by Lyra Evans
“Whatever you think, nothing you did was wrong,” he said. Niko had no choice but to look into the light of Cobalt’s eyes and try not to shrink away. The more he held Cobalt’s gaze, though, the more he felt afraid. Not of Cobalt, but of himself.
“We should go,” Niko said. Cobalt nodded softly and captured Niko’s mouth in one more kiss. Niko swayed in it, that thing in him expanding even further. It felt like sunlight.
When he broke the kiss, Cobalt smiled against Niko’s mouth. “To tide you over. Until you next decide the light is green.”
Niko stood for a moment, watching Cobalt pull on his clothes, trying not to imagine those images of him and Cobalt in his apartment, domestic and intimate. They were a fantasy, just as much as the sexual ones were. Niko had only ever hurt people he’d cared about, because that was all he understood. Pain. So for Cobalt’s sake, the light would have to stay red.
Chapter 21
By the time they were crossing back into the main city of Maeve’s Court, the sun was rising on the horizon, and Niko was running low on energy. His mind supplied unhelpful scenes of him and Cobalt, wrapped in one another and cozily asleep in bed, but Niko brushed them aside. The images of himself with Cobalt alternated between hot, rough sex and the two of them serenely intertwined in domesticity. Niko wasn’t sure what was more alarming to him.
He’d never had crushes. Not really. In the past, if he’d found himself attracted to someone, he’d approach them, possibly date briefly, and have a lot of sex. Usually Niko got bored or distracted by a case and then the pseudo-relationship began to fall apart. Then came Uriah.
Niko had flirted with him for a few months before either of them took any action. They worked together, after all, and that could often complicate things. Niko had been attracted to him, sure, but he hadn’t spent every free moment he had thinking about Uri. He had never been overwhelmed by desperate hunger for Uri, nor the painful yearning for calm companionship. Instead, Uri had pushed their relationship forward, moving Niko in with him without Niko really actually deciding. It hadn’t seemed like much of an issue because Niko was hardly ever at home. He spent so long at the precinct or on cases, his living arrangements seemed to matter little. When he did come home, he wanted one of three things—food, sleep, or sex. Only when Uri started talking about them as a unit did Niko start to pull away.
He’d heard Uri reference both of them in his plans for the weekend. Then he’d mentioned to a friend he would have to run an invitation by Niko before accepting. As though it mattered to Niko whether Uri wanted to spend time with his friends. And sometime after that, Niko realized that perhaps it should have mattered. Perhaps he should have cared more about what Uri did when he wasn’t around. Perhaps he should have been more interested in Uri beyond getting fucked. And around that time, Niko started to realize he wasn’t even as interested in sex with Uri anymore, either.
He took the undercover assignment without consulting Uri. He hardly thought through the danger it posed to himself, the position he’d be putting himself in, nor the very real probability of what Sade would do to him. Instead, all he could focus on was a chance to move up the ranks, prove himself, and get some space from Uri. Maybe enough space to better value what their relationship was. Only the opposite happened.
Now Niko was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car, pulling in to the precinct parking lot, and fighting the urge to touch his lips and relive the last kiss he’d shared with Cobalt. He wanted to turn around and pull Cobalt into another kiss, wanted to press their bodies together and breathe in, wanted to feel Cobalt inside of him again, around him, and on him. What was worse was he wanted Cobalt to stay. He wanted to read with him, to go get him a full wardrobe and make him try more spicy food to see the way his eyes twinkled and watered at the heat and find out more about his past and about what he liked to do for fun. And as Niko parked the car, Cobalt lost in thought next to him, Niko found himself out of his depth for the first time since his childhood. He had no idea what to do with this, with these feelings, these wants. All he knew was that it couldn’t happen. It simply couldn’t. Even if Cobalt was interested, they were from different worlds. Literally. Cobalt would return to Azure’s Court when the case was done. And Niko would stay in Maeve’s Court. A literal ocean separating them.
But the way Cobalt had tended to him, holding him close and cleaning him up, pressing kisses to the bruises he’d left behind and trying to assure him, however incorrect he was, that Niko had done nothing wrong… Those things stuck in Niko’s chest, coating over the ragged edges of his insides and making him feel smooth.
