by Lyra Evans
Coral snorted quietly and moved to a nearby chair, sinking smoothly into it. One leg crossed over the other, she began scrutinizing her nails as though there was nothing of particular interest going on around her. Cobalt moved to face Niko head-on, staring down at him with a thoughtful frown. Starla moved immediately to Niko’s side, sitting next to him on the couch. She made to reach for his hands, like she was trying to comfort him, but halfway into the gesture, she apparently remembered it was Niko and stopped herself.
“Niki, I know you want answers—we all do—but,” she began, glancing between them all, “I just don’t know if it’s the best idea.”
“With the manhunt going on, every officer on the force will be on the lookout for you,” Cobalt said, as if Niko didn’t already know that. “And the press conference means the majority of the civilian Court will also be keeping an eye out.” Niko gritted his teeth, his fingers curling into fists. Starla was nodding along, having quickly forgotten her anger toward Cobalt and siding with him. Niko had thought they knew him better than that, but perhaps he shouldn’t have. “What’s your plan to work around that?”
Caught off-guard, Niko hesitated. He looked up at Cobalt and found his expression calm and balanced. He was waiting for an honest answer, not trying to prove Niko’s idea was flawed. There was a trust in his eyes Niko shied away from.
Starla immediately pursed her lips and shot Cobalt a glare. “How the fuck is he supposed to get around that? He doesn’t have a gun or a badge to open doors for him—”
“I have a gun,” Niko said, and Starla took it in stride, rolling her eyes.
“He does have a warrant out for his arrest and his face plastered all over Maeve’s Court though,” she said, brushing Niko’s comment off. “The safest plan is to lie low and wait for Uriah or someone to figure this shit out—”
“You’ve sprouted a lot of trust in the police overnight, considering what happened to you,” Niko said under his breath. Starla glared at him now.
“Yeah, I wonder who fostered that faith,” she shot. “And even if Banyan has lost her fucking mind, Uriah is still a good detective. Right? You trusted him with the auction case. You can’t think he’s totally useless.”
Niko looked away. Obviously he didn’t think Uri was useless. He was a good cop. Better than average, certainly. But that wasn’t the point.
“Uri doesn’t have the background I have on Sade,” Niko argued. “And with this idiotic warrant, I can’t give it to him. He’s going to be restricted by the lead on the case. If Banyan believes I’m the killer, she won’t sign off on other testing or investigation. If Uri doesn’t want to lose his job or risk implicating himself as an accessory or something ridiculous, he can’t just disobey her orders.” Niko grew increasingly confident in his argument as he spoke, feeling more and more sure of his decision. “I’m the only one who can investigate this now. I have to do this.”
Starla threw up her hands, shaking her head. “You have a way of making all your hare-brained ideas sound justified,” she snapped. “Because it always has to be you, doesn’t it?” Face tight with frustration and emotion Niko didn’t understand, Starla got to her feet and went to the window. The curtains were pulled, but she stared toward them anyway. “It had to be you to go undercover with Sade, it had to be you to make yourself a victim of the Woods, it had to be you to investigate the Woods when everyone else saw the case as closed. It’s always you, Niki, isn’t it?”
Niko didn’t understand. He had been asked to go undercover with Sade, he hadn’t come up with the idea himself. And he’d been given Prince Indigo’s murder investigation which was inextricably tied to the auction case, so what was he to do? Further, if no one else thought the Woods was still operating, who else was there to investigate but Niko?
“It’s me when it needs to be,” he said, but Starla exhaled a mirthless laugh and shook her head. She shot Cobalt a look, and the Selkie seemed to express something in return. Commiseration, maybe? Niko ignored it and studied Coral.
“You haven’t answered my question,” Cobalt said. Coral picked at her nails, but she wasn’t really paying attention to them. She was listening. “What do you plan to do to avoid getting caught while you investigate? How do you hope to investigate when you have no access to police resources?”
Niko’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’ll go back to the crime scene myself,” he began, wishing he’d taken a closer look while he’d been there the first time.
