Who: Adrian and Kane When: night, Monday, June 18th Where: Witcham Road, Blackwater Woods Warning: badness Status: complete, Part 2
Kane hardly knew he was going to move until his hand darted up and cracked Adrian hard across the face. The sting in his palm was satisfying, but still not quite what he wanted. “Stop negotiating,” he said, his voice still low and calm. “You get to go when I say you can go.” He took a drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke in Adrian’s direction. “So all you saw was black, huh? Nobody came for you? No light at the end of the tunnel or any of that shit?” Kane had always wondered what it was like on the other side of all the death he bore witness to. Reaping souls was still something of a mystery to him, all these years later. It wasn’t like he could talk to them. He was just there to make sure they crossed over ... or didn’t, in his case.
The smack was hard enough that Adrian felt dizzier and impotent rage flared up inside him, making him want to charge, maim, do some damage. It wasn't so much the pain as it was the indignation of it and when he got his bearings again he looked up with seething anger in his eyes. "You were hoping for something else?" he asked. "That's what this is all about? You're scared of dying?" Wasn't nothing preferable to something in that case? He couldn't imagine this man going anywhere but hell - but then again he couldn't imagine anything different for himself either. He was glad he hadn't seen anything, but he feared it was only because of the brevity of his death.
That anger in Adrian’s eyes was delicious for some reason, and Kane wanted to smack him again just to increase it. He almost wanted to unlock his hands so the two of them could duke it out like men, no tricks, no weapons, just a good old fashioned fistfight. Kane was sure Adrian would try to kill him with something though, so he wasn’t taking the chance. He got up closer again, his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. “Scared’s got nothin’ to do with it,” he said, reaching up to grab Adrian’s jaw to hold his face still with one hand. The other brought the red cherry of his cigarette close to his cheek, enough for Adrian to feel the heat. “You wanna know what I do, Adrian? I reap souls. And I ain’t being poetic. Ever since I was a kid, too young for this shit, I get drawn to death. Hospitals, houses, out in the fuckin’ woods, murders, suicides, it calls to me. And I go and I wait and I see the soul leave the body and I usher it through the veil. I dunno how many of us there are, if it’s even enough to cover demand. Maybe that’s why there’s so many fuckin’ spirits stuck here. But nobody came for you, did they? Maybe you wasn’t dead long enough, maybe you don’t have a soul left. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
It was hard to tell if what he was hearing was the truth or just the ramblings of a mad man. With the life Adrian had led, both seemed entirely possible. He tried to pull away from the heat against his face, but the grip on his jaw kept him right where he was wanted and the fear inside of him warred with his anger. Raging out wouldn't keep him alive, he reminded himself and immediately argued that he wasn't going to live through this anyway, there was no way this guy was going to let him go so why give him the satisfaction of fear in his last moments? There was that small, desperate hope of 'what if' though, tempering his anger, holding back the vitrole he wanted to spit out. "So you're a Grim Reaper?" he asked through clenched teeth. "Shouldn't you know more about death than me then?"
Kane’s nose wrinkled at that damn name -- he hated it, and every other trope that was associated with Death with a capital D. He understood why they existed, but he was no damn wise skeleton in a black robe with a scythe, mumbling about cosmic balances and shit. Kane wished he knew enough to mumble about the cosmos. He didn’t even know where the spirits went when he did his job, or if they just blinked out of existence or what. Adrian’s question just rubbed salt in that old wound. “I should,” he agreed, clearly irritated about it. “I really fuckin’ should, but I don’t. No one ever explained shit to me, how any of it worked, I thought I was losing my mind as a teenager, and I damn sure couldn’t tell anybody.” He wet his lips and stared hard at Adrian for another heartbeat before adding, “Maybe you and me have that in common.” He tucked the cigarette back into his mouth for another drag, eyes still locked on his captive. “I did learn that certain souls are worth money though. There’s a market for monster spirits. And I learned how to catch ‘em. Now I gotta figure if you’re worth anything anymore.”