Cobalt caught him looking at him, and Niko couldn’t even manage to feel embarrassed. He continued to stare, and Cobalt’s mouth quirked. He licked his lips, making Niko want to lean forward and taste them again. He stopped himself, brought back to reality by the slight arch to Cobalt’s eyebrow.
“If you’re tired, there’s a room upstairs for you to rest,” Niko said, noticing the weariness in Cobalt’s eyes. Cobalt raised both eyebrows at this. “It’s mostly bunks and not so private, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Do you have plans to rest there?” Cobalt asked. Niko pulled his keys out of the ignition.
“No, I’ve got to follow-up on the properties Indigo mapped. See who owned them before they were sold. It might give us a lead on the clients of the Woods.”
Cobalt nodded. “Then I will assist you.”
Niko opened the door and got out. “You don’t have to. It’s boring work, and I’ll wake you the moment I find anything. You shouldn’t push yourself to stay awake if you have the chan—” But he was interrupted by a yawn that took control of his entire body, betraying him.
Cobalt laughed, and the sound soothed the momentary embarrassment Niko felt. “Between the two of us, you’ve been working harder. I should make the same offer to you, if I thought for a moment you’d accept it.”
Niko eyed him. “You could order me to do it,” Niko shot, aiming for playful but falling slightly short. Cobalt’s expression darkened slightly, and Niko cursed himself. What was wrong with him?
“Aside from the fact I would never override your will again,” Cobalt said, “I couldn’t order you to sleep now if I wanted to. Your work is too important to you.”
Niko shivered, despite the early morning heat. It hardly took a genius to figure out what his career meant to him, but that Cobalt pinpointed it as something integral to his identity stopped Niko. Even Uri had trouble understanding that what Niko did was more than a job, more than a career, even. It was who he was. Cobalt saw that in a matter of days.
“What would that feel like?” Niko asked, making his way slowly toward the precinct’s back entrance. Cobalt walked with him. “Getting the order but having it be ineffective.”
Cobalt stepped to one side of the building, a little ways from the door, and glanced around. “Would you like to find out?”
Niko followed him to the secluded area, casting his own look around for any witnesses. There was no one. “Yes,” Niko said.
“Go get some rest now,” Cobalt Sang, and the words flowed over Niko like the fluctuating surf, soft and cool and relaxing. But where Niko normally felt himself at ease and one with the instruction, determined to obey it in the moment, he felt nothing. No urge to move, to find a place to lie down. Nothing. Only the soothing effect of the melody itself.
“It still feels—nice,” Niko admitted, looking up at Cobalt. The Selkie studied him closely. “I’m still affected by the sound of your voice, just not the specific words.”
Cobalt smiled knowingly. “You are, aren’t you,” he said, no question in the phrase. Niko’s brows knitted together.
“What does that mean?”
Again, the smile, and Cobalt dodged the question. “Not a thing. How did you plan to stay awake to scour the relevant information for clues?”
Niko narrowed his eyes as Cobalt guided them back toward the entrance to the precinct. “Potions,” Niko said. He led the way i
nto the canteen, nodding some wordless greetings to officers and administrative personnel he passed on the way. Some of them hadn’t been on duty when Cobalt was there last, and a few of them stopped in their tracks to ogle him as they passed. Niko tried not to think of what they were seeing Cobalt do in their minds. Opening the refrigerator, he pulled out two potions the colour of molten steel. Handing one to Cobalt, he popped the topper and held his out in a toast. “Thank the Firs for Witches and Wizards.”
He knocked back the potion in as few gulps as possible. It tasted of citrus and pineapple, with the brutal burn of terrible vodka and the smokiness of scotch. And underneath all that pleasantness was the undeniable spice of cinnamon. Overall, not the most enjoyable drink. But the moment the potion hit his stomach, Niko felt the surge of energy. The heaviness in his limbs disappeared, his muscles trading soreness for anticipation. His mind felt sharp and keen, and his lungs felt open and full.
