Dead Men Smiling

8.2

The devil you know is better than the angel you don't know.

---

Leilani hugged herself as she felt her strength finish as Rowan let out another heart wrenching scream. she shut her eyes tight, hoping to escape the haunting memories that took place merely hours ago; it felt like it had happened light years ago.

She had just left Maximus after telling him she was looking for Rowan to freeze him and was skipping through the trees, aware that she had the element of surprise n her side when she felt an old yet familiar pain seize her as her senses heightened.

She let out a low pain filled moan as she bent, trying to reduce the pain when she remembered the pills Dolan had given her and swallowed two dry, grimacing at the bitter taste.

She thanked the gods that she carried the container around and wondered vaguely if her taking the pills earlier than prescribed and in a higher dose would affect her in anyway.

A familiar scent reached her nostrils and she decide to follow it when she recognized it as belonging to Rowan. She remembered stifling a giggle so that she wouldn't alert him that she was nearby.

Her heart went cold when she saw him on the forest floor banging his fist against it. If she hadn't known better, she would've asked why he was laughing so hard; she unfortunately knew better than to assume he was happy.

"Ro?" She called as she reached out for him and placed her hand on his shoulder only for him to throw her off him. She grit her teeth as her back collided with a tree, knocking the air out of her lungs. She stood with shaky legs and glared at her writhing friend. "I tried to play nice."

With that she ran towards him and later had him pinned to the ground. She ignored him as he tried to bite her and let out a low growl of warning.

Just like all those nights ago.

She felt panic well up within her at the memory and scrambled off him, trying to regulate her breathing. She scrambled towards the tree and shut her eyes, trying to erase her least favourite night from her mind.

Heavy breathing as he tried to throw her off... her trying to force his clothes off him... Beast coming out and pinning her down... her forcing him to kiss her before she.

A pain that she knew wasn't her own filled her very soul as she cried, mourning everything and nothing at the same time.

"There they are."

Through the confusion in her head, she had vaguely registered someone carrying her and pressing on the crown-meridian pressure point

She snapped out of the memory when Sora put a hand on her shoulder. He wasn't looking at her but at Maximus who was signing a lullaby that Mason used to sign to them on the rare occasion when she slept over at the orphanage.

Maximus stopped signing, suddenly feeling self conscious. "Is it too soon?"

The Angel shook his head laughing lightly. "I just thought you were too big for lullabies back then." "I was a brat of a kid then. I never appreciated the family I had and constantly sought out approval from the older kids. I'm not that little boy anymore; I would to kick him in the butt though."

Leilani shut her eyes, forcing the taunting voices at bay before smiling at Maximus. "Well, you've changed and that's all that matters." She ignored the part of her that hated Non-humans and frowned slightly. "I was updated on the news when we were on probation, how come they never had Muse in custody when we were all arrested?"

Maximus didn't like the question or how the other looked at him, expecting an answer. He they wouldn't like the answer and would have a hard time trusting him if they ever found out what he had to do to escape. He sighed, knowing that he still owed them the truth and opened his mouth when he realized that they couldn't hear Rowan's screams. "Do you hear that?"

Sora nodded and looked hopefully in the direction of the room Rowan currently was. "Perhaps they finally found out what was wrong."

---

They hadn't figured anything out at all.

Wynter slumped against the wall looking older than she really was. She felt the gold eyes assessing her and smiled wryly. "Dolan, I understand that I'm attractive but you are too young and have all the wrong parts."

He sorted in amusement. "Not what I was thinking, Wynter."

He then cast a concerned look at both Beast and Rowan's vitals while the vessel screamed and fitted silently. Dolan couldn't

couldn't help but think that the silent pain looked worse than when he was heard. "He shouldn't be powering up at this rate. It doesn't make any sense."

They both watched as the vitals showed that the two were at their full power and simultaneously sighed when Rowan stopped fitting.

That was when Dolan caught sight of something gold on one of Rowan's fingers. He was now staring at it in his hands and sighed when a faint memory of what it was came to mind.

"Wynter?"

"Yes?" "Correct me if I'm wrong but Sora had once picked a random ring and later unlocked Holy Fire, right?"

Wynter made a sound of affirmation, jumping slightly when Dolan let out a frustrated growl. "Why on Earth don't they ever listen to me?"

---

While Rowan was recovering, the other members of the rebellion watched Dolan warily as they waited for him to speak since he walked out of the room and placed a gold ring on the table while dutifully not making eye contact with anyone.

"He's pissed off for sure." Sora muttered to Maximus who flipped the page of his book, feigning calm. "I'm not surprised. I'm just concerned with the silent treatment; it makes me feel uneasy."

"I cannot believe that he's guilt tripping us with silence."

Leilani snorted. "Well you better believe it and I'm not even certain why I feel guilty when I've never seen that ring in my life."

Dolan finally looked up and turned his eyes to Leilani who in turn watched him apprehensively. He remembered Sora carrying her in and the intense shaking when she had been semi-conscious but had disregarded it at the time. He squatted in front of het and placed his hands on her knees for balance.

"You doubled the dose, I presume?" He muttered after watching her for some time.

She frowned and hung her head. "I'm sorry. It was too much in the moment; I'll do better, I promise."

She saw the conflict in his eyes as he caught on with exactly what she was apologizing for. He sighed and nodded. "All is forgiven, Lani."

Even as he stood, she could still see the concern in his eyes and decided that he was hiding something.

Dolan locked eyes with Sora who had an air of defense surrounding him. He then opened his mouth before closing it when Wynter walked in and announced that Rowan had woken up.

Despite Dolan being the youngest, one could wonder how he was able to control a poetic and elusive Siren, say warrior Angel, anti-violence vessel with an anti-anti-violence demon and an ex-Queen who were all older than him with just a glance.

Hope watched with interest as a floating notepad scribbled all of Dolan's thoughts while he analyzed the results of the series of checkups he held.

Hope risked a glance at Wynter who nervously chewed her nails before he decided that his own anxiousness was enough.

When Dolan finally looked up, he frowned at the looks everyone was giving him before swallowing his anger and smiling brightly at his friends as he sat cross-legged on the floor, looking at them with a curious glint in his eyes. "Relax."

The effect of his words was immediate, the tension in the room diffused and everyone relaxed. Dolan held up the gold ring and kept the smile as he asked them who exactly had come across the ring first.