"Jesus," Adrian whispered on reflex, a cold lump settling in his stomach. Selling souls was not something he'd ever thought about, monsters or not, and he realized that maybe he had bigger worries than death tonight. He'd been raised catholic and while he wasn't sure how much of it all he believed there was always that underlying guilt and fear when it came to the afterlife. "I doubt a human soul is worth much," he muttered, swallowing dryly. "There's billions of them." Was his soul human? Did he have a soul? If he had a soul, was it a separate entity from him that would go wherever and his consciousness would just fade out? Fuck, he hated existential dread and all that cosmic shit and thinking about it when certain he was about to die was fifty times worse.
There was more of that fear that made him tingle. Kane studied Adrian’s face, drinking it in. He honestly didn’t know if there was any consciousness tied to the souls he stole, if they were aware of what was happening to them. In his more kind moments, he hoped that consciousness died with the brain, and all he was taking was some mindless essence. Kane had never asked his buyers and he honestly didn’t want to know the answer. In moments like this ... Kane wanted them to suffer for as long as they existed. To be aware of their tiny glass prison. He wanted them to feel themselves ripped apart by magic when they were used, molecule by molecule. “You bet right,” he said with a faint twitch of his lips. “Humans ain’t worth shit. But are you human? You sure that wendigo is gone? Or is it just sleepin’? You said you were starving for years ... do I starve you again to wake it up?”
"I was starving no matter what I ate," Adrian said, trying to smother that desperation he felt so his words sounded colder than they did pleading. "After the ritual I'd forget to eat so no, it's not there anymore." He wondered if he'd ever feel that starved again, if it was possible to be that hungry without the infection. Probably, but it had been an intense feeling and one that never fully went away. Until now. He'd gotten to enjoy it for one damn weekend and now he was going to lose his life. "Starve me, kill me, it won't get you what you want, you'll get nothing out of this but a cheap soul and a body to bury." He jerked against his bindings, frustration mingling in with every other emotion he was feeling. His shoulders were starting to hurt, his jaw hurt and his skin itched from the dried blood still there. And he was cold. He'd never been this cold before the ritual but with his shirt torn open, he was feeling the chill in the air.
Starving the wendigo out of him sounded like it would take too long anyway. Kane felt especially short of patience today. He lifted his right leg and braced his boot against Adrian’s thigh for a moment to yank his pant leg up and pull the pistol out of his calf holster. He gave a little push before he dropped his foot and stuck the barrel of the gun in Adrian’s chest. “You don’t even know what I want out of this, asshole,” he growled, anger flashing through him that he didn’t know what to do with. Maybe part of it was that he didn’t know what he wanted out of it either. He could have killed Adrian a hundred times by now and been done with it, but that wasn’t what he wanted. Part of him wanted to talk more, get more questions answered, pursue that fascination he had. Part of him wanted to beat the shit out of the man-thing who had gotten under his skin so much. An even baser part wanted to fuck him while he was at Kane’s mercy.
Adrian was already scared and angry and he didn't think he could get more so, but then there was a gun involved and for whatever reason, guns just freaked him the hell out. Maybe it was the job; he'd seen what guns could do, the damage even an accidental and non-fatal shot could leave behind. It was nothing like the movies where people got shot in the leg and recovered just fine. There was a gun pressed against his chest and he felt like he couldn't breathe, expected the loud ringing noise as Kane pulled the trigger, for his entire insides to get shredded. "Do you even know what you want?" he whispered and the words came out almost slurred, shaken as color drained out of his face.
Kane could almost feel the shift in the air and he saw that Adrian was really afraid now. It sent another surge of adrenaline and excitement through him, and he felt his cock get half hard. He supposed it made sense that a knife wouldn’t be as powerful as a gun -- he’d been the one hurt by a blade last time. But having that molded grip in his hand felt good and natural, and it obviously had an effect on Adrian. Kane kept his finger off the trigger, years of training embedded in his muscle memory, but he moved the muzzle up until the was pressed against the soft spot under Adrian’s jaw. “That’s an ever-evolving beast, isn’t it?” he muttered, leaning in closer again. “I’m still assessing what you can give me, Adrian. You got any suggestions?”