Cobalt studied the potion a moment before drinking it in an imitation of Niko. He finished in in two swallows, but the face he made when he lowered the bottle was enough to make Niko laugh. It rumbled in his chest like thunder but broke free like applause at a live reading. Cobalt smiled at him, though he tried to glare at the same time. He stuck out his tongue, as though licking the air, the look of disgust too much for Niko.
“That was abhorrent,” he said, looking at the bottle as though it was toxic. “How often do you drink this?”
Niko took the bottle from him and tossed them both into the bin with the caps. “A few times a week when I’m working a case,” Niko said. Cobalt shook his head, stepping closer. He pressed in tight to Niko, leaning forward to breathe in his ear.
“I can think of much better ways of waking you up,” he said, and Niko felt a jolt of desire strike through him. He looked over his shoulder at Cobalt, rolling his eyes. He intended to shake Cobalt off, but when their eyes met, he stopped breathing. Their lips were close again, and Niko felt the pull of his wanting.
“I have a feeling your ideas are more likely to wear me out,” Niko said, and Cobalt bit the inside of his lip gently.
“Shall we put them to the test?”
The energy in Niko suddenly found an outlet, and he felt as though he could descend into the madness Cobalt was suggesting in an instant. But before he could formulate an answer of any kind, someone interrupted them.
“Nik, you’re here already. I was just—oh,” Uri’s voice came from behind them. Cobalt pulled away smoothly, turning without urgency to face Uriah. Niko followed his lead, controlling his every movement so as not to jump. They weren’t doing anything inappropriate. There was no reason for Niko to feel guilty, but the crestfallen look on Uri’s face was enough to convince Niko otherwise. Guilt stirred in him.
“Good morning, Officer Fern,” Cobalt said, nodding politely to him. Uri eyed him a moment, then nodded in return.
“Morning,” he said.
Niko nodded in greeting and said, “I was just showing Sincloud here the wonders of Witch-made energy potions.” Cobalt made a knowing sound. “He’s not a fan.” Uri’s expression slowly morphed from disappointment to professionalism. “What were you saying?”
Uri looked at Niko for a long moment, then he glanced back at Cobalt, and the resignation in his eyes told Niko he had already guessed. Without knowing how he knew it, Niko was sure Uri knew they’d fucked.
“I was just collecting all the data we gathered on those properties for you,” he said. “Was just bringing them over to your desk.” He held out a hand full of files for Niko, and Niko took them, flipping the files open to scan them. There was something in his other hand, but he moved to cover the top of it. Niko paid it little attention, reading the files. “Most of the properties were owned by shell corporations that traced back to other corporations and so forth. Some of them seem to be owned by companies headquartered in other Courts, so out of our jurisdiction.”
Niko flipped through the pages. “Are there any we’ve pinpointed to an actual name?”
“A couple. But those seem to be the oldest ones on the list your vic put together,” Uri said. “One or two of the previous owners with listed names are dead, though. And a couple others were owned by—”
“The Sequoia family,” Niko said with a sigh. He’d help lock away the main players in the Sequoia crime family on his last case, where a Fae named Luke Hawthorne had been coerced into finding an illegal cache of untraced sapphires in Mount Draco up in Nimueh’s Court. They went away and weren’t getting out soon. There was no leverage for Niko to use to get them to talk about their properties, so that was useless. Plus he hardly felt like going all the way back out to Sluagh Prison. “Great. So this is another dead end.”
Uri shrugged apologetically. “We’re still trying to untangle the web of shell corporations, but these people seriously know how to hide things. It doesn’t look like a viable lead for now.”
“Ash and Oak,” Niko swore, slapping the file folders closed. “Is there anything else? What about the warrant to search the Manor and identify the owners?”
Uri shook his head, dislodging a particularly stubborn lock of his greenish-yellow hair. He reached up to fix it, and Niko realized his hair was freshly cut. Just the length Niko had liked it.
“Warrant got denied,” Uri said. Niko’s expression was blank, unable to process that information.
“Excuse me?” Cobalt asked. “Is that normal?”
