by Lyra Evans
Of the others, two were set up somewhat close together. There was still plenty of distance between them, but the idea of a neighbour even within walking distance in the otherwise uninhabited jungle-forest didn’t sit right with Niko. Not where Preston was concerned. He liked privacy. Was obsessed with it, really. So much so, in fact, no one actually even knew his last name. It was ridiculous.
Niko pinned down the only property with no surrounding neighbours for miles around as being Preston’s likely location. From the topographical map, it appeared to be within a reasonable distance to some of the geological markers Niko had seen in the photographs in his condo. It was also very deep into the jungle-forest.
“Thanks, Uri,” Niko said again, standing up straight. He shouldered his newly stocked bag and handed Cobalt the other. “You should go. They can’t suspect you. For any reason. I don’t know what they’ll do.”
Uri studied him a moment, searching Niko’s eyes. “You really think they’ll kill you if I bring you in?” he asked. “I’ll get you in quiet, not alert anyone until we’re in the building and safe. No one is going to shoot you if you’re cuffed in an interrogation room. You can tell your side, show them what you’ve collected—”
“The goal isn’t to solve the murder, Uri,” Niko said, having realized this himself in Chief Banyan’s backyard. “The goal is to kill me.”
Uri fell silent, the hope in his eyes flickering and dying out. “But, they’re cops,” he said faintly, as shaken by the idea of a corruption that deep in his own institution. Niko nodded. He was at a loss too. There had always been bad cops, bought by the Sequoia crime family once upon a time, or tweaking evidence to serve their theories, or just abusing power. But the magnitude of the chief of police being compromised was something else entirely.
“This isn’t about an arrest anymore,” Niko said. It was about justice. It was about the truth.
Uri nodded. “Just—don’t do anything stupid,” he said. “I don’t want details. Better I don’t know much. But be careful, Nik. Stay safe.” He turned to Cobalt then, still wary and angry. “Keep him safe. At least do that.”
Cobalt stared back with a dark expression and an intensity that burrowed into Niko. “I will let no harm come to him,” Cobalt said, and the power behind the words almost seemed enough to convince the universe itself.
There was little else to say, so they parted ways. Uri disappeared back into the passage, and Niko nodded to Cobalt, leading him along between the mangroves, shuffling through the ankle-deep water. There was nothing much to say for a while, as they picked through the water until Niko saw an opening to press further inward. They had a lot of ground to cover and no time to do it. The edge on which they found themselves was only deserted for a small stretch. Beyond it, resort villages were set up into the jungle-forest’s side, carving out pockets of land to establish lavish spas and getaways.
Niko and Cobalt needed to press deep into the densest part of the trees, sticking to the least welcoming part of the jungle to be safe. The air searches the Chief had commanded earlier that morning, after her little chat at home, meant that helicopters were circling every neighbourhood of the city in rotating shifts. Quieter drones were sent up around the smaller communities scattered along the coastline moving North to Nimueh’s Court, and places like Gaoltown where Sluagh Penitentiary stood.
Something almost like a path unravelled before Niko as he hoisted himself up between the root-base of two mangrove trees. The ground was pebbled but still sandy at this edge, but the water gave way to solid ground. He stopped to pull on his boots, and watched as Cobalt did the same. Winter or not, the day was hot hiking in the jungle, and Niko was already sweating. He took off his cap and clip disguise and tossed it into his bag. Cobalt took out the comb in his afro and shook out his cloud-like white hair.
“That’s strangely liberating,” Cobalt said, staring at the comb in his hand.
Niko jumped down from the mangroves to the pseudo-path. “Not sure the afro and pick suit your personality, anyway,” he said. Then, remembering the way Cobalt’s language and tone had changed when he spoke with Coral when he thought they were alone, Niko wasn’t so sure. “But what do I know.”
For a few minutes, as they trudged along the winding path between trees and bushes and fallen palm fronds, Cobalt said nothing. Perhaps he’d missed Niko’s comment, but then, as Niko cut through some thick vines to clear a path, Cobalt spoke up.
“You don’t think you know me?” he asked, his voice low and soft behind Niko. The knife slipped as the final vine snapped, knocking Niko off balance. Warm, sturdy arms caught him before he went far, and he looked up into Cobalt’s mesmerizing eyes.