Nothing. There was nothing Adrian could give him and he knew it, nothing that would make him let him go and the cool metal against his neck made it hard to breathe. He couldn't see that the finger wasn't on the trigger, couldn't really comprehend anything around him except that imminent threat of noise and death. He stared blankly up at nothing, fear coursing through him like ice as he tried to think of something, anything, this close to begging. Then it stopped. The fear, the cold, the pain - it all just stopped. For a second he thought that was it, he was dead and it had happened too fast for him to hear it happen but no, he could still feel the chains, the gun and the presence of the man standing so close to him, could smell him now, feel the warmth radiating off his skin. He'd been seconds away from openly weeping but now he relaxed, fixing his gaze on the man's face, really looking at him. "Is this where I offer to suck your dick?" he asked coolly, still assessing just what had changed. There was clarity and there was hunger so it didn't take a genius to figure out something had cracked in the spell that kept the beast at bay - and yet he still felt more in control of it than he ever had.
Another shift. This one caught Kane a bit more off guard, and his brows lifted slightly as their gazes locked. Adrian didn’t look any different, but he did at the same time. That delicious fear was gone, replaced by something he couldn’t put his finger on yet. It still made him tingle with anticipation though. “Is that something you wanna put on the table?” Kane murmured, one corner of his mouth quirking upward a bit. He didn’t trust Adrian enough to risk getting his dick bitten off, that was for sure, but imagining those pretty lips wrapped around his cock was definitely a nice mental picture. Watching Adrian’s eyes, Kane moved the gun even higher, pushing it into the spot just under his cheekbone. “Pretty uninspired, in my opinion.”
It's just a gun, Adrian thought and it was such a welcome feeling, the sudden absence of fear where just seconds ago he'd been about to break under the pressure of it. "You're getting off on this," he said and nudged the gun with his head. He could practically feel the arousal, that tension in the man's whole body, the dark glee in his eyes. Without the fear clouding his vision, Adrian even thought he kinda liked his face, a weird mix of hatred and amusement coursing through him now and he wasn't affected by that tension. He smiled faintly. "You're not going to kill me." He tilted his head back to get a better look at the gun. "Trigger safety. That's good."
Maybe he should have waited. If he'd had any fear left in him he might have waited for a better moment, but some part of him said he might be wrong, that without the fear that seemed to be getting this guy off, he might just put a bullet in him if he didn't move fast. He subtly grabbed hold of the chains he was all but hanging from while he spoke and just as he let out the last words, he jerked down on them, making the beam above him shatter and come raining down on them.
The huge noise from above startled Kane and that trigger finger was quick to move and squeeze. His arm and Adrian’s head had both also moved though, and in the sudden chaos as part of the ceiling came down, he had no idea if the bullet hit anything. Splintered and heavy wood did hit him however, and Kane stumbled backward and lost his footing, dropping the gun as his arms came up to try and protect his head. He was now steeped in his own fear -- he’d seen something shift in Adrian, but now he was one hundred percent sure he was dealing with the wendigo. He hadn’t needed to starve him at all, apparently it had only taken some mortal peril.
Adrian had never felt this fast and strong, not without lack of control and a serious case of starvation but he felt clear headed and the hunger that was beginning to consume him was weirdly manageable. There was a leash on him, he could feel it in a way, something holding him back as he moved swiftly to knock the bigger man down and pull him towards himself. There were still chains on his feet so he couldn't move to straddle him like he wanted to and he couldn't move far either with the way the chains were attached to something behind him but he found it easy to pin his arms down above his head with one hand to make him stay put, patting him down with his other. He clucked his tongue as he found the keys, scooting back to unlock the ones on his ankles first, sweeping the gun farther away as he did so. Some of the debris had hit his head but he barely felt it, just like he barely felt where he'd been hit before. "Stay put," he growled, a mockery of what he'd been told when they first got there.
