by Lyra Evans
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Niko asked him. Kincaid stared up at Niko in terrified shock. “Trying to get yourself killed?”
Kincaid gaped for a moment, his attention continuously drawn back toward the source of the intense sound beams. “You are a cop, right?” he cried, clutching to Niko as Niko curled over him to shield him from a barrage of flying debris.
“Yeah, I’m a fucking cop,” Niko snapped. “And you need to get the fuck out of here! Now!” He pushed Kincaid to his feet and shoved him toward the exit by a side pathway between stacks that might have been better shielded from danger. But before Kincaid ran off, Niko yanked the topaz necklace from his neck and shattered it on the ground. Kincaid gave him a horrified look, but Niko’s glare stayed his tongue and sent him on his way.
Another beam hit nearby, knocking a clothing rack over and setting some of the items aflame. Niko blinked through the chaos. He needed to take control of the situation now, or it would only get worse.
Pushing to his feet, Niko intended to find a vantage and get a clear shot on Vermillion to take him down, hopefully without killing him. But as Niko moved around a tower of boxes toward Vermillion, he found himself face to face with the barrel of a gun.
“Give me the Stone,” Amber said to him, her words vibrating unevenly on the air. She wasn’t terribly confident in her own order, but the gun, shaking only slightly, was pretty powerful motivation. Niko stared at her a moment, noting the blood running from her ears, the black streams of running makeup down her face. “Give it to me, and I’ll let you go. You don’t have to die here.”
Niko looked into her eyes—light green with a crystalline reflect—and saw just how young she still was. He shook his head slowly at her. He couldn’t give her the Stone, couldn’t just walk away, and they both knew that. She knew he wouldn’t comply, but she tried anyway. And Niko knew what she would have to do faced with that reality. So he pressed his palm to his own stomach and made a difficult trade, taking a deep breath as he did.
A shot rang out, its sound distortion creating a pear-shaped rippling on the air, aimed directly at his centre. The bullet moved too fast to see, but Niko felt it hit. It struck him in the abdomen, knocking the wind out of him and ricocheting off his now hard-surfaced stomach and chest. He’d traded the density of his skin for that of bullet-proof glass, and though he struggled to breathe, he was still alive. Amber, however, was not.
Her body lay on the ground before him, a blooming red flower in her face. Niko dropped to his knees to try and tend to her, but it was already too late. The light had left her eyes, and with his enhanced vision, Niko saw just how dull and empty the eyes of a dead person were. He shut his eyes and reached up to close hers, wishing this could have gone differently.
But the impact of a sound beam hitting the tower of boxes next to him brought him back to his urgent reality. He grabbed the gun from Amber’s limp hand and positioned himself around the edge of the ruined stack of boxes. Crouching for cover, Niko peered through a torn edge spilling shattered pieces of set dishes and took aim. Vermillion took a wide stance, screaming his sound beams like some kind of tiny, hideous Dragon. One beam narrowly missed Cobalt as he dove for cover behind an old sofa. The tower of boxes made for good cover but gave him no chance to aim properly.
Cursing, Niko moved around the edge of the broken tower and tried to get a clear shot. But as the walls of the building began to crumble and crack around them, weakened by the impact of the various beams, the reality of his situation seemed to strike Vermillion. His open shirt billowing in the rippling air he was causing, he began to step backward, over the edge of the now-ineffective warding and toward the lobby through which the guests were still trying to escape. He cast another sound beam at Cobalt, breaking the sofa into splinters as Cobalt moved out of the way, and Niko saw the Stones on his chest glow strangely together. It was the Stone Armour, after all, that gave him this power.
Knowing it was his best option, Niko took aim and fired a shot at the centre of Vermillion’s chest. The bullet struck hard, cracking the Stone chest piece he wore and knocking him off his footing briefly. But the Stone Armour didn’t break. It needed another hit. And now Vermillion’s attention was squarely on Niko. Out of the corner of his eye, Niko saw Cobalt dash forward toward Vermillion, but his main focus was on Vermillion’s open mouth, creating the pinpoint accurate beam of sound aimed directly at Niko.
Niko held his ground, holding the gun as steady as possible, and took the shot just as the sound beam struck him in the stomach. All the air in his lungs was forced from him, and Niko felt himself thrown into a pile of debris behind him. The gun slipped from his fingers as he flew through the air, then the impact of wooden skids and boxes full of props thrust through him. Pain attacked him from all sides, his mind going dark with the intensity and the chaos, and he struggled and struggled to breathe. He managed to press a hand to his chest and trade back his bullet-proof skin for regular skin just in time to gasp air as he landed. Bones crunched in his shoulder, his head striking against something thankfully soft to absorb some of the impact, and Niko lost his sense of anything for a time.
A rippling, deadly scream tore through the air, but it wasn’t Vermillion. It was Cobalt. Niko struggled through the pain and disorientation, adrenaline pumping frantically through his veins and keeping him conscious. Cobalt’s face was warped into a mask of fury as he swiped the gun Niko had dropped when he was struck. But when he turned, catching Vermillion by the back of his collar as he tried to escape, Cobalt’s face was stony, cold, and determined. There was no emotion there beyond intention, and he threw Vermillion to his knees in front of what looked like a shattered stained-glass window. Only the fractured pieces were glowing, and Niko realized his gambit had worked. The Stones had separated and fallen away from Vermillion’s body, leaving him with only his own Soul Stone and no more power than Cobalt or any other Selkie.
“Wait, wait, Sincloud, wait! I can help you! I can offer you so much information on—on anything you want! I have years of stored knowledge on the Royal Family, on Maeve’s Court, and others! I’ve got many, many friends in high places! I can tell you all sorts of things. People like me find each other, you know. One tree hardly makes a forest. I can tell you things! I can be useful, Sincloud! You don’t need to do this!”
