Cassian watched Constantine, covered in blood from head to toe, with an attention that went far beyond simple curiosity.

  A horrible question slowly formed in her mind like poison spreading.

  Did this blood belong to Charlotte?

  If that was the case...

  A shiver ran down her spine.

  She would never have thought Constantine was that kind of person.

  Never.

  He had always seemed so... perfect.

  Maybe too perfect.

  Besides, why was he in her apartment exactly?

  And if he saw her now, alone and isolated, what would he do?

  Her fingers clenched slightly.

  Constantine observed the two beasts tearing each other apart with a detached expression.

  He didn't need to intervene.

  Axis was already handling the werewolf very well on his own.

  The fight was brutal but balanced.

  He turned toward the gaping hole in the wall, ready to jump down into the street below.

  A movement caught the corner of his eye.

  A door closing softly.

  Too softly.

  As if someone was trying not to be noticed.

  Cassian, having closed the bedroom door as silently as possible, leaned back against the wood.

  Her breathing was slightly accelerated.

  A few seconds passed.

  KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

  She screamed internally while gritting her teeth.

  Shit.

  She had been spotted.

  Obviously.

  She took a deep breath to calm herself.

  Opened the door so as not to look suspicious.

  Constantine stood in front of her, a surprised expression on his perfect face despite the blood covering him.

  "What are you doing here?"

  His voice carried genuine curiosity.

  Cassian blinked several times.

  "I live here."

  She paused.

  "This is my place."

  Constantine looked around as if truly seeing the place for the first time.

  Then his gaze settled on the two beasts still ferociously fighting.

  CRASH.

  They eventually fell out of the building in a spectacular drop, continuing their fight in the street several meters below.

  Constantine made no comment about the catastrophic state of the apartment as he slowly turned back to Cassian.

  Cassian found it strange that he didn't know this was her home.

  Maybe he wasn't some woman-killer who had come to end her life after all.

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  The thought reassured her slightly.

  Constantine noticed Cassian's gaze lingering a bit too insistently on his blood-soaked person.

  He looked down at himself and immediately understood.

  "It's not my blood."

  He offered a reassuring smile that would probably have calmed most people.

  Cassian felt exactly the opposite.

  Danger.

  "Outside I was completely overwhelmed by a tide of monsters attacking from every side."

  Constantine gestured vaguely toward the outside.

  "Blood was literally spraying everywhere when I killed them."

  He laughed lightly as if it were an amusing anecdote.

  "After a quick shower, I'll be good as new."

  Cassian took a second to think rationally.

  Maybe she had panicked too quickly.

  It was impossible for all that blood to belong to one person.

  To Charlotte.

  There was way too much.

  She looked him straight in the eyes.

  "What happened to Charlotte?"

  Constantine was visibly caught off guard by the direct question.

  His eyes widened slightly.

  "Why do you ask?"

  Cassian didn't look away.

  "I heard you say something about Charlotte when you were talking to... the beast."

  Constantine remained silent for several long seconds.

  He slightly averted his gaze to the left.

  Cassian narrowed her eyes.

  If Constantine hadn't killed Charlotte, then why this suspicious silence?

  Why this hesitation?

  Constantine was desperately trying to prevent his brain from associating the image of Charlotte collapsed on the broken bed with the one of Cassian standing in front of him.

  Especially not in front of Cassian.

  Not now.

  He cleared his throat.

  "Charlotte and I trained together as usual."

  His voice was perhaps a little too controlled.

  "She just pushed herself too hard and pushed her body to its limits facing me."

  He shrugged casually.

  "As a result, she's not really combat-ready at the moment."

  After saying that, Constantine noticed the adjacent bathroom.

  He immediately headed there.

  "I'll borrow it real quick."

  Cassian didn't even have time to open her mouth to respond before he was already inside with the door closed behind him.

  Constantine is really weird tonight.

  Extremely weird.

  Something didn't add up in his explanation.

  The main door of the apartment burst open.

  Hiro, Lena, and Lucia entered together.

  All three stopped simultaneously upon seeing the complete state of destruction.

  "Fuck..."

  Lena let the word escape as she looked around in disbelief.

  "What the hell happened here exactly?"

  Lucia tilted her head while observing the chaos.

  "It's impressive."

  All three gazes turned simultaneously toward Cassian.

  Cassian immediately raised her hands in a defensive gesture.

  "IT WASN'T ME WHO DID THIS!"

  Her voice was perhaps a bit too vehement.

  "Stop looking at me like that right now!"

  Hiro slowly approached her.

  "What happened here?"

  Cassian walked over to the completely destroyed wall and dramatically pointed outside.

  They all approached to look down into the street.

  They saw the two monstrous creatures still savagely fighting.

  They immediately understood.

  Lena was visibly angry.

  She made a wide gesture to indicate the entire main room with fury.

  "They DESTROYED EVERYTHING!"

  Lucia nodded with an almost melancholic expression.

  "It's really unfortunate. Now it doesn't look remotely livable anymore."

  Hiro methodically examined the damage while walking slowly.