“With a thousand officers waiting for you to return?” Cobalt asked, an eyebrow raised.
“I’ll go after dark, when fewer officers are on duty to—”
“Which is exactly what they would expect you to do.”
Niko gritted his teeth. “Then I’ll get access to the police reports about the body and the scene—”
“You’re a hacker now?” Cobalt asked. “Because you can bet they will have blocked your login. Or else they’re tracking it. And all access to those files.”
Face hot, muscles tight, Niko got to his feet. “I’ll use someone else’s—”
“Whose? Uriah’s? The Captain’s? Reckless. Inconsiderate,” Cobalt said.
“I didn’t do this!” Niko cried out, suddenly up in Cobalt’s face, his entire body screaming for violence and release.
“I know that!” Cobalt cried back, grabbing Niko’s neck with the back of his hand and spinning him until Niko’s back slammed into the wall. Cobalt pinned him there, one arm on either side of his head, his face close to Niko’s. His crystal eyes looked steely now. “But they don’t. So what are you trying to prove?”
“That I’m innocent,” Niko said quickly, without thinking. The atmosphere in the room was brittle.
“How? By collecting evidence on the body and at the scene you can’t visit? Running prints and blood samples through a system you can’t access? Talking to witnesses that either don’t exist or could report you the moment they see you? Questioning Sade’s contacts and friends, who are even more likely to turn you in and testify against you?” Niko couldn’t breathe as Cobalt destroyed every avenue he might have travelled. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to do, but he knew he had to do something.
“I have to find out what’s going on!” he snapped, and Cobalt’s expression changed slightly.
“What are you trying to prove?” Cobalt asked again, and confusion intensified in Niko’s mind.
“Cobalt, that’s enough,” Starla said, but Cobalt ignored her.
“What is it, Niko?” he asked again, his words raw and rough at the edges, scraping along Niko’s insides.
“That I was right,” Niko answered, again without thinking.
“About what?”
“About Sade!” He glared at Cobalt, his eyes stinging as he fought with every vicious emotion he’d been tamping down since—since the moment he realized Cobalt wasn’t coming back.
“What about Sade?” Cobalt kept pushing.
“That he shouldn’t have been released.”
“And why was he released?”
“Because I fucked up,” Niko snapped. A choking wave of regret and anger and loathing tore through Niko. “I shouldn’t have let you do what you did. What we did.”
Cobalt slammed his fists against the wall on either side of Niko’s head, causing both Starla and Coral to jump slightly. Niko didn’t flinch, but his heart pumped faster. The violence and tension rising between them was reaching a climax, and Niko’s body was on fire.
“Wrong,” Cobalt said. “Why was he released?”
Niko blinked. “What?”
“What you and I did to Sade Hemlock saved lives,” Cobalt corrected, his face a mask of molten iron—full of rage and danger. “It took down a sex trafficking operation run by the wealthy and well-connected in Maeve’s Court. No one was investigating it before we did. What was done to Sade might have violated his rights, but even that should not have translated to a release. He was a violent offender who tried to murder a police officer.” Cobalt’s crystal eyes se
emed suddenly like crystal balls, showing Niko swirling images of everything that had happened since the end of that case. “So, why was Sade released?”
Everything grew quiet, and Niko’s jaw loosened slightly. He knew the answer before, but he’d refused to think about it openly. Cobalt had forced him to the edge to see it.
“Something is going on,” Niko said more evenly. “A conspiracy.”
Cobalt drew back then, standing, almost calm, before Niko. He nodded tightly. “Something is going on,” Cobalt agreed. “And because of that, you are now outside the law. You cannot investigate within the law if you are outside it,” he explained. “Your usual methods will not work.”
“So you want me to sit back and do nothing?” Niko asked, the idea raking across his soul like needles on glass.
“No,” Cobalt said. “We can’t do things your way this time. So we’re going to have to do them my way.”
“Are you saying Royal Guards are used to ‘operating outside the law’?” Coral asked, her position still very intentionally relaxed. Her eyes, however, were sharp and trained intently on Cobalt. Niko didn’t know what was going on between them, but if Cobalt had told him before he had a sister, this is not what Niko would have pictured.
