by Lyra Evans
The sound of a door closing followed, and Cobalt laid Niko gently on a bed. Niko opened his eyes finally. He did so slowly, as though only just now coming round, in the event someone was still watching. The first thing he noticed was Cobalt standing by him, observing him with an inscrutable expression.
“It’s all right,” he said. “We’re alone now.”
Niko nodded and pushed himself up onto his elbows to get a better sense of the room. It was only then that he realized the tie had been removed from him, as had the leg spreader. He didn’t remember that at all; Cobalt must have taken them off him while he was unconscious. Had he been out that long?
As Niko moved more, he also noticed he was still completely naked and wet and sticky in places. There had been no opportunity to clean up after—well. He made a move to get to his feet, but Cobalt held him down with one hand on his shoulder.
“Let me,” he said. Niko sat back, saying nothing. His mind was occupied with understanding Cobalt’s tone and expression. It was strange. Tight at the edges and veined with something between fear and relief. Then there was something else to it. Something sharp. Almost as though he was angry.
He disappeared into the small bathroom attached to the room. From the doorway, Niko saw a sink, toilet, and a standing shower. There were no frills there, but it was perfectly clean and functional. The bedroom, however, was slightly more lavish. The floor was carpeted with a richly patterned rug, and the king-sized bed was made with down comforter and plush pillows. The wallpaper was ornate but muted, and the other furnishings were elegant but simple. A small wooden desk and high-backed chair sat at one end, with a dark wood dresser next to it. A full-length mirror adorned the wall by the foot of the bed, and two small night stands sat at either side. There were reading lamps jutting out from the headboard and a floating orb-like fixture lighting the room in the centre of the ceiling. Except there wasn’t really a ceiling. Niko surmised there was a magical barrier encasing the room entirely, but there was no physical roof to the room. Squinting through the light, Niko could see the faint details of the sound stage ceiling in the distance above them.
Cobalt returned with a washcloth and a jar of salve he’d gathered from somewhere in the bathroom. He gestured with his chin for Niko to roll over, and Niko did, feeling at once embarrassed and confused. Having Cobalt tend to him in the immediate aftermath of sex was one thing—Niko was still in the afterglow, pliable and deluded—but having recovered his alertness, the situation seemed more awkward.
But Cobalt paid no mind to the awkwardness and set about cleaning Niko. He was gentle and thorough, and Niko clenched his jaw as Cobalt worked, trying not to let it feel good. When he was done with the cloth, Cobalt set it aside and uncapped the jar. Niko hissed briefly as the cool gel touched his raw ass, but as Cobalt smoothed it in gently, massaging and spreading it to cover every injured area, the salve tingled and calmed the skin. Within moments, the soreness and sensitivity vanished. Niko exhaled low and long, unaware of how uncomfortable the welts had been. When he was done with the back, Cobalt turned Niko over and began to spread the salve over his chest and stomach.
“I don’t have—” Niko started, confused. The injuries Cobalt had inflicted there had healed themselves. But as Cobalt applied the salve, it seeped into Niko’s skin and soothed him further. Tension he’d unconsciously been holding slowly eased. Then, finally, Cobalt dipped a thumb into the jar and spread the salve as carefully as possible over Niko’s neck. Niko watched him as he worked, finally deciphering some of what he saw in Cobalt’s clear eyes. It was guilt.
“We need to talk,” Cobalt said quietly, finishing up with the edges of Niko’s neck and capping the jar.
Niko nodded. “I counted seven—ah—possible purchases for us,” Niko said, hyper-aware that someone might be listening in. Cobalt shook his head.
“No, not about that,” he said. “I fucked up.” Niko was taken aback. The words seemed foreign coming out of Cobalt’s mouth as they did. “I pushed you too far, too hard. I wasn’t attentive enough. I lost control at the end there, and I hurt you. No excuses. I’m sorry. The breach of trust is intolerable.”
Niko frowned, eyebrows knitted together. He was so confused, he forgot he was still naked, lying before Cobalt. “What are you talking about?”