He was caught there, hovering between the bubble of expanding lightness in him and the crushing sense of confusion and loss. When Niko finally landed, he lifted himself out of Cobalt’s grasp and pushed on ahead.
“I don’t, really,” he said.
Heavy footsteps on the exposed roots behind him told Niko Cobalt was following. “I disagree. The time we spent together was—”
“Short,” Niko interrupted. The crushing sensation against his sternum was winning out. “We spent a few days together, in extreme circumstances.” Whipping his arm around, Niko cut through a low-hanging branch with more force than necessary. Leaves snapped and fluttered about as Niko shoved through. “And then you left.”
“I had to return to Azure’s Court. I had to deliver Indigo’s Soul Stone to the Reef and see the case through to the end.”
“Oh, I know,” Niko said, remembering their last conversation before Cobalt disappeared into the ocean with searing clarity. “It had to be you. I get it.”
What Niko did not get was why Cobalt hadn’t returned the next day. Or the day after. Or even a week later. How long did it take to deliver a Soul Stone and explain the situation to the King? And at what point did inviting his sister to come along to visit Maeve’s Court figure in? But Niko couldn’t make himself ask those questions outright. He couldn’t force the words off his tongue.
“The tone of your voice suggests otherwise,” Cobalt said, catching Niko around the side and yanking him out of the way just as a barrage of coconuts rained down before them.
Niko unconsciously leaned into Cobalt before pulling himself back out. He gathered up a few coconuts, shaking them for sounds of liquid. They seemed mature, so he popped two into his bag and offered two to Cobalt as well. Coconut milk would replenish some of the electrolytes he was losing through sweat.
“Nope,” Niko said, continuing on. He checked the map on his phone, but already the device was having difficulty maintaining a connection to the magical network. He stopped by a nearby ficus tree, using one of its elevated roots as a temporary table to search his bag. The signal boosting device wouldn’t help for long, but it was worth a try for a while. Niko flicked on the switch and set it at the top of his pack, closing it tightly to keep it in place. Before he could shoulder his bag again, Cobalt shoved him hard against the trunk of the tree. Wind left his lungs, and his head knocked back against the bark with a sharp thud.
“I thought I taught you not to lie to me,” Cobalt said, his forearm pinning Niko in place across his chest. That familiar pleasure surged through Niko’s body, the pain from Cobalt’s handling setting his nerves alight and mixing with the frisson of excitement his words elicited. The look in Cobalt’s eyes was heated and serious, and Niko wanted so badly to give in to it.
“We all lie sometimes, don’t we?” Niko said, surprising Cobalt by shoving him off. He tried to get back on track, but Cobalt had other plans.
He caught Niko by the wrist and swung him around, catching him in a rear arm lock. Shoulder burning from the stretch, Niko felt Cobalt’s grip tighten. Pain coursed through him, fanning the flames in his body, like fuel on a forest fire. It had been a long time since he’d experienced that kind of painful pleasure.
“If you imagine I would let you accuse me of lying without repercussions, you are mistaken,” Cobalt sai
d, barely a whisper into Niko’s ear. Niko shuddered but gritted his teeth. The tingling desire could not override his anger. “I never lied to you.”
Opening his eyes, Niko stared pointedly at Cobalt above him. “You lied about your intentions toward Vermillion Oak.”
Cobalt twisted Niko’s arm further, just to the edge of its limit, not quite enough to pop it from its socket. “That wasn’t a lie. Rather, I withheld the truth,” Cobalt said, and Niko thought that was splitting hairs. “Though it was necessary at the time, I am sorry for it. Still, I never lied.”
Niko turned his captured hand and wrapped his fingers around Cobalt’s wrist to mitigate his control. Then, in a swift, precise movement, he spun and brought his other elbow around to collide with Cobalt’s chest. The blow knocked Cobalt sideways, loosening his grip so Niko could pull his hand free. Heart pumping fire into his veins, Niko struck Cobalt again with the flat of his forearm at the elbow.
“You wanna consider that again?” Niko asked through heavy breaths, his body hot and the hollow in his chest steadily taking control of his actions. Cobalt brought an arm up to catch the next blow, stopping himself from a forced retreat. He used his own folded arm to deflect another assault, sending Niko’s arm spinning wild.