But Cobalt hadn’t mentioned he had a sister, had he?
“I’m saying I have experience investigating quietly so no one notices,” Cobalt rephrased, his jaw rolling as he shot Coral a look.
“I know how to investigate quietly,” Niko shot, but given he was currently the subject of a Court-wide manhunt, not one of the people in the room seemed to take that for much. And Niko could grudgingly accept that his usual way of investigating might not work terribly effectively here. “Fine. Your way. I don’t care. I just can’t sit by and do nothing. Whatever is happening—I need to figure it out.” Cobalt turned back to him, their eyes meeting and a silent agreement passing between them. Whatever had happened or hadn’t, Cobalt knew Niko wouldn’t let this go. And Niko knew Cobalt would follow him down any path this took him—no matter what that meant.
A shiver passed down Niko’s spine at the thought. Asking him about his ‘perfect partner’ would have resulted in answer of loyalty and the same dogged determination he had to solve a puzzle. Niko had only ever wanted someone to join him on his mad, obsessive investigations, engaging in the chase with him rather than watching him disappear into them. He’d slept around with people without dating much because no one seemed to be able to handle the way he vanished for days at a time when on a case.
Then he’d dated Uri, another cop. That was a train wreck in many ways, but Niko had thought the one thing that wouldn’t be a problem was work. Because another cop would understand. Only Uri didn’t. He had the same problem civilians did. Niko was a workaholic who couldn’t let things lie. That wasn’t what had killed their relationship, but it might have. If Niko hadn’t gone undercover without warning. Or any goodbye.
Cobalt seemed to get it from the start, though. He didn’t let things go either. It was why he’d had to leave at the end of the auction case. To see Indigo’s Soul Stone back to Azure’s Court. To see the case to its actual conclusion. So he’d said.
But the months of silence stretched out between Niko and Cobalt now, and the subtle glint of Cobalt’s Soul Stone, peeking just above the button of his shirt, reminded Niko of the hollow in his own chest. He eyed the Stone briefly, hurt in a way he couldn’t put into words, then looked away. There wasn’t time for that now.
“So what now?” Coral asked, her expression unimpressed. “Calling in old favours and debts? Gathering fake moustaches and funny hats for a disguise? Or is this the part where you track someone down and beat the living shit out of them for answers?” They all turned to her, but again, she was staring at Cobalt. “That’s how these things go usually, yeah?”
“Now,” Starla said, her voice cutting through whatever tension was building. She stepped around Niko and Cobalt, picking up the remote for the TV and turning it off. The news had switched to morning traffic reports, but a special ticker played along the base of the screen with constant updates on the search for Niko. “I head back to the apartment to cover my ass while you all get some rest.” She tossed the remote back to the couch. “You can’t do anything if you’re running on fumes, and the heat’s too high right now to be wandering the streets. No one knows you’re here, so for now, this is safe. It might not be for long. Take the opportunities you get.”
She said all this very fast, cutting off every time Niko opened his mouth to protest. They had to get to work and fast. Who knew how bad things could spiral out of control the longer it took them to figure this shit out? But the tension in his body was about the only thing keeping him upright, just then, and he reluctantly kept his mouth shut.
“So…a nap?” Coral asked, mild amusement tainting her words. Niko wasn’t sure if there was an undercurrent of ridicule there, but he also didn’t care to think on it too long.
“Yes, a nap.” Starla gathered a pair of heels from a small shoe closet in the entrance. “I’ll come back as soon as I can with some provisions, but in the meantime, none of you can leave this house. And if anyone knocks, do not answer. For any reason.” She stared them all down so they understood, though Niko thought it was rather obvious. “This place is empty most of the time. The lights are only ever on for one night at a time, then it goes dark again. So if the neighbours start to notice lights on and noise coming from here more than usual, that could set off alarm bells for them. Get it?”