It felt intensely weird and good and bad to be manhandled like that, and Kane felt a spike of arousal that accompanied the spike of fear. Adrian definitely felt stronger now than he had moments ago or when they’d wrestled over the wooden plank. It seemed that his little ritual hadn’t actually rid him of the wendigo like he claimed. If Kane hadn’t been in such a vulnerable position, he would have been fascinated. Dread pooled in his stomach as he watched Adrian start to unlock himself, and Kane’s head started twisting around, looking for where the gun had gone. He didn’t know if he could kill a wendigo with a gun, but he would certainly try. Kane spotted the pistol amongst the wooden chunks and scrambled for it.
Unfortunately his scrambling brought him closer to Adrian who simply put his hand out and shoved him back with no effort, sending him flying a few feet back. "I said stay put," he said calmly, his feet now free. Would this last, he wondered? Was he running out of time? He didn't feel like it and there was a cockiness inside of him overpowering whatever caution was trying to make itself heard. He got up to his feet and he didn't remember ever being able to do that so fluently, it made him feel like fucking Superman and he grinned faintly to himself as he walked over to his captor turned captive, kicking him back before he had the chance to sit up, moving swiftly to straddle him and catch his wrists again. "The tables have turned," he murmured. "You still got that knife?"
Kane landed hard on some debris and grunted as pain flared in his back. Fuck, this was bad. He was obviously no physical match for Adrian now, his only firearm was out of reach ... by the time he thought of the knife in his pocket Adrian’s boot was in his chest and Kane fell back again. He struggled against the grip on his wrists enough to know how strong it was, then tried to buck Adrian off of him. Neither of those did him much good, so Kane stopped, his jaw set and his nostrils flaring with every breath. “You gonna bleed me out again?” he muttered tightly, glaring up at the not-man on top of him. A monster, just like he’d thought, without as much of a leash as he’d tried to make Kane believe. “Have a snack? I see you, motherfucker, I knew you wasn't gone.”
Adrian's injuries were already healing, he could feel that at least, but he wasn't interested in testing the theory by getting a knife embedded in his flank. "That would be easy," he said. "Bleeding you out. That what you wanted to do to me? For the record, motherfucker, dying hurts like a bitch." He held Kane's wrists with one hand as he unlocked his chains, switching hands as he went. "I wasn't lying to you," he muttered as the chains clanked free. "I didn't think it was still there, I couldn't feel it at all. Something's different too, that witch didn't do what he said he would. Can't trust anyone, I guess." He patted him down, pulling the knife and a wallet from him, glancing at the ID inside. "Owen Johnson?" he said with a little frown. "You don't look like an Owen."
Those hands were fast and strong, not budging when Kane pushed against the single palm pinning him. Not that he could’ve gone far even with his hands free, Adrian’s weight on him felt immovable ... and kind of good. Kane’s brain was all jumbled -- there was fear that these were going to be his last moments, there was regret that Bailey would never know what happened to him, there was anger that he didn’t immediately kill Adrian when he could have, a resignation that of course he would die this way, all of it tinged with lust. Kane couldn’t explain that last part beyond having found Adrian attractive from the start, but it felt like more than that. Having Adrian as his captive had aroused him, and it hadn’t seemed to stop even with their positions reversed. “And you don’t look like a cannibal, so much for looks,” he muttered. The ID was fake, and while he went by Owen as an alias in a lot of situations, hearing it out of Adrian’s mouth rubbed him wrong. It was a stupid thing to focus on, but what else could he do?
There was a flare of anger in Adrian at those words, the denial and shame for what he'd done was so strong and every reminder of it, any hint that someone knew what he'd done, was a trigger. He didn't let himself react to it. Owen didn't know he'd done it, he was just baiting him. "I'm not a fucking cannibal," he said calmly, dropping the ID and wallet on the floor and looking the chains that had held him over. It was tempting to be mean and tie the guy up the way he'd been tied up earlier but he wasn't feeling overly sadistic, nor did he really want to kill him. He wasn't sure if that was just his own nature - he liked to save people, not hurt them - or if this was something Caius D'Onofrio had done to him, a part of the leash, discouraging him from doing damage. It didn't really matter, he didn't really feel like anything was holding him back. "These are handy," he commented instead with some fascination. Where did a guy like this even get stuff like that, they looked like something out of prison, nothing amateur about them. "You use these a lot? Kidnapping people? Torturing them?" The chains locked around Owen's wrists with a satisfying click and Adrian looked around for a good place to tie him to.
