How to Make a Sinner Sleep - Chapter 72: Chapter 72

Skye hovered outside of his eldest brother's room, waiting. Every time Reed assigned a mission, Kaden would automatically walk past to report a successful job. It was something ingrained to the bone, a habit Kaden would still follow within the Academy's walls.
It was already late, far beyond most students' bedtime. When the young man raked a hand through his blonde hair, sighing, a shadow appeared at the end of the hallway.
The figure trudged closer, footsteps silent. A cold, unfeeling pair of eyes cast itself on the door behind Skye, and upon seeing it closed, continued to walk past.
A dead gaze that miserably sat in its sockets, void of life. There was no light in them, when Skye remembered they once gleamed brightly.
He snatched out his hand, grabbing for Kaden's hanging arm, but it was hastily yanked away from him the moment he moved.
"Kaden. Brother."
The younger man glanced down at his hand that had been treated as if it were poisonous to touch. Nevertheless, he desperately raised his head, moving so that his body blocked Kaden's escape.
The other merely glanced indifferently. "What is it, Skye?"
A proper, polite response. After all this time, Kaden would never ignore him.
Skye chewed on his lips. Kaden never ignored him, but was it because he wanted to amuse Skye, or because he had no choice? Skye didn't want to think about it.
Did anything matter, as long as the sole person who treated him as a person stayed by his side? There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for that reason.
He refused to think about it. "That's... are you oka—"
The sound of the door opening interrupted the pair, light spilling into the hall as an exhausted man leaned against the frame, crossing his arms. Dressed in loose white sleepwear, Reed gazed at them both.
"Will you really stop him, silly child?" Reed leaned closer to Skye in a whisper, but for the silence that filled the hallway, no sounds could be hidden. "If you stop him, he'll leave. If you continue being your spoiled, selfish choice, he'll stay. He will live with us again. He'll be unable to ignore you."
Skye hesitated, swallowing back his words as he glared at his eldest brother, the crown prince of the kingdom.
Scorn flitted over Reed's expression. "Are you satisfied with that? The only method to keep him by your side is miserable and cruel."
Skye glanced over at Kaden, and Reed's scowl deepened. "Did you not want to speak of it in front of him? But between you and he, Skye, he understands the relationship you have the best."
A lump caught in the youngest prince's throat before he offered a shaky smile.
He was not used to being put on the spot; he was not used to things not going his way. It was one of the reasons he despised Reed.
"Goodnight, Kaden."
He moved to leave, expecting no answer, but it was only then that Kaden opened his mouth. "Skye..." He thought distantly, expecting nothing from the other. "If you helped me long ago, I wouldn't have minded becoming your family."
He remembered it well, the young child he met in the library. It was true that Kaden ran away after learning of Skye's identity, but what if... what if Skye had helped him from the nightmare he lived.
What if he'd been saved, offered a slight of salvation?
Instead, Skye's possessive nature determined that the best method in keeping Kaden tied to the castle was by trapping him—and it so happened that Reed had a means of doing so.
Once, covered in blood with bodies lying around him, he'd begged, "Let me escape. Help me, Skye. Help me, please."
Skye had stood, furrowing his straight eyebrows as he said glumly, "If I help you run away, you won't come back for me."
Any hope plummeted to the depths of Kaden's stomach, melted away by reality. He despaired in that second, knowing a lie or a promise that he couldn't keep would be enough to make Skye help him.
But he said neither, and yanked himself away with a sneer.
For all the brotherly love that prince claimed to have, he rathered Kaden's misery than abandonment.
Was love imprisonment? A debt to be paid?
"You're right. I'd rather die than become family with you."
He laughed at his end, the demise of his life before he was exiled. He laughed when he saw a horrified face run up to him, stricken with panic.
"Are you satisfied, Skye?" He had shouted over the noisy skies—or was it his ringing ears? "I have no interest in running away... it doesn't matter, anymore."
Kaden didn't remember what expression Skye wore.
