the creatures I live with have a strange taste.

Kaius arrived at James' house with a scowl and a heavy aura. His magic, which he had managed to keep under control for most of the day, was once again overflowing. But it wasn't because of the confrontation with the vampire; those creatures, despicable as they were, followed the laws of their nature, and Kaius had vowed not to interfere with those cycles unless absolutely necessary. No, what consumed him was the sickening memory of Lilian and the helplessness he felt in dealing with someone like her.

He knew James could sense manipulative people like Lilian. The signs were there: the control, the manipulation, the calculating attitude. Kaius had even told him that outright, but James seemed to ignore it completely. Perhaps the situation was more complicated than he thought. Perhaps, he wondered, James wasn't ignoring him by choice.

-Black..." he muttered as he slowly made his way up the stairs to his room, the echo of his footsteps echoing in the silence of the house. Do you think James could be under a spell?

Black, ever perceptive, replied indifferently:

-What kind of spell are you referring to?

-A love spell," Kaius clarified, clenching his fists.

Black let out a dry laugh.

-Those are... interesting. Dark, too. If that's it, it makes sense.

Kaius nodded, his mind turning over what he knew about love spells. Latis had given him facts about them: they were forbidden magic, cast without the consent of the goddess of love. Only generational sorcerers could cast them without facing dire consequences, because if anyone connected to the core of the magic tried to use them, the magic itself punished them. These spells turned their victims into shadows of themselves, dumbed down and easily manipulated beings. Emotional zombies.

If James was under a love spell, Kaius could do little. Forcibly undoing it could damage James' soul. And if, instead, James was simply ignoring him on purpose... then that was a problem he would have to solve on his own. Kaius would not interfere any further than necessary; he had made it clear that he would not interfere in James' affairs unless there was real danger, such as what had happened with the girl at the party.

Though, come to think of it, Kaius hadn't saved the girl out of altruism. He had done it on a whim... and because he needed an ally to match Lilian's friends. A piece on the board that would balance the power.

As she opened the door to her room, she let out a long sigh.

-Black, can you detect traces of malicious spells on people? -he asked in a serious tone.

-Yes," Black replied calmly, "but only if I know exactly what I'm looking for.

Kaius turned and closed the door behind him. The gloom of the room enveloped him, but it did not discomfort him. He was silent for a moment, thinking.

-I need you, when we are near James, to scan him. I want to know if he's really under a spell or if he's just being an idiot.

-As you say," Black replied with a hint of amusement.

Kaius flopped down on the bed, staring at the ceiling with a frown. If James was hexed, he would have to tread carefully. If he wasn't, then time and Lilian's actions would eventually reveal the truth. Either way, he had to stay alert, so he got up a little to make himself more comfortable, dropped back into bed and fell asleep from exhaustion.

James arrived home an hour later, his mind still reeling from the events on campus. He had spent too much time calming the girls and listening to their complaints, but his main concern was Kaius. He had reacted in an explosive and dangerous manner, and James couldn't let it go. He entered the house with heavy steps, his voice filling the place as he called out her name.

-Kaius! Where are you?" his tone was a mixture of anger and concern.

As he entered Kaius' room, he stopped in his tracks. The scene in front of him took him by surprise: Kaius was lying on the bed, sound asleep. His naked torso was exposed, and the only thing he was wearing was a pair of tight shorts, comfortable enough to sleep in, but tight enough to make the image... suggestive.

James swallowed saliva, his steps slowing now as he approached the bed. He had come in ready to confront him, to shake him and demand an explanation, but something about Kaius' stillness disarmed him. He stood at the edge of the bed, staring at his relaxed face, completely oblivious to the chaos he had caused hours before.

.

Without being able to help it, his mind began to wander. Seeing him like this brought back memories of childhood, of those days when he, Kaius, and his brother shared laughter and games. There were nights when the two brothers would invite james to sleep with them, always making sure he was comfortable. But along with those innocent memories, more confusing ones arose, feelings he had not known how to interpret as a child: irrational jealousy, the desire to always be the center of Kaius' attention, to share it with no one else.

James leaned over him, intending to wake him up and blurt out all the words he had accumulated. But as he approached, something stopped him. Kaius seemed so helpless, so vulnerable at that moment, that James couldn't do it. His eyes fell on his face, and without thinking, his hand moved to grab a sheet that lay on the side of the bed.

Carefully, she tucked him in, making sure he was covered. But instead of getting up and leaving, James sat on the edge of the bed. The emotions sweeping over him were too intense, too contradictory to ignore. Slowly, almost without realizing it, he lay down next to Kaius. His arm went around his waist naturally, as if it were a reflex action, an attempt to protect him from whatever it was that was troubling him.

As James wrapped his arms around him, Black took to his heels. From the comfort of Kaius' mind, he began to do his check, looking for traces of malicious spells on James. It was a slow process, but Black was in no hurry. If James was the victim of a love spell, he would have to find the evidence. If he wasn't... well, human emotions made total idiots out of people. 