“Not people,” he hissed through his teeth. Kane did not want to be chained up, and he started to struggle more as Adrian got his wrists bound. He didn’t actually capture monsters very often either, and he hadn’t legitimately tortured anything in a very long time. Something about Adrian Moretti and his wendigo-self had wormed its way inside of Kane’s brain and made him all fucked up and stupid, and now he was going to die because of it. He wasn’t afraid of pain, but death was a different story. Kane didn’t have the luxury of believing it was The End, he knew there was something he ushered those souls into, and he had the feeling it was going to be highly unpleasant for him. For eternity. So he tried to fight again. If he could only get the chain between his wrists around Adrian’s neck, he might have a chance at getting out of this.
He was probably lucky he didn't get far enough for Adrian to realize what it was he was trying to do, his death - however temporary - was still a sore point with him as well as the painful recovery afterward. But Adrian held his hands down easily and when he'd fastened the cuffs he got up and dragged his captive unceremoniously toward the bare, metal bed, fastening the chain to the sorry excuse for a headboard once he'd tested it - careful not to use all his strength. So that was tricky, he didn't know how strong this guy was, he just knew he'd been a lot stronger than Adrian - until now. He knew there was plenty of fight left in him so he didn't leave him unattended for even a second, straddling his lap again to keep him from getting up or kicking. He had the weird thought that he kind of liked sitting there too and that wasn't something he'd be terribly interested in investigating if he couldn't practically feel his captive's arousal. "You getting off on this, Owen?" he drawled, but his amusement was slowly fading as the reality of the situation was dawning on him again. He'd killed once before and buried that body in the woods. He'd swore never to do that again and despite their history, he didn't want to kill this guy.
There was no question it was all hot on some level, even with the mortal peril involved. That was probably fucked up of him, but so many things were, he’d stopped counting. Maybe it was tied to the crazy-strong lust that had filled him earlier in the day, maybe his body was just clinging to anything that wasn’t fear and death, he didn’t know ... but Adrian’s weight felt damn good on his lap. And since this was likely the end of his fucked up life, who honestly gave a shit? “This is all foreplay to me, baby,” Kane muttered, but he couldn’t quite put the bravado into it that he’d meant to. Kane yanked on the chains a bit, but the wrought-iron bed didn’t move. He wet his lips and shifted a bit under Adrian. “It’s Kane, actually,” he added. “My name. Owen’s an alias. If you’re gonna kill me, call me Kane.” He didn’t want to die with ‘Owen’ ringing in his ears, it reminded him too much of being in the Marines, reduced to last name, rank, and serial number. He had monstrous qualities sometimes, but he was a full person. Adrian probably wouldn’t give a shit, but since he’d asked, Kane thought he might as well be honest.
Adrian was realizing more and more that he wasn't going to kill him and that was a problem. Killing him would probably be the easiest out - nobody knew they were out here, he was supposed to be in Portland. Would anyone even miss this guy? He wasn't sure which other path to take either. Scare the shit out of him to keep him off his back or try to reason with him? Neither seemed like it would work. For now he was just winging it, trying to figure this guy out, biding his time. That fear in his eyes was weirdly appealing to someone who claimed not to be sadistic and Adrian wasn't too sure it was just because his inner beast had surfaced. Trauma had changed him in ways he couldn't even begin to realize and now that he was in control and not fearing for his life, this wasn't the worst situation to be in. "Kane," he muttered, studying his face and then patting Kane's cheek lightly. "Suits you better. Why'd you let your guard down? You said you killed monsters for a living and I'm nowhere near the worst monster out there. Maybe you're just a really shitty hunter."