He opened his eyes, standing in the Academy hallway as the past faded into memory around him. Skye stood there, still, nervously staring at Kaden as if he didn't know what to say.
Kaden sighed softly and passed Reed, into the other's room. "Goodnight, Skye."
"....goodnight Kaden."
The door closed behind him, and Reed moved to sit by his bed, waiting for Kaden to report to him. "Hurry it up. It's already late."
"I only came to tell you that the mission was successful."
"I expected so. Had you any other answer, you should've just run away and not returned. Failure is not an option." Reed rubbed the side of his neck, and there were new shadows under his eyes. "Any witnesses?"
"If any existed, I would've buried them in their garden already."
"As expected of my dog."
Kaden stared silently at the rug by his feet. He was a vicious dog that never bit his owner—for now. In the future, Kaden remembered, another curse more painful and powerful than the current one inflicting him.
He'd forgotten the reason, no doubt something that he did went against Reed, or perhaps for a guarantee of Kaden's loyalty.
He became a puppet on a string, his mind the only thing in his control, and even that was barely holding itself together.
Kaden could run. If not now, then never. But the mark of obedience was presently dull, and although he'd been stupid enough to cling onto the only family he had in the past, it wasn't the same.
Reed's curse could be activated when they were near each other, hence, Kaden could not disobey his orders. But Reed had never ordered him to remain here, to remain loyal and standing.
Why didn't he run in his past life, if that were an option?
Sometimes, the things that bound a person to another were more than a simple curse or a logical reason.
If he ran, then the second curse could never be placed, and so long as he escaped Reed, he would have something close to freedom.
But then, what of Niklas, or Nicola? What of Arlo and Holly? What of Noah, who would live a life of misery trapped and tortured under Reed's hands, eventually, inevitably?
And Kaden could warn them, but without proof, how could they be certain of a ridiculous claim? And could simply warning them really prevent them from escaping Reed's grasp—the Crown Prince would never forgive a runaway stray.
He thought of other means, other methods. Killing Reed—and never finding what he was planning. The death of his corruption—would killing that man save them, or leave them with a more confusing tangle of webs to unravel?
Nicola and Noah had approached him, asking him to trust them. And he did, that was no lie.
But he was keenly aware that those noble fools would willingly dive into danger, into the torrents of Reed's crimes the more they knew. Noah already knew that Kaden suspected Reed's involvement in something terrible.
How much more could he tell them? How much information became a liability?
At least one person would die, that was certain.
And he couldn't bear that. Not the weight of a life he wanted to protect.
"Kaden," Reed gazed at him solemnly, and there was something softer in his expression. His eyes were weighed down by exhaustion, loosing their bitter sharpness. Their cruel shape. "Don't do anything foolish."
Kaden grit his teeth, sneering. "This dog hasn't bit you yet, Reed."
"That isn't..." He caught himself, rubbing his temples as a sharp throb pulsed in his head. "...It'll do you well to remember where your loyalties lie."
"Of course, master dearest."
"Enough. Return to your room. I believe I recall seeing the light was on when I passed it, don't tell me your silly friends are waiting?"
Kaden's eyes widened, and he resisted the urge to dash down the hallways, to throw the door open and enjoy the illusion of peace. However, he steeled himself on the ground and nodded.
"Then, I'll take my leave."
"Go on."
Kaden allowed the door to slam heavily behind him, a loud echo down the hallway. In the room, alone, Reed rubbed his temples again, closing his eyes. He scowled, clicked his tongue as he muttered, "You shouldn't be so obvious about your weaknesses... stupid dog."
Then, taken by an onslaught of pain, he fell to his side as it stole away his vision and led him into a waiting nightmare.
Down the hallway, Kaden's steps picked up speed the moment the door closed.
He had time, he told himself, even if it were a a lie, even if that time slowly dwindled into mere months, days, hours, minutes.
Seconds.
He opened the door, a bright spill of warm light as Noah and Niklas sat facing each othe. Niklas took a comfortable spot on Kaden's own bed, legs crossed and chattering away.