She flicked off the light to the living room as she spoke. The light filtering through the curtains was enough to see by, but once the evening fell, they’d be in the dark. Still, there was little alternative. He supposed he could use his cellphone light—
“I’m going to need a new phone,” Niko said suddenly, his eyes finding the pieces of his old phone on the couch again. “Whatever you can get, as long as it can connect to the network.” He pulled out some money from his pocket and handed it to Starla. It wouldn’t be enough for a replacement at the level of his previous phone, but he hoped it would do for a functional burner. “Prepaid sim card. Maybe a few, if you can. Buy them from different places though.”
Starla nodded. “Yeah, I know,” she said, taking the cash and slipping the folded bills into her bra. The dress didn’t have pockets, Niko guessed. “Anything else?”
“Hair dye,” Cobalt said. “Or whatever is used to colour hair here. Fake moustaches and funny hats aside, some kind of disguise might be a good idea.” He shot a look over his shoulder at Coral here, but she only snorted a laugh in response. “For Niko and I both.”
Starla looked them both over. “I’ll figure something out.” She made her way to the door, but before leaving, she nodded to Niko. “Before I come back, you should probably get Cobalt up to speed on what you’ve been up to. If there is some kind of conspiracy, I’m guessing your off-books case might have something to do with it.”
She left before Niko could hope to answer, and as the door clicked shut, the lock fitting into place, Niko felt Cobalt’s questioning gaze on his neck. Without turning, Niko walked to the door and pressed his hand to the locking mechanism. He closed his eyes and made a set of trades, imbuing the outer walls and doors of the house with some of his own magic as he did. When he turned back, he found Cobalt, his arms crossed, looking quizzically at Niko.
“What was that?” he asked, gesturing toward the door with his chin.
Niko moved to the stairs. “Just some makeshift warding on the house. Locking the perimeter from anyone entering or leaving without setting off alarms, until I disarm it. Runes would be more effective, obviously, but I don’t have the skill for that.”
Cobalt nodded along. He waited as Niko hesitated by the base of the stairs. When Niko made no effort to answer the question Cobalt had actually asked, Cobalt sighed and asked again.
“I meant what was Starla talking about, Niko,” he said, his voice tired.
Niko placed a hand on th
e banister, picking at a knot in the wood railing. “I’ve been investigating the Woods.”
Silence followed a moment, and Niko waited. He didn’t want to look at Cobalt. He was used to confused and alarmed looks when he admitted his hunch to people. Uri had been genuinely lost at first, unsure how Niko could have come to the conclusion he did about the Woods. There was no evidence to support it. The case was closed. Niko had closed it. Why was he looking to keep it open?
Starla, meanwhile, had been more concerned. She agreed to help him, of course, but when he laid out his reasoning, she got that shadow in her eyes that meant she was seeing through him. But Niko didn’t know what there was to see through this time.
So when Cobalt said, “You don’t think Oak and his operation were the end of it,” without a hint of question, Niko was somewhat surprised. He turned, then, to find Cobalt studying him. But he wasn’t confused or worried for Niko’s sanity. Not on the surface, anyway. Instead, he seemed pensive.
Niko swallowed against the thickness in his throat. “No,” he said. “I think that was just one branch of it.”
Cobalt wasn’t looking at Niko now. His crystal eyes were focused on something invisible in the middle distance. He nodded slowly, something playing out in his mind. “One tree hardly makes a forest.” He quoted Vermillion Oak without prompting, and Niko felt something unlatch in him. His chest released, as though he’d been bracing for assault, and relief lightened him a moment.
“Yes,” he said, mildly breathless. “I’ve been going back over it all in my head, and I just can’t see how Oak managed to connect all those people, to get them entwined into his scheme, without some kind of help. And Preston said he was funding it, but no one knows where Preston’s money comes from—”
“Preston,” Cobalt said, half asking. He tilted his head, frowning. “He did get away scot free, didn’t he?”
Niko nodded, his teeth clenching again. Just the mention of Preston was often enough to sour Niko’s mood, but he did his best to shake that off. “He did. So if he was involved in the auction and is still out there operating, maybe he’s the one in charge of the Woods and—”