Cobalt reached out to his neck again, brushing at the skin that had, moments earlier, been raw and red. “I shouldn’t have held so tight for so long. I should have known you wouldn’t be able to tell if you were close to passing out. I should have been more careful.”
Niko shook his head, pushing back on the bed until he was seated straight. “What? I knew I was going to pass out,” Niko said. “It’s fine. If you’d let up, someone might have been suspi—” But Cobalt’s abrupt, flashing expression cut Niko off.
From apologetic and guilty he went to furious and alarmed. “You knew you were about to black out?” he asked, incredulous. “You squeezed back knowing I was going too far?”
Niko hesitated. “Yeah,” he said, and Cobalt shut his eyes and clenched his jaw, pressing fingertips into his temples. “But like I said, we were almost done, and if you’d pulled back at that point it would have been obvious—”
“Do you have any idea what could have happened?” Cobalt asked. His voice was quiet and even, but the wrought tension in his neck and eyes spoke volumes.
“I mean, I understand how choking works,” Niko snapped, annoyed that this was even an issue.
Cobalt seemed to retreat again behind his eyelids, like Niko was so trying he could only close his eyes and hope Niko would come to his senses when he opened them.
“I could have killed you,” Cobalt said. “I could have caused you brain damage. Or tracheal damage. I could have—” He stopped himself, apparently deciding better than to list out all the possible alternatives for Niko.
“But you didn’t,” Niko said. “I’m fine. And besides, it’s my life. The risk is on me.”
A ferocity Niko hadn’t seen in Cobalt emerged then, and Niko could only take in the glory and power of Cobalt in amazed and frustrated silence. “It is not only on you,” he said. Words like embers threatening to crack into a raging wildfire spilled from Cobalt’s mouth. “Your death would be on me. I would have been the one responsible for it. I would have to bear that for the rest of my life. Taking a life is no simple act. It weighs on the Soul, no matter how it happens.”
“I know that,” Niko shot back.
“Do you?” Cobalt asked. “Have you ever killed someone?”
Niko hesitated, jaw tight. “No,” he said. He saw something in Cobalt’s eyes then, and rather than face it head-on, Niko shied away and got to his feet. He gathered his clothing and began to dress, unwilling to remain so naked. “But I know cops on the force who’ve killed suspects. I know it's hard on you no matter—”
“Killing someone because you have no choice is one thing, and I sincerely hope you never have to learn it,” Cobalt snapped. “Killing your partner, your lover, someone who trusted you to protect them and keep them safe—that is another kind of burden entirely.” He shook his head.
“Okay, look, I’m sorry I wasn’t more considerate of your feelings,” Niko said, yanking on his shirt. “But you’re making it out to be much more than it was. I’m your partner on this case, okay? It’s not like I’m your—Soul Mate or whatever you call it.”
Cobalt again stared at him in an inscrutable silence. Niko felt strangely uncomfortable under the lens of that gaze. He looked away and buttoned up his shirt.
“You really have no idea, do you?” Cobalt said.
Niko adjusted his collar, opting to leave the tie off for now. “No idea about what?”
“Of course you don’t,” Cobalt went on, more to himself than Niko. “Why would you? You can’t even vocalize your own emotions and desires, why should you be able to identify much less discuss them when they occur in other people?”
“What are you on about?” Niko said, growing increasingly irritated.
/> Cobalt got to his feet and closed the distance between them. “I’m talking about this,” he said, then grabbed Niko’s face and pulled him into a rough, painful, emotional kiss. Niko felt it inside himself, in the core of his chest, in the hollow filled by the Soul Stone. He pulsed with it, and when Cobalt pulled back, he was speechless. “It would have been exactly like killing my Soul Mate, because you are my fucking Soul Mate, you complete sea cucumber.”
He released Niko and walked to the door, picking up a key-shaped card on the desk as he did. Niko stood stymied for a few moments, unable to process what had been said. He only came back to the present when he heard Cobalt turn the knob in the door.
“Where are you going?” he asked harshly. Cobalt held the door shut, stretching his neck as though working out tension.