At the opened door, both heads turned. One with a grin of greeting, the other with a slight tilt of his lips.
Kaden's shoulders sagged and something rushed throug his body, making his entire body relax. He thought it was a shame he never learned art, that he couldn't immortalize this image in the only way possible. Memory was unreliable, but art—it could transcend human lives.
"What're you standing around for, Kaden? Stunned by my beauty?" Niklas laughed cheerily while his observant eyes scanned the other's expression.
Kaden blinked twice, coughed, and scoffed. "I'm more stunned by your delusions. Is the beauty in the room with us?"
"You're in denial. It's right here."
"Is it?" Kaden slowly skimmed the room, pale green eyes carrying a mischievous glint as they landed on a head of black-white hair. "Oh, you're right."
"See, what did I say—"
"Hey beauty, can I sit beside you?"
Niklas clamped him mouth shut as Kaden tilted his head to the spot beside Noah. The dragon lifted his eyebrows, seeming bemused by the remark. Naturally, he moved slightly to leave a larger space on the bed.
Niklas complained on the other side. "What's wrong with the spot besides me?"
"I'm worried its contagious."
"What is?"
"Your foolishness."
Noah hummed, leaning forward on his legs lazily. His whole body was relaxed, a sleepy air to his posture. "Isn't it too late?"
It was Kaden's turn to frown and wonder, "What is?"
"You've already caught his illness."
"Hehehehe...."
Kaden swung his head around at his giggling friend accusingly, then at Noah with a sense of betrayal. "Now Bellamy, when did you start going against me? I thought we had an agreement."
Noah cocked his head to the side, quietly gazing at the other. "Then, come catch my illness instead. Let it overwrite his."
"And that illness is?"
"Is anything worse than being like him?"
"You make an excellent point. I'm sitting right now." Kaden hurried to sit beside Noah as Niklas stuck out his tongue childishly, shaking his head.
"One, I'm a tenacious illness—there's no way you can shake me off that easily! Two, I'm not foolish okay—ah, did I refer to myself as an illness? The only disease I have is self-love, something you could certainly do well to catch!"
Kaden ignored him. "What are you doing here, Niklas?"
"Must I have a reason to miss my dearest friends?"
"Yes."
Niklas rolled his eyes dramatically, waving his hand in the air. "You're incorrect. Anyway, the reason I'm here is to enlist you all for a new mission!"
"...Didn't you just say I was incorrec—"
"Kaden, what did I tell you about listening to me?"
"Nothing. You've told me nothing."
"No, it's because you haven't listened that you think you've heard nothing of my beautiful voice that only speaks the most necessary information at all times."
Kaden fell silent, speechless as he resigned to leaning back into the bed. Neither dragon nor human confronted the hanging query in the air, still left unanswered. There were other things they had to confront first—that was their silent agreement.
Through the silence, a small, hesitant knock tapped lightly on the door. There was a long pause before the person knocked again, slightly more determined.
A weak voice called out, "...Kaden?"
It was Arlo.
Kaden immediately left the comforts of the blankets, walking to the door. Arlo had never bothered him in the evening before, too scared to cross any boundaries. He cracked it open slightly, leaning against the frame as he looked down at the small figure.
"Arlo," said Kaden with a faint smile. "What're you doing here?"
The boy's eyes shifted nervously, clutching a pillow to his chest as his sleeves, a little too long for his arms, hung loosely. He'd insisted on getting a larger size to grow into, so that he didn't have to buy another later.
Naturally, Kaden was covering the costs of everything, but he'd only prompted the child thrice before allowing Arlo to do as he pleased.
The child's hair had grown longer, the blonde fading into a darker shade at its roots, fluffed around his face to make him appear even younger. Innocent, amber eyes blinked imploringly at Kaden. But his body stood awkwardly, shoulders curled into themselves in a display of nerves.
