Chapter 597: +Chapter 597+
Despite Asher going on a rampage, the Mafia King was meticulous, leaving not even a single thug alive.
By the time they got to the third club, Jael had already started to pace out of worry. There were even more thugs, the High Council sending reinforcements despite how quickly their men were being cut down.
It was like the thugs were expendable to them, no more than figures on paper.
Jael didn’t care much for that, it was Asher against so many. All that was needed was one mistake on his part, a single hint of fatigue, and he would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of opponents.
Nikolai was scowling as he stared at the bloody doors that they once again couldn’t go through. "Where is the High Council getting so many thugs from?"
"My guess would be downtown," Davian muttered, his attention on Jael.
"Gage still isn’t picking up, but maybe Caspian could knock him out of it..." Jael muttered to himself, making no move to call up Caspian despite his words.
The last thing he wanted was for Asher’s objective to change when he was like this. It was difficult enough to contain the Alpha when he was lucid, right now, there would be no chance of that.
Davian looked thoughtful, "Maybe you should."
Jael had been mostly speaking to himself, so he hadn’t been expecting a response. "I’m sure Lake told you how he gets around Caspian."
Davian shrugged, "It’s either that or he gets seriously wounded or worse."
Jael pressed his lips tightly enough to make them pale, phone still in hand. He still didn’t make the call, resuming his pacing and ignoring the wreckage going on in the club.
-+-
After finding out that Caspian came to visit, Rosie made arrangements for more snacks, sniffling over the phone to Lake about how she wanted nothing more than to return to join them.
It didn’t take long for Caspian to sport a matching hairband, a look of complete focus on his face as they watched the umpteenth episode of the soap opera Lake had chosen.
"I told her not to bother with more food," Lake muttered when the delivery showed up.
"I’ll get it," Angelo offered, rising to his feet.
"I’ll come with you," Caspian tagged on, already getting off the bed before he could be dissuaded. "I feel like there’s going to be a lot we’ll need to carry."
Angelo nodded with a smile, not mentioning that unless it were several hundred kilograms, he would be able to easily haul it back himself.
Lake was pouting on the bed, wanting to tag alone but already knowing that he would be immediately turned down. In the absence of the others, it was no surprise he immediately thought about his mate.
He considered calling, but then figured that if they were dealing with attacks, a call would be bad timing. It was strange that Davian hadn’t called yet, though, it had already been more than a few hours - was it really that serious?
Caspian didn’t seem to know anything about it, which wasn’t surprising, but now that he had thought about it, he couldn’t shake off the dark thoughts.
Angelo, on the other han,d was thinking along similar lines; he kept pace with Caspian’s shorter legs as the Omega chatted his ear off about the show they had been watching, venting his ire about the one villain he had a love-hate relationship with in the melodrama.
Nikolai and Davian had seemed a little tense earlier that morning because of Asher, but here was his mate, smiling without a care in the world.
"Is your mate alright?" He asked harmlessly.
They were already on their way back to Lake’s room, with bags of snacks, when Angelo asked that.
It gave Caspian pause, thinking about something odd that had happened that morning that he hadn’t given much thought to. Not to mention, what could be so important that Davian would leave Lake all by himself after the little scare that morning?
Asher always kissed him goodbye before he left, but that morning, there had been no goodbye kiss. He thought he had just slept through it, but that was unlikely, he was so used to them that he woke up enough to register them, every single morning.
"Asher? He... I think so?" He murmured uncertainly.
They had gotten to Lake’s room now, Caspian marching forward with purpose. "Where did Davian have to go this morning?"
Lake shared a look with Angelo, he didn’t think it was a big deal to tell Caspian. The Omega already knew about the High Council attacks, he was a part of this as much as they all were.
"Some small-time thugs were attacking a couple of Asher’s clubs, so Jael called over him and Nikolai." Lake tried to say casually, but there was a catch in his voice. If it were simply just small-time thugs, he would have gotten a call from his mate by then.
Angelo frowned, "I thought Jael called them over for Asher."
Caspian turned around slowly, dread in his middle, "For Asher?" He repeated.
Lake was just as confused, Davian had just given him the vaguest of answers, and he hadn’t thought much of it because they were essentially all allies now, so it wasn’t too out of place for Asher to call in favors.
But now that he paid attention to it, why would Asher need help dealing with small-time thugs?
"I’m calling Jael," Caspian decided, dropping off the bags on a table and going over to grab his phone.
Lake sat up for this, patting the bed to invite Angelo over as they watched Caspian ring up Jael at the foot of the bed.
It rang once and then connected, Caspian’s frown morphing into concern at the unsteadiness in Jael’s voice.
"Are you okay?" He had been about to ask about his mate, and then got distracted by Jael.
The Beta cleared his throat, "Uh, yeah... what’s up?"
Caspian didn’t believe this cover-up but he moved on anyway, "Where’s Asher?" He asked calmly, he hadn’t called his mate first because he understood that Asher tended to be very busy.
His mate instantly picked up his calls anyway, but Caspian didn’t like to interrupt.
Jael went strangely silent, "Asher? Yeah... he’s uh..."
Now, Caspian was starting to feel a little terrified. Jael never stuttered. "Is Asher okay?" He enunciated each word, the sound of blood rushing in his ears deafening.
"In a manner of speaking," Jael muttered, "He’s out of control again," He went on, not knowing why the words kept flowing.
Caspian frowned, "But I’m not there."
"It’s different this time, I don’t understand it, he doesn’t seem to recognize anyone-"
Caspian didn’t let him go on, "Where is he? I’m coming over." He said firmly, knowing that the chances of Jael allowing that were very slim.
"Caspian-" Jael immediately tried to discourage him.
"Send the location to Keith and Peter, they’ll bring me over." He cut him off, hanging up.
"There’s something up with Asher," Caspian explained to the other two, staring at him with expectant expressions. "I’m going to him."
Lake didn’t try to dissuade him, a furrow between his brows as he reached for his phone.
"I’ll come with you," Angelo immediately offered.
Caspian shook his head, "There’s no need to. Jael, Davian, and Nikolai will be there, and I have my bodyguards with me. You should stay here and look after Lake." He walked over to hug the pregnant Omega as he said so.
Angelo relaxed after his words. He trusted Nikolai even more than he trusted himself, so he knew that Caspian would be safe. He was startled when Caspian came around the bed to give him a hug too.
"We should definitely do this again," He said with a weak smile that didn’t touch his eyes, "Today doesn’t count."
Caspian didn’t linger long after that, taking out his phone to make a call as he left the room in a vision of pastel blue and white.