The pat on the cheek made Kane want to bite at Adrian’s fingers, but not even that hard. The fight felt like it was draining out of him. Today had been tiring, though he had no one to blame but himself for that. Even with the nap he’d gotten with Red, Kane was worn out all of the sudden. Almost ... resigned? He still didn’t want to die, but if it had to be here and now, that was what it had to be. His reasoning for all of this was getting more foggy and hard to remember, but he’d obviously really fucked himself over this time. “I dunno, maybe,” he muttered, his eyes on Adrian’s face. “I’ve lived this long. This ain’t usually my MO ... Somethin’ about you just ... got me fucked up.” He couldn’t explain it, and it would probably be a waste of breath to try. Kane was tempted to try to bargain with him, promise that he could steer clear if Adrian could, no more obsession and revenge, but he didn’t want to go out begging.
The shift in mood was subtle but still noticeable and Adrian narrowed his eyes as he studied him. "Well I'm not flattered," Adrian huffed. "I'm trying to get my life back together and you just keep getting in my fucking way." There it was, that hunger starting up again, starting in the core of his being and spreading out slowly like a chill. He hadn't missed that part of his curse one bit, that all consuming sense of starvation. He needed to eat soon and there was no way he was eating this hunter. There was still an urge there to hurt him that had nothing to do with the hunger, payback for all the hurt he'd caused Adrian, but thinking about slicing Kane up or punching him did nothing for him. Adrian tried to cling to the idea that this just meant they weren't the same but it was still a problem. A big, fat problem that would probably bite him in the ass later. "I probably should kill you but I don't want to, that's not who I am. I help people, I'm an RN for fuck's sake. I want my job back, my life back, for my family not to suffer more because of me. So how do I keep you off my back, Kane? I told you everything I know, there are bigger monsters out there for you to hunt." One in the woods right now that a whole security team couldn't take down with guns. That just meant he couldn't leave Kane here tied up because then the more humane thing would be to put a bullet in his head.
Guilt was worming its way into Kane’s mind, and he couldn’t quite grasp anymore why he’d done this. He’d been obsessing over Adrian, yes, trying to figure out what he was and how he’d come back to life after Kane had killed him during another crazy night when he didn’t feel in control of himself. And here he was again, making similar aggressive mistakes. This wasn’t how he usually did things, he knew the monsters he killed were monsters, a lot of them weren’t even fully sentient. But here was a handsome man sitting on his lap who’d already done all he could to handle his affliction, to make himself not a danger. Kane hadn’t known that, of course, but fuck. At least he hadn’t blown Adrian’s head off without asking questions. “Would you even believe me now if I said it was done?” he murmured, his gaze still steady. “Look ... I ain’t gonna make excuses or beg for my life. You’d probably be doin’ me a favor. But ... I didn’t mean to kill you that first time. That night ... everything was fucked up. This town does that shit sometimes, you know? Fucks people’s minds up. You should know, you’re a nurse. Tonight, now, I dunno, it was ... impulsive. I didn’t wanna kill you either, or you’d be dead. Or maybe back already, I don’t fuckin’ know. Believe me or not, I just ... needed to know. I got a little sister too, take my promise on her. It’s done.”
Adrian didn't really believe him and the little sister line felt like it was specifically designed to get to him. Kane knew everything about him, that included Mila and that he was living with her. It didn't take a genius to know they were close, she'd probably texted him already, frustrated that he hadn't let her know where he was. He didn't even know what time it was now, how long he'd been out. "I really want to believe you," he said while some small part of him said he should just kill Kane now; he could eat all of him until there was nothing left but bones. Hell, he could probably crush those bones and eat them too. It didn't make his stomach turn to think about it like it should, it was simply appealing on a very primal basis. The difference was, he didn't feel out of control right now, Caius might not have boxed this monster up really well but he had put a leash on it. "I chalked that first time up to the town crazy, but tonight was something different." He gave a frustrated sigh as he got up off Kane and headed to the door, picking up the gun on his way. "Stay put."