  "It's mainly the living room and kitchen that suffered the most structural damage."

  He looked toward the bedrooms.

  "The rest of the apartment seems relatively okay and intact."

  As he scanned the floor, he noticed something that made him freeze completely.

  The maid outfit.

  On the ground.

  Right there.

  Visible to everyone.

  What is it doing there?

  He slightly turned toward the beasts fighting below, his face showing a carefully controlled hint of irritation.

  Cassian was supposed to surprise him with it.

  That was the plan.

  But because of these monsters, the outfit was no longer hidden at all.

  It was exposed for everyone to see.

  Hiro pretended he hadn't seen the outfit on the floor.

  He deliberately looked away.

  Lucia suddenly crouched down and picked up the outfit in her hands.

  "What is this?"

  She examined it curiously, turning it at different angles.

  Hiro saw Cassian's face instantly turn to pure horror.

  Her eyes widened.

  Her mouth opened slightly.

  Her cheeks took on a rosy tint.

  He pretended he saw none of it.

  He drew his sword with a fluid motion.

  Suddenly began inspecting the edge of his blade with excessive and completely fake attention.

  Lena approached Lucia with curiosity.

  "Oh, I've seen this before!"

  She laughed lightly, finding the situation funny.

  "It's the outfit that was on top of the wardrobe, I remember now."

  It was exactly at that precise moment that Constantine came out of the bathroom.

  He had a white towel on his wet head.

  His hair was now clean and shiny.

  "Sorry for using your bathroom without permission, Cassian."

  He removed the towel from his face.

  Froze when he saw Hiro and the two girls accompanying him.

  He hadn't expected that.

  Where the hell had they come from?

  Veins visibly appeared on Hiro's temples.

  What is Constantine doing here?

  Why is he coming out of OUR bathroom?

  Lena and Lucia casually greeted Constantine.

  "Hi!"

  Lena waved her hand.

  "What exactly are you doing in our bathroom?"

  Constantine dried his hair with the towel.

  "I needed a quick shower before going back out to fight."

  Hiro didn't believe it at all.

  You wash AFTER the battle is over.

  Not during.

  But he kept that biting remark to himself.

  Constantine suddenly noticed the maid outfit in Lucia and Lena's hands.

  His gaze went from the outfit to Cassian.

  Then to Hiro.

  Then back to the outfit.

  Were all four of them engaging in that kind of activity?

  Was Cassian participating too?

  Hiro perfectly noticed Constantine's look and smiled slightly.

  He knew exactly what Constantine was thinking.

  And he did nothing to correct it.

  Cassian suddenly approached Hiro with urgency.

  "It's the werewolf's fault the apartment is completely destroyed like this!"

  She pointed outside.

  "He even tried to eat me!"

  Her voice trembled slightly.

  Hiro felt his blood boil dangerously in his veins.

  Cassian had almost been eaten?

  By that thing?

  His hand tightened on the hilt of his sword.

  "I won't let that monster get away with it so easily."

  His voice was low and dangerous.

  Constantine raised a calming hand.

  "There's no point in worrying excessively."

  He gestured confidently toward the outside.

  "Axis, the beast fighting the werewolf, is handling the situation."

  Hiro walked to the hole in the wall.

  Looked down into the street.

  "That's really not what I would call handling it."

  His voice was flat.

  Constantine frowned and quickly approached to see.

  His expression changed instantly.

  Dariston was now clearly on top of Axis, who was gravely injured.

  The giant feline lay on its side with multiple wounds bleeding profusely.

  Dariston bit deeply into Axis's shoulder.

  Shook his massive head fiercely from side to side.

  A large chunk of flesh tore away with a sickening sound.

  Axis feebly struggled while mewling in pain.

  The werewolf chewed and immediately swallowed the fresh flesh.

  Constantine became furious.

  His eyes blazed with pure rage.

  He leaped straight through the hole without hesitation.

  Landed in the street with an impact that cracked the pavement.

  His black sword immediately crackled with intense blue electricity.

  Dariston dodged the electric attack with surprising agility for his size.

  He backed away a few meters while growling.

  The fur around his jaw and neck was completely stained with fresh blood that was still dripping.

  Dariston suddenly noticed a hostile presence behind him.

  He quickly turned.

  Hiro stood there.

  His sword already drawn.

  His face completely devoid of expression.

  Which was infinitely more terrifying than an expression of anger.

  Cassian watched from the hole in the wall with an inner satisfaction she refused to analyze too deeply.

  Hiro would really do anything to protect her.

  She was certain of it now.

  In truth, it was really useful to have someone like him.

  Sure, he was terrifying sometimes.

  Okay.

  Often terrifying even.

  But on the other hand, it was also incredibly reassuring to know that someone would react so violently to any threat against her.

  He was a bit like an extremely loyal guard dog that had decided she was his favorite person in the entire world.

  And Cassian still wasn't sure whether that should deeply reassure her... or seriously worry her.

  Probably both at the same time.

  But she was definitely planning to take full advantage of it for now.

  Hiro had better wreck this fucking werewolf for her.