“I’m going to take a look around the layout a bit. I need some time,” he said. “I’ll report back later, partner.” He said the last under his breath, so it was almost impossible to hear. Then he opened the door and disappeared into the hall, shutting it tightly behind him.
Niko stood there for several minutes, just staring at the space Cobalt had vacated, his lips still tingling. The only thing in his mind now was the echoing sound of Cobalt’s words. You are my fucking Soul Mate.
Dropping down on the bed, Niko stared out at the room he was in, for once completely at a loss for what to do. All he knew for sure was that he was well and truly fucked.
***
It took Niko approximately five minutes of sitting in stunned silence alone in the bedroom to shake himself out of it and get to work. If Cobalt could go scoping the place out alone, then so could Niko. Obviously. As Niko was a cop and it was part of his job. And that was something he seemed to have lost sight of since Cobalt had arrived. Or at least since he and Cobalt had—
Not the point. The point was Niko was now skulking around the soundstage, carefully avoiding anyone and everyone. He had no desire to interact with these monsters without Cobalt present. Explaining to some conscience-less sadist why he was wandering about without his Master was not Niko’s idea of a good use of his time. Locating the victims and identifying the people in charge of the Woods was what he was after. And if there was a part of him that wanted to find answers before Cobalt, well that was just incidental.
Back to the wall of one of the temporary rooms, Niko peeked around the corner to find the corridor clear. He moved silently along from one boxy room to the next. The room he and Cobalt occupied was in the middle rung of the amphitheatre-like setup. The way toward the centre and main stage was far more full of people than the outer rung, and Niko suspected the design of the soundstage was to keep everyone and their attention focused in the centre and away from the perimeter. So to the perimeter he went.
Once Niko hit the edge of the amphitheatre, between the walls of the makeshift bedrooms and the unfinished walls of the soundstage proper, he realized there were no guards or staff located near the exits. He passed the door they had come in by, up a short corridor and doused in shadow, but there was no one standing there to guard it. Slipping down the corridor toward it, Niko pressed an ear up to the door and listened. There was no discernable sound coming from outside of it, but when Niko tried to push it open, it didn’t budge. Using his old police trick, Niko made some trades and tried to unlock the mechanism by magic, but still the door didn’t yield to him. He made a different trade and felt around for a magical signature. The sudden blast of magic, as though he’d been punched in the gut, told Niko there was a strong locking enchantment on the door. It also told Niko the door hadn’t been locked by a Fae. That kind of magic was performed by Witches and Wizards. Could a citizen of Nimueh’s Court be the one in charge of the Woods?
Niko stepped back and wandered along the edge of the soundstage, searching for another door or hallway. He knew from the floorplans there was at least one more entrance to the soundstage from a second lobby. That area had been blocked off from guests, and Niko wanted to know why.
The space between the final ring of rooms and the walls of the soundstage was narrower than the corridors leading down toward the stage, and the lighting of the area didn’t quite reach as well there. The perimeter corridor was therefore shadowed and forgotten by the people occupying the rooms, and Niko took advantage. He moved quickly along the narrow spaces, pausing to check for people at every intersection with the main paths. He felt somewhat like a rabbit, hopping from bush to bush when he crossed the main paths, seeking the shelter of the shadows on the other side. He did this several times, making his way to the opposite side of the building, when he became too comfortable and nearly stepped right in front of Preston.
Catching himself just in time, Niko narrowly avoided revealing himself to the Werewolf just as Preston turned around. Niko held his breath and pressed himself into the shadows between two beams along the outer wall. Preston passed by Niko without incident, but his footsteps stopped very soon after. Niko shimmied over to the edge of the path, listening closely, and realized that Preston was standing in a narrow corridor much like the one through which they’d all entered the amphitheatre. And he was not alone.
“People are already getting restless,” Preston was saying, his tone far less congenial and amused than it was when he was speaking with Cobalt. He seemed frustrated. “They’ve barely been given a taste of the merchandise, and they couldn’t even interact. It was like having trays of food carried out through a pack of hungry predators and expecting them not to growl when you deny them a bite.”