Kane would let Adrian kill him before he revealed who his sister was, just in case all that seeming compassion and humanity was a ruse, but he meant it. He knew about Adrian’s sister, and his parents, and a lot of things about him, but he would never stoop so low as to go after the guy’s family. He’d meant it as a way for them to connect over something, but it looked like it fell flat. “This where I offer to suck your dick?” he said to Adrian’s back as he left, echoing his line from earlier. Kane wasn’t sure where he got the nerve to make jokes, but there it was. As soon as Adrian had disappeared through the door, Kane sat up straighter and started pulling harder on the chain binding him to the metal bed, shifting it around and hunting for a weak spot. The cuffs weren’t going to break, but maybe the bed would. In spite of the resignation weighing on his chest, it was instinctual to try to get free.
Adrian smiled wryly at the question, shaking his head as he headed for Kane's car. He wasn't sure what he was expecting from a hunter's car, he shouldn't have been surprised by the amount of weapons and gadgets in the trunk but he still was. It made the threat to his life feel even more real and he sighed to himself as he grabbed some things he might need before searching the rest of the vehicle for his belongings. His phone was in the glove compartment, along with his wallet, car keys and Kane's phone. He put Kane's gun in there after removing everything else, then headed back to the trunk. Kane's phone was locked so he checked his own and found one message from Mila reminding him to check in when he was in Portland. Adrian sent her a quick message telling her he was already at the apartment and about to go to sleep. It was a few minutes past midnight but he had no doubt that if she was asleep already, she'd be waking up on the regular just to check her phone.
"I thought I told you to stay put," he said when he returned and the first thing he saw when he walked through the door was Kane's struggle. It was futile, even if the bed hadn't held, Adrian had Kane's weapons and he still felt that undeniable power rushing through his veins even if it felt a little more subdued now, like an adrenaline rush wearing off. Getting the thumbprint off Kane was easy with his hands tied and Adrian wasn't really surprised to see he didn't have many contacts in there. "Bailey. That your sister? She a hunter too?" he asked, watching Kane for his reaction which would probably be more truthful than his words.
Kane grumbled that he hadn’t actually gone anywhere, and tried to fist his hands up when Adrian attempted to unlock his phone, but he was too slow. His jaw clenched and he glared with renewed anger at hearing his sister’s name come out of Adrian’s mouth. “She’s not,” he said shortly. “She’s a civil servant, just like you. And if you do anything to her, I will fucking gut you.” Kane yanked on the chains hard for emphasis. “Let’s see you come back from that.” It probably wasn’t the best thing to say to someone who had all the power in the situation and still might kill him, but if anything made him irrational, it was Bailey. They had their problems, but if she got hurt or dead because of him, Kane would avenge the fuck out of her, and then never forigve himself.
Adrian bit down some dumb line about Kane being pretty bold for a dead man. If Adrian was anyone else - anything else - that's what he would be, but Adrian had no intention of killing him and it was starting to look like maybe he wouldn't have to. He liked that flare of anger though; Kane had gone pliant and quiet and this was a good reminder that he was anything but harmless. It was also weirdly hot and Adrian thought he might just want to sit back down on his lap and tease him for a while, let himself be the villain for a change. He tried so hard to hide his darkness from everyone around him, the horrible things he'd done. This was the first time he felt seen in a long time and it made him feel all sorts of strange things. There was an urge to tell Kane everything, like speaking about it might work something akin to confession and unburden his soul. Kane wouldn't judge him any harder than he already did, there was nothing to lose here. He copied Bailey's number onto his own phone, then moved to crouch down next to Kane again. He had a million questions for him, but he was hungry and he doubted Kane would answer any of them honestly so there was only one thing he really needed to know right now. "Where'd you leave my car?"
Kane did not like that Adrian seemed to be saving Bailey’s number, and being obvious about it. He would have to tell her to block any weird calls she got ... but Adrian was probably just doing that for insurance. To keep Kane from coming after him, even the playing field a bit. Only Kane knew all kinds of shit about Mila Moretti, Adrian didn’t even know Bailey’s last name. He hoped that would be enough to keep her safe. Unaware of his captor’s temptation, Kane just glared at him until he was at eye-level again. He realized then that Adrian might just take his SUV and leave him here, chained up to the metal bed, no way to call anyone, easy prey for anything that might wander in through the open door. There were things in the woods that would sniff him out, some of them natural, some of them not. If he couldn’t get loose, he might as well just knock over one of the oil lamps and let himself burn. “Why? You gonna leave me locked up here?” he challenged, pulling his knees up since Adrian wasn’t sitting on him anymore. “If you want it back, you gotta take me with you.”