“Say what you mean,” Cobalt ordered, catching Niko’s wrist as he went to punch. He forced the arc of the punch downward, folding Niko in half.
“You fucking left!” Niko cried, no longer able to hold back his hurt with pride and stubbornness. He ground his molars together and drew his opposite elbow up to hit Cobalt in the side. Cobalt grunted from the impact, against releasing Niko’s caught wrist. “You said you would come back quickly, and you fucking didn’t!”
“Niko—” Cobalt attempted, but Niko wasn’t hearing it. His eyes stung, and he reached up, locking his hands behind Cobalt’s neck.
“Three months! Three fucking months without a word!” Niko cried, all control lost. He yanked down on Cobalt’s neck and threw up a knee, but Cobalt caught his leg behind the knee.
He held Niko’s knee, shifting him off balance, and threw his chest into Niko’s. Niko fell backward, hard, and slammed into the ground with Cobalt on top of him. He gasped, no breath in his lungs, and scrabbled to get up. But the entirety of Cobalt’s weight pinned him down, and the Selkie struggled with him, snatching his jabbing hands to pin them by his head.
“Niko—Niko,” Cobalt said, his voice barely breaking through the hurricane in Niko’s chest and head. He was hot and angry and desperate and hurt. There were too many competing feelings in him, and Niko couldn’t handle it. “Niko!”
Eyes opening, Niko stared up into Cobalt’s silver irises. There was almost no colour left, massive black depths absorbing the irises, and Cobalt’s face was barely an inch from his. Niko heaved, breathing in the depth of Cobalt’s scent mixed with jungle trees and moss, and the burning taste of sunlight. Niko struggled more, but Cobalt forced his wrists down to the hard, packed earth. He couldn’t move, couldn’t escape, and his body reacted accordingly.
With a jerk of his shoulders, Niko lifted himself off the ground to close the gap between them, his mouth capturing Cobalt’s in a rough and angry kiss. He tasted the moan on Cobalt’s tongue and fell back, too limited in his movement. Cobalt groaned and muttered something, angling his body to the side. Niko arced and his erection pressed against Cobalt’s, and Cobalt gritted his teeth.
“Niko,” he breathed, but Niko was done talking. He was hard and hungry, and every part of him hurt just enough to make him hornier than he’d been in months.
“Fuck you, then,” he snapped, a pang of frustration shooting through him. It made him hotter, angrier, and more volatile.
Something like a growl came from Cobalt, and he pulled up, pinning Niko with his knees over Niko’s hips, one arm across Niko’s chest. Niko reached immediately for Cobalt’s braced arm, but in a flash, Cobalt pulled something from his bag and snapped it around Niko’s wrist. It took a half-second for Niko to see the silver glint of the handcuffs, but by then, Cobalt had pulled his other hand into place and cuffed him with his hands beneath his own neck.
A growl of his own rolled in Niko’s throat, and he made to just pull his hands out from under his neck, but Cobalt moved too swiftly. He wove some of the Fae-made rope between Niko’s folded arms and around his cuffed hands, then over his neck. Cobalt pulled the rig tight, stopping just short of choking Niko outright. He could still breathe, but it was closely limited. Excitement surged in Niko, and he bucked his hips up against Cobalt, their erections barely brushing again.
Cobalt knocked Niko’s bent arms apart, pulling the muscles to an extreme and sending another rush of blood to Niko’s cock. He leaned in close and pressed down on the rope at Niko’s neck, restricting airflow further.
“You are not in control here,” Cobalt said. Niko shuddered at the threat in his tone. He grimaced, angling his head back in defiance, but it only served to further restrict his airflow. Cobalt released his neck and shook his head, slapping Niko across the face once in warning. The stinging made his cock twitch.
But there was an urgency in Cobalt too. He moved roughly off Niko’s waist and between his legs, forcing them apart. With careless, angry movements, he tore open Niko’s pants and shoved them away, leaving Niko’s cock exposed, each leg still covered with now useless fabric. Cobalt groped at Niko’s erection and balls, palming them roughly. Niko watched, his teeth still grinding together, a moan tearing from his chest. He tried to buck into Cobalt’s hand, but Cobalt only tightened his grip until it was almost painful, shaking his head. Then, quick as he’d started, he stopped, reaching instead between Niko’s legs to finger his ass.