Uri cocked an eyebrow. “No, definitely not,” he said. “The Captain called the High Court Lawyer himself to sort it out, but there was nothing either of them could do. The judge apparently said there wasn’t enough evidence to justify a search. The Chief was pissed, too, but she said we’d just have to find another way. Or more evidence.”
The anger in Niko was hot and dry, like coals in a desert, burning steadily and dangerously. “And how are we supposed to find more evidence now the property will be closed to us?” Niko asked, his teeth gritted and anger barely veiled.
Uri shook his head again, clearly frustrated as well. “Hey, I’m on your side, Nik. It’s bullshit. But unless the real estate agency wants to cooperate suddenly and give us more to go on, we’re stuck. You could come back to my desk to look over the other files in more detail, though, if you want. Just to be sure.”
Cobalt flexed his shoulders, his jaw now made of stone. “Perhaps I should have a word with this judge on the importance of inter-Court cooperation? Remind them that the case involves the murder of a prince?”
Niko shook his head, but Uri answered first. “That won’t serve you or your people well,” Uri said, and Niko flinched internally at the implied hostility. Cobalt raised one white eyebrow. “What I mean is—your prince was here illegally in the first place. And you putting pressure on our justice system in a way that seems to infringe on the rights of our own citizens will only make people more wary in the long run. It might even make some people actively hostile to Selkies. Plus not everyone knows Selkies are real and here yet. Despite all the fucking reporters hounding the Chief and the Captain.”
Niko started pacing the small clear area of the canteen, needing the action to think. “So we know Indigo was killed at the Manor, on the back terrace and then moved to Sickle Beach somehow. We also know others were hurt to the point of bleeding during the party at the Manor, but we can’t get back in there to search more thoroughly or collect any evidence, and we can’t find out who owns the place, nor stop the sale of the property. We also can’t identify the owners of any of the other properties likely connected to the Woods. The only thing connecting these properties that we know of is the real estate agency, Red Horizon Real Estate, because they were responsible for the sales. But Oak isn’t willing to cooperate, and we can’t get a warrant. So what the fuck are we supposed to do?”
Uri shifted uncomfortably, crossing his arms. “Well, did you get anything else out of Hemlock up at Sluagh?” he asked, his mouth suddenly working hard around the words, as though wired shut. “I can’t imagine what
you had to offer him to get the information…but I know how devoted you are to your job.”
The stinging in Niko’s chest was surprising, but the comment hardly was. Maybe it was deserved. He had, technically, been in a relationship with Uri when he’d let Sade…when Sade had… Then. And when he’d returned, he’d been different. He was different. He knew that. He couldn’t be the guy Uri wanted. He couldn’t be his boyfriend, his lover, even a friend with benefits. And maybe he’d hurt Uri on his way out. Maybe he’d done unnecessary damage. But despite Uri fucking some guy at a club while Niko was in hospital, Niko still expected him to be the Golden Retriever he really was at heart.
Cobalt moved an inch, his expression betraying his intentions toward Uri, but Niko stepped in between them. Pretending it was an accident, that Niko was so lost in thought he hadn’t noticed either Uri’s jab or Cobalt’s reaction, he stared ahead of himself.
“He said the events are usually a full weekend,” Niko said, focusing on the scattered fragments of information in his mind rather than anything going on in the canteen. “But Whetu and Pauline said they were back at work the next morning.” Niko started pacing again, but there wasn’t enough room in the canteen, and he wasn’t moving enough to get his mind spinning. “Argh! I have to think!”
He left the canteen without hesitating, leaving Uri and Cobalt behind. He vaguely heard Uri bid him goodbye and Cobalt call him to wait, but Niko needed to clear his head. There was only one thing for it. He swiped his identification card against the reader by the door to the basement and flung it open as he rushed down. Behind him, he heard Cobalt’s calls as he caught the door and followed him down.
“Niko, where are you going?” Cobalt yelled, but his question was answered as he followed Niko into a locker room. Niko pressed his palm to his locker. The magic released and allowed him access. He stripped quickly, so focused on his goal he hardly noticed Cobalt watching him. “Are those—But we’re nowhere near—“ His sentences unfinished, Cobalt followed Niko, now dressed in nothing but a pale blue set of trunks, out the other side of the locker room.