Dead Men Smiling

8.0 SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET

Don't misunderstand me when I say that the villain was once the victim.

-----

Before anyone could blink, Sora pulled Dolan into a tight hug which Maximus and Rowan excitedly joined, careful not to injure the Angel's back. Wynter smiled at the reunion as she leaned against the door frame. She rose a brow at Leilani. "Why don't you join them?"

Apart of her cringed at the thought of hugging a Vampire and she wrinkled her nose beneath the mask. She then shrugged. "Too much boy." "oh, I get you."

To say she was shocked when Dolan broke out of the hug to stand in front of her would be an understatement. She held her breath as the gold eyes assessed her before he carefully removed her mask from her face and took her in. "You kept taking the pills."

Another part of Leilani kicked herself at the sound of the surprise in his voice and she cursed herself for messing up their friendship.

Before she could reply, Dolan had turned his attention to Wynter. "Hello. I'm Dolan or Hex when I wear the mask."

Wynter smiled. "I'm Wynter and I know quite a lot about you, young one. Stories from various individuals, really." "All good things I hope?" "Quite."

He nodded, satisfied with her response before calling for Hope to bring snacks and beverages. He the instructed him to join them and smiled as he introduced the latter to his friends.

"What brings you here?" Dolan asked as he watched them eat.

Maximus spoke. "Well, we have a mission to complete and Sora's wings need to come out." "And yourself?" "What about me?"

Dolan tilted his head. "Do you not need me to make more pills?"

Maximus smiled at the question. "Actually, I don't. I'm comfortable in my skin now."

At the words, Dolan wondered about just how much he missed out and sat on the floor, ignoring the bitterness he felt towards Leilani over what she did almost two weeks ago. He smiled. "Tell me everything. Also, Hope put your head on my lap so I can fix those teeth."

Once everyone settled, Maximus started the story with how him and Ren had fought which ended with him leaving after received a letter from Dolan. He then recounted how he had to fake Muse kidnapping Sora so that their names remained in the clear. He paused and glanced at Rowan who frowned and explained how his mother died and he set out to find Maximus and Sora.

Dolan filed the information in his head in case they asked him for his opinion in what happened as he straightened another tooth. From past experiences, he made a sound of acknowledgement every few minutes so as to keep her interest.

Maximus picked up the story once more and told how Sora found a random ring before they met Wynter then lost her to a fire.

Rowan interrupted Maximus with an apology, glanced at the aforementioned and asked her how she survived the fire.

"I'm heat and fire resistant." Wynter replied before smiling, telling Maximus to continue with the story.

He nodded before continuing his tale on how they met the mayor of Greenland and how Sora unlocked Holy Fire.

Dolan straightened. "What did he do?"

Sora glared at the Siren before recounting how the mayor had tried to kill them when Maximus revealed himself to them which he supposed triggered the flame that burnt down her house.

"That was you?" Leilani pondered when something fell into place. "Wait, whose Eric?"

Sora frowned slightly at the name. "No one of importance." "But he seemed to know you and a lot of other things."

Dolan ignored the two as he tried to understand how Sora possibly unlocked the ancient flame. He then stopped straightening the teeth. "I agree with Lani. Who on Earth is Eric?"

Sora deflated. "My father's apprentice and an old friend of mine."

At the silence, Maximus carefully walked them through how they found Leilani and what happened during King's trial where towards the end, Wynter made a reappearance and took them to the Stone Circle. He added how that's where Jez and Reign found them before they were led to Dolan's house.

"Oh, and Rowan claims to be a virgin." Maximus snorted. "I don't buy it."

Leilani shifted in discomfort at the topic that Maximus wanted to venture into and refused to meet any of their eyes. "My father seems to be working with Non-Humans. I saw King Beryll and some red eyed Mage there. He probably has more. What are we going to do?"

"That's easy," Dolan said, "I heal you and stock you up on what you'll need then you'll go fight."

Everyone looked at him with varying degrees of shock which he forced himself to ignore. Leilani was the first to recover. "I'm sorry but was I hallucinating or do you have no intention of fighting with us?"

"That's one way to put it."

"Why don't you want to fight?" Rowan frowned.

Dolan winced at the question and accidentally made eye contact with Leilani before turning his eyes to the teeth. "Frankly, I have no desire to explain myself for that decision."

He patted Hope's cheek when he finished the teeth. "Dinner will be ready soon and I'll start with Rowan."

---

Wynter thought it would be easy to get Dolan to explain himself or at least answer most of her questions after dinner. She thought wrong.

The only thing that the white haired male had told her directly is that things were odd between him and Leilani because they had a fight that made her leave.

"Look, Dolan. I know your fallout with Leilani has little to do with why you don't want to help them anymore or why you deem it safer to not get involved but you committed yourself to this cause and they are your friends; you cannot just abandon them."

Dolan sighed. "I never said anything about abandoning them. I'll help them, just not out there." He then smirked. "You seem to know a lot about us, Wynter; I'm certain you have an idea for my reluctance."

Wynter steeled her reaction. Dolan had her in check and with simple childish wordplay. She pondered what to say when Dolan stood, bored of the conversation. "As lovely as it was talking to you, Wynter. I must get to healing and preparing all of you for whatever you have in mind."

Rowan greeted him at the other side of the door with amusement in his eyes. "It's refreshing not being the one the receiving end of your attitude."

Dolan refused to reply and instead waved his wand over Rowan and compared the results with the ones from the last check-up. "He's stronger." He noted. "You let him out often?"

"No more than I did last year." "You still communicate?"

"The strength growth is still a bit too much. It's actually concerning."

Dolan paused in his musing and frowned slightly catching Rowan's attention who looked at him in alarm as he watched the younger shudder before he collapsed into his arms. The last thing Dolan registered before everything went black was Rowan calling for help.

When Dolan opened his eyes, Wynter was looking at him with a slight smile. "Alright, kids. He's fine."

He could still hear the laughter at the back of his mind before he cut the connection and stared at his hands that he fisted in his lap. "We lost Jess."

Rowan was the first to react. "You're lying. That isn't possible; he can't have let Mira consume him."

"I heard him. He apologized and said he loves us always."

Sora frowned. "Jess is dead?"

Rowan sighed and nodded, knowing that he didn't have to explain what happened. The Angel knew enough about Demons to have an idea.

Maximus and Leilani, however did not have an idea as to what happened. Maximus had no problem voicing that fact.

Dolan brushed his bangs out of his face revealing the scar Leilani gave him that made her wince slightly. "Mira has taken full control of Jess' body. There is no more Vessel that regulates him."