"Kaden... can I, um—"
The boy smacked his lips, frowning at his own muttering. It was rare to see a display of shyness by the boy who often shamelessly clung to Kaden and bickered with Niklas.
Niklas craned his neck, peeking his head behind Kaden's back. "Hey, hey, let me guess. You can't sleep, kid?"
"No!" pouted Arlo, a spark of annoyance filling his rounded cheeks. "Ah, I mean... can I? Kaden? If you're letting that big bug stay... I'm smaller! I won't even talk." The child raised his short fingers, drawing a line across his lips.
Niklas' mouth dropped, and he pointed to himself. "I'm the bug?" He looked at Kaden who turned away, and then at Noah who offered a curt nod. "......"
Naturally, Kaden would never turn away the child he resolved himself to care for. Gently, he walked the boy over to his bed, politely shoving Niklas out of the way as the other stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Are you not able to sleep, Arlo?"
Arlo stared at his hands nervously, and nodded. He felt a little ashamed, to be kept awake by nightmares despite the exhaustion that ached his body. It was silly to come and ask for company—he was a growing boy and it was shameful to rely on his benefactor.
Even if Kaden was the kindest person he knew.
He'd been resolved to squirm under his blankets and endure; the boy was good at enduring, after all. But it'd been a week since he was able to sleep properly. There was nothing wrong with the room since it was provided by Kaden, and anything Kaden gave, Arlo loved.
The bed was comfortable, and the blankets were soft. Arlo liked soft blankets. It made him feel smothered and surrounded by warmth.
Then, at random, the obscure nightmares begun. Creatures, distorted and twisted, chasing after him in the endless night.
Nightmares came, and he would curl into a quivering small and wait for morning if he was roused, blinking as he fell into another nightmare and woke again. It worked until it didn't.
"Every night," A low, velvet voice quietly spoke from the opposite bed. Noah calmly exposed the fool who abandoned his side on the bed. "He wakes up several times. He tosses and turns, plagued by nightmares. Kaden can't sleep either."
Every night, with the exception of the ones tucked securely beside Noah.
Arlo's eyes gleamed with both suspicion and curiosity. "Really?"
The dragon nodded. "Really."
"Really, really?"
This time, Kaden answered. "Yes, really. I feel as if my reputation has taken a hit, but it's true. Arlo, nightmares are a phenomenon anybody encounters. There's no shame in having them, and no shame in asking for help. Do you want to sleep here tonight?"
The pillow was clutched more tightly between small hands. "Can I?"
"I think it would defeat the purpose of asking if I said no."
"But—"
Kaden helplessly sighed and languidly stretched out a hand, tugging the child to fall onto the folded bed. He rolled onto his back, opening his mouth wide to yawn in an exaggerated manner, embodying his inner Niklas.
The boy had been ready to ask once more, but fell silent in fear of disturbing Kaden. He peeked at the closed eyes of the reliable adult, burying his own face into his large pillow to hide a sneaking smile.
Niklas crossed his arms at the door, kicked out of the bed he'd been sitting on. Judging the situation, he reached the conclusion that they were having a sleepover.
Therefore, if one bed was taken, he would slip into the one besides Noah—
The dragon's head jerked up knowingly, dark gaze solemnly staring at the figure of his friend with one leg raised onto the bed, ready to crawl under the covers.
The two men shared a glance.
Wordlessly, Noah abandoned his own bed and retreated into Kaden's. The latter cracked one eye open, meeting the gaze of the retreating dragon.
Kaden closed his eyes again, deciding it was better to pretend he was asleep. A large body slotted beside him and the wall, while on his other side, the child cuddled up to Kaden's arms as his soft breathing eventually filled the room.
The light clicked, plunging the room into a deep darkness, save for the window that allowed moonlight to stream inside.
Niklas sat cross-legged on the empty bed, turning his head to look outside.
Absentmindedly, his fingers strayed to a silver chain that hung loosely around his neck, often tucked underneath his uniform. A charm rested at the end, making the shape of a singular, fragile wing.
A butterfly's wing.