Kaius, though apparently asleep, felt the warmth of James' arms around him. A small smile appeared on his face, but he didn't wake up. For now, time was on his side.

The night passed quietly, with James and Kaius cuddled in comfortable silence until, at 2 a.m., James' phone began to ring, breaking the calm. The sound woke him with a start, and although Kaius also opened his eyes, he decided to remain motionless. He didn't want James to get up and leave, he enjoyed the warmth of the moment, though he would never admit it out loud.

However, the quietness vanished when James answered the phone. Kaius, with his supernatural hearing, could pick up the screams on the other end of the line. It was Lilian. Her panic-laden voice boomed with desperation. Something had attacked her in her home, and now she was hiding, begging for help.

James didn't think twice. Using his super speed, he shot out of the house, leaving Kaius behind. Kaius sighed as he sat on the bed, looking towards the open door where James had disappeared through. "Is he really going to run out every time that woman screams?" he thought. However, something about the situation seemed fishy to him, so he decided to follow.

With the same supernatural speed, Kaius set off. He activated a non-detection spell to make sure James didn't sense his presence. He reached the two-story house, whose front door was wide open. Lilian's screams came from inside. The situation smelled of a trap, and Kaius was not one to take unnecessary risks.

As he entered, he reinforced his fists and body with magic, preparing for any confrontation. He heard Lilian's cries and had an idea. He knew that supernatural creatures disliked attracting attention, so he used his magic to reproduce the sound of an approaching police patrol. He then sealed all the exits from the house except the front, leaving only one way of escape.

As he climbed the stairs to the screams, he saw James on the second floor, facing a dark figure: a vampire. before James could intervene, Kaius appeared behind him and caught him off guard, ripping out his heart with brutal force. James and Lilian watched the scene, the sound of tearing flesh echoing through the air.

- they're both fine," said kaius in a worried manner more for james than for the human girl, yet nothing, not even black, prepared him for what was to follow.

 behind him emerged another vampire, who took advantage of the moment to stab him with a diamond knife that no one knows how he got it impregnated with bloodletting, the substance that can drug supernatural creatures. Kaius' blood began to spill quickly, and James reacted with fury, lunging at the vampire. However, the second vampire took advantage of the distraction and went straight for Lilian. James, despite his frustration, managed to push it away, using the same bloodletting substance against it.

The vampire fled, promising to return for Lilian or as the puppet told him, leaving a heavy air of menace in the house. James, seeing Kaius lying on the floor, bleeding and drugged with blood, forgot Lilian completely. Without a word, he carried him in his arms and ran back home. Lilian, insistent, followed them, worried and puzzled by the situation.

When they reached the house, James placed Kaius carefully on his bed. Worry was evident on his face as he tried to clean the wound that still exuded bleeding. Lilian, despite her insistence on helping, was completely ignored by James, whose attention was focused exclusively on Kaius ahi black inside kaius realized it was either a spell he had never heard of because he detected something inside the boy but did not believe it was a common love spell.

James pressed a cloth against the wound, trying to contain the damage as he muttered to himself, as if Kaius could hear him:

-You're going to be fine... it's just a drug. 

Kaius, though barely conscious, could feel James' energy. It was warm, intense, and for an instant, he allowed himself to trust him, even if it was just for tonight like in the old days that maybe he didn't remember at all but in the end for him it was for the best in the end Black left the tracking for later because that vampire had not only injected bloodletting but also stabbed him with diamond the only mineral that can hurt a demon badly so the poor guy was not only drugged but if he could die so black discreetly activated Kaius' regenerative magic. 

james was almost on the verge of crying because kaius was not recovering he knew that if he died it would be his fault for not being stronger and he didn't want to feel that feeling of desolation again but when he finished cleaning the wound he saw how it regenerated which james was grateful for because the diamond if it stayed too long in the body of a demon could affect the regeneration power of it or even disconnect it completely for a while and with that wound in his chest he couldn't have survived if that happened. 

he calmed down kaius' wound was completely closed he just needed to rest until he could get all the bleeding out of his system and he could eat so that the scar would go away black couldn't help him anymore since he was also under the effects of the drug and all he did was with the help of kaius' unconscious magic but even he had a limit he fainted but he also kept on thinking Kaius likes to speculate yes but if he doesn't see clear signs he won't point the finger at anyone in public the example of the love spell he asked him to trace but he wasn't going to bring it out if it wasn't something with black proof that night he stayed with him holding him protectively thinking about the 2 vampires that night. 

- vampires have a very strange taste for petulant young girls," said black as he watched james sit on the single couch and ask the hica to go to her room and sleep in the room to take care of kaius. black tried to remember if there was a love spell that would make him react to a serious external event like this injury but he couldn't do it anymore and fell unconscious like his owner.