Without lube of any kind, it was raw and painful, and Niko lost his hold on his anger, fading instead into glorious pleasure. Cobalt didn’t go far with his fingers, just deep enough to be uncomfortable and intrusive. And again, he quickly removed his fingers. When Niko opened his eyes, he found Cobalt’s pants undone, his cock hard and free and glistening slightly. There was no lube nearby, but Niko didn’t care. He was long past the point of giving a damn about pain and damage.
Only when Cobalt grabbed his hips, pulling them upward onto his folded thighs, Niko felt a slight wetness at the tip of Cobalt’s cock. And then Cobalt thrust in, deep and full and surprisingly slick. The burning, stretching still seared through Niko, but it was only intense ecstasy.
He threw his head back again, tightening the rope around his neck on his own. Gasping for every breath, Niko moaned a strangled sound as Cobalt thrust into him. He pushed in, setting a bruising pace, his thick cock filling Niko so completely he thought he’d be rent in half.
Niko’s fingers twined together behind his neck, knotted with bits of leaves and twigs and dirt. Uncovered roots dug into his back, and he breathed in the wet smell of moss and dirt, and Cobalt fucked him harder and harder.
Cobalt’s shirt brushed over Niko’s bouncing cock with very pounding motion, and the breath of friction sent Niko spiralling toward climax. He couldn’t hold back, couldn’t control it, with Cobalt hitting his sweet spot again and again and his struggle to breathe. He felt words trying to tumble from his mouth, but there wasn’t enough air to push them out, and instead he sounded as though he was moaning and whimpering at once.
Fingers dug deep into Niko’s hips and ass, spreading him further, and Niko wrapped his legs around Cobalt’s waist, pulling him deeper still. There was nothing else in those moments but the thrusting pleasure of Cobalt inside him, his fingernails scraping red welts into Niko’s skin. And then it was too much, too good to stop.
With a hoarse, breathless cry, Niko came hard. His orgasm ripped through him, splattering against his stomach and chest, soaking into his shirt. His body tensed and tightened, pleasure wiping him out like a tidal surge. Cobalt reached up and grabbed his face, fingers pinching Niko’s mouth and jaw tight to force him to look up into Cobalt’s face.
He said nothing, his gaze penetrating as deeply into Niko as his cock
. And he pounded in deep once, twice more before shuddering and shaking, spilling out into Niko in a violent rush. Niko arced again, the pleasure of Cobalt’s orgasm rocketing through him too, not enough to come again, but so strong he couldn’t fight the cry he let out.
And then they were heaving, sweaty and dirty and spent, but Cobalt didn’t pull out. He held his position, his grip softening just slightly on Niko’s jaw. He smoothed his palm down over Niko’s neck and the rope there, then he leaned down and pressed his mouth to Niko’s.
The kiss was slow and deep, and in a rush of bonelessness, the hurt and betrayal was back, taking the place of the pleasure and pain that had gripped Niko so tightly so fast. Cobalt pulled away slowly, sliding out as Niko’s legs fell to either side of him. Niko wanted to yank himself free, to pull away from Cobalt, but Cobalt wouldn’t allow it. One hand flat to Niko’s chest, he pinned him with a gentle touch and a look.
“You still aren’t in control,” Cobalt said. His expression was different now. No anger, no heat. Only softened guilt. The edges of his lips downturned, Niko tried to look away, but Cobalt forced his head straight. He was still at Cobalt’s mercy, and there was nothing else but to face the truth of what Cobalt had to say. “Niko, I’m sorry,” Cobalt said, and even that was too much. There were walls upon walls erected around Niko’s heart, and three months earlier, Cobalt had torn them down only to disappear. He left Niko in a pile of the ruins of his own defenses, raw and unprepared for the possibility that he might never have that protection again. “If I had had any other option, I would not have left—”
“You did,” Niko snapped, every fiber of his being pulled taut and overstretched, the soreness from their angry sex sinking in. The anger was back, but now it was tinged with too much heartache to hide. “You could have just—”
“I couldn’t,” Cobalt said more forcefully. Through the fog of his own feelings, Niko saw a flicker of panic in Cobalt’s expression. “I was bound by the terms of my duty. I intended only to fulfil that. To return Indigo’s Soul Stone—”