“I don’t know what you’d have me do about that,” the woman with him responded. Her voice was low and soothing to the ear, but somehow Niko was not soothed by hearing it.
“You can convince him to let some out. Just a few. To mingle and keep people happy,” Preston said, as though it were obvious.
She laughed softly, a sound that fluttered like blown bubbles. “You’re not serious.” There was a pause, then she went on, “You are serious. Oh, Preston, you poor thing.”
Preston made a derisive sound. “Don’t patronize me.”
“Fine. Then don’t make ridiculous requests.”
“Then do something about the mood out there,” he snapped, working to keep his voice low. “This is supposed to be a business. Businesses rely on customer satisfaction. So satisfy your damn customers.”
Niko’s mind worked overtime here. It didn’t sound like Preston was asking for access to victims for his own sake. Indeed, it sounded more like a manager trying to placate a growing crowd of frustrated clients. But that would imply Preston was involved in the Woods more directly than just being a client himself. Thinking back to how everyone else seemed to ask Preston for details about the ‘merchandise’ and the shows, Niko thought it was possible. But it seemed insane. Why would someone as wealthy as Preston get himself involved in an illegal operation like the Woods? He would be risking everything.
Though Niko remembered Starla warning him no one knew exactly what it was Preston did. Perhaps his money was made selling people after all. But could the Woods have been operating for that long? Preston came to Maeve’s Court years ago and made his fortune long before Sade started hearing rumours about the Woods stealing his clients.
And none of this addressed the salient question of who was this woman? She was clearly close to the Woods, though by the way they were talking she wasn’t in charge herself. Still, she was definitely high up.
Niko cursed inwardly, wanting to peer around and catch a glimpse of them, but they were likely much too close to where he was not to notice him. Searching his pockets he found nothing useful. His phone would have been helpful here, which was perhaps one of the reasons they had confiscated them on entry. He scanned quickly around, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a discarded screw. Crouching down carefully so as not to make a sound, Niko plucked the screw from the darkness and made a trade or two, swiping his hand over the metal slowly. As he did, the screw seemed to melt in his palm, spreading out in a circle and becoming increa
singly reflective. When he was done, he held a small mirror in his hand and went about angling it near the edge of the wall to catch a glimpse of the woman Preston was with.
“I’m sure you can placate them for the time being,” she answered. “After all, it’s for everyone’s security we’re doing it this way, and that’s all thanks to your slipup.”
Preston growled under his breath, and Niko’s heart pumped faster. Preston’s slipup? Starla had said she’d connected Indigo to the Woods through a club. Was Preston her contact for him too? Had Preston been the one to take Indigo in? The woman’s words implied they would never have taken Indigo, which meant she likely knew something about him. She had to know who or what he was. Otherwise why reject him?
“I think that’s on you too, wouldn’t you say?” Preston answered darkly.
Niko adjusted the mirror, but Preston’s body seemed to block most of the woman. All Niko could tell from this angle was that she seemed to be pale-skinned and tall.
“I’ve paid my penance,” she said, her voice suddenly harsh and deadly. “What about you?”
Preston shook his head. “I’ve paid time and again,” he said. “The amount of money I’ve invested in all this…I’m meant to be a partner in this arrangement. Not a lackey.”
Niko pressed his ear closer, watching carefully. He wanted to ensure his industrial piercing caught every detail of Preston’s conversation. Had he just admitted to being a partner in the Woods?
“You’re not a lackey. You’re more like a board member,” the woman answered, but Preston didn’t seem impressed. “And you’ve made no insignificant profit from this, if you recall. He’s never led you astray before. So unknot your fur and get back to hosting. I’ve got work to do.”
Preston shook his head, brushing her off with a hand, and walked back toward Niko. Niko pressed himself back into the wall to avoid being seen as Preston passed him, but Preston’s mind was clearly elsewhere. He disappeared down the hall toward the stage, and Niko quickly readjusted his mirror to catch sight of the woman. She pushed the door open, stepping into a darkened room with a pale, white light coming from somewhere beyond. Turning to close the door behind her, Niko saw her face and felt his stomach tighten to a stone.