"I'm not leaving you here," Adrian told him with an incredulous grimace. "I told you I don't want to kill you. I've seen what's out here, I can fucking hear it moving around right now. Leaving you is the same as killing you. Now, where'd you leave my car? At the gas station?" Technically his mother's car, which Kane probably already knew if he'd rummaged through it at all. Adrian wasn't so sure he had, he'd had a knocked out captive to deal with, ditching the car probably hadn't taken long. "You didn't have much time, did you. So near the gas station I'm guessing. You gonna make me look for it?"
He could’ve easily been lying about not leaving Kane behind, but it wasn’t like Kane could do shit about it. The bit about being able to hear predators out there was interesting, but he was sure Adrian was tired of questions from him, so he didn’t address it. Kane stared at him for a beat, then sighed and nodded. “It’s parked at the gas station,” he muttered. Maybe that bit of information would seal his fate, he didn’t know. He was now just a tired idiot in prison chains, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Adrian felt just as much like an idiot, possibly sealing his own fate by letting Kane live. This whole thing was a sticky situation he didn't know how to get out of and letting Kane go might be suicidal but he really didn't feel like he had any other choice. "The next time you see me, you turn around and walk the other way," he told him with no way of knowing whether promises or threats would do a damn thing to keep him safe. He was going to have to be careful, he was going to have to maintain this state somehow, to be strong enough to fight back if Kane came after him again. He fondled the syringe in his pocket, one of the many he'd found in Kane's car and it was probably lucky he knew a thing or two about medicine because the dosage in this one was not for humans - a half would do and the whole thing might kill Kane unless his not being fully human would affect it. Adrian planned to catch him by surprise, he wasn't about to let him know how high a dosage he was giving him, not wanting him to fake unconsciousness if it came down to that. "This is a one time deal to walk away alive, you got that?"
Adrian’s hand in his pocket had not escaped Kane’s notice, and he was fairly sure there was a weapon in there. Another knife to jam into his femoral artery, maybe. Or one of the big animal tranquilizers he sometimes used to put down something far larger than he was. Either one would kill him, and at the moment he felt pretty ready to go. All of the rage and lust and obsessive curiosity and the shit that had kept him running all day had drained away. It left him feeling low and hollow inside. Adrian’s words didn’t jive with someone about to murder him, but Kane felt like that probably didn’t matter. They’d both said all kinds of shit to each other tonight. “I got it,” he said quietly. “It’s done. Long as you stay the fuck away from my sister, I’ll walk away.” Kane couldn’t muster up much heat for the words, but there was a little more bite when he thought about Bailey again. He almost asked for his phone so he could send her one last text before Adrian used whatever was in his pocket, but he knew the answer to that already, so he didn’t bother.
"I'll stay the fuck away from your sister," Adrian promised. "And you stay the fuck away from mine." He paused, watching Kane's face thoughtfully before he got the syringe out of his pocket and jammed it in his neck. "Goodnight, Kane," he murmured, stopping the pusher at the halfway mark, and watching carefully for the effects. He just hoped Kane didn't have allergies of some sort, Adrian wasn't so sure he could save his life if this went badly. It was still a better option than dragging him out of there awake, potentially kicking or screaming when they got anywhere near town, potentially doing something to drive them both off the road. It didn't look like he had that kind of fight in him anymore but he could be saving his energy and biding his time for the right moment. This was better. He watched his head slump down then waited another beat before unlocking the chains. It was Kane's turn to lie in that cramped back seat and wake up dizzy and confused. At least Adrian was letting him wake up, in his own car with his own keys and phone no less. It felt too generous, like he should be seeking petty vengeance for the pain and fear he'd caused, but Adrian needed to get the hell out of there. He also needed to buy about five sandwiches at that gas station to tidy him over for the trip, then hope that the hunger went away again.