But none of what Vermillion pleaded was getting through to Cobalt, and Niko knew that without seeing the hardened, dead look in Cobalt’s eyes. Pushing himself to his feet, Niko tried to call out, to stop Cobalt. He yanked the gun from where it was at his back and aimed it at Cobalt, his instincts as a cop kicking in. He couldn’t watch an execution in cold blood and do nothing. He couldn’t let Cobalt throw his life away just because it was ‘his mission’ as a Royal Guard to do so. The police and the justice department would never let him get away with it, not when Niko was wearing a recording device—
Hand to his ear, Niko realized the device had dislodged at some point. He shot a glance down and saw a piece of it at his feet. When he looked up, Cobalt was looking at him, his eyes filled with a silent, desperate apology. For a moment, nothing happened, Niko holding Cobalt at gunpoint while Cobalt held Vermillion. Then, Niko thought of Indigo, of Amber, and of all the others who had suffered over the years at Vermillion’s hands. He thought of Preston, and Redwood, and Juniper, and Goshawk. And he thought of Sade.
Niko lowered his gun, and Cobalt pulled the trigger.
Chapter 30
Niko leaned against the cold marble pillar of the main Court building. His eyes closed, his head tilted back against the stone, he breathed in slowly. An ache in his stomach and chest made every breath a calculated effort, and beneath his dark t-shirt he was covered in inky clouds of bruises. His dark blue hair flopped across his forehead, dishevelled and in need of a cut soon, but he didn’t care much about that right now. All he cared about, despite his appearance of relaxed calm, was what was happening beyond the heavy stone doors inside the Royal Court Hall.
He hadn’t been
allowed in. Not since his own face to face with Queen Maeve. The Council of Courtiers had insisted Cobalt go in alone to speak, and Niko had no power to change their minds. So he waited, his chest ringing with a buzzing anxiety. He hadn’t been alone with Cobalt in what felt like days, though it had only been one really, really long one. Uri had escorted Cobalt to Court, and Niko had only caught a glimpse of him before he went in. And even that had been a wrench to his gut. Cobalt looked so resigned and so calm, only the sight of Niko had sparked anything in his eyes.
Uri had waited with Niko for a while too. Niko figured it was a form of apology or solidarity. He wasn’t sure. But since Uri had been the one to arrest Cobalt at the crime scene and take him in, Niko didn’t know whether to be grateful or angry. He’d told them it had been self-defense. He’d said, again and again, Cobalt had saved lives. But a shooting was a shooting, and a suspect was dead. Two of them, actually. It was procedure to arrest anyone who admitted to killing another on scene, so that a proper inquiry could be made into what happened. They hadn’t decided yet whether to charge Cobalt or not, but he had been in custody since then. Only this morning had he been released pending the conclusion of the investigation, and by that point he’d been due at the Court.
There was no evidence Niko had lied, and frankly, considering everything, Niko wasn’t entirely convinced he had lied. Vermillion was an ongoing threat, no matter if he were in custody or not. He had abilities and far too many friends. He’d made that much clear himself. But procedure was procedure.
An echoing break sounded through the stone hall as the doors finally shifted open. Niko straightened, his eyes scanning for Cobalt. The doors swung slowly, revealing a strip of bright light along the comparatively dark entrance hall, and then a lone figure emerged. Niko didn’t need to wait for his eyes to adjust to know it was Cobalt. He could tell in the outline of his body, in the weight of his steps, in the ocean scent on the air.
His body urged him to run, to throw himself at Cobalt, into his arms and breathe him in deep. But he didn’t. He stood still, arms tight and tense at his sides as he watched Cobalt walk over to him. Wearing the expensively tailored suit he’d bought to play Cobb Snyder, Cobalt stopped within a foot of Niko, his eyes searching Niko’s face. A small smile played on his lips, but it was undercut by the flash of pain in his irises.
Now that he stood before Niko, Niko wasn’t sure what to say. Words bloomed and wilted on his tongue from one beat to the next, and Niko couldn’t make himself speak them. Instead, he looked Cobalt over. But there was nothing to see but Cobalt, as he was, holding a rolled up paper in one hand and his iridescent bag in the other.
“Niko,” Cobalt said, his voice almost a whisper.
But Niko couldn’t listen to what he wanted to say, not with that tone through his words. The tone that said I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.
“We should go,” Niko said abruptly. “My car’s around the corner.”
He started walking, nodding toward the general direction where he’d parked, and Cobalt fell into step with him after a moment. They passed through the wide bank of glass and brass entry doors, out into the brightness of the day. Niko pulled out his sunglasses and slipped them on, more to shield his eyes from the blinding flashes of the sea of cameras than from the sun.
A cacophony of questions assaulted both of them as they made their way down the front steps of the Court building, reporters from every Court and every publication gathered in hordes to catch them and try to find answers. They’d been dogging Niko and Cobalt and the police from the moment the story broke. And it broke almost instantly, thanks in part to Harvey Kincaid, who reported on some of the details from the scene. Niko had caught his eyes as he was led to a waiting medic that night, and Kincaid had nodded to him, an understanding passing between them. Since then, Kincaid had been strangely closed about exactly what he’d witnessed. He reported on relevant details, like Vermillion’s abuses and control over his victims, about how he was primarily victimizing Selkies, and only few Fae, Witches, Wizards, and Werewolves, and that he was the main threat that night. But he avoided speaking on Cobalt or his role in what happened. And if he knew of how intimately Cobalt and Niko were connected, he didn’t mention that either. He did mention that Niko had saved his life, and that the MCPD had done their best with what was available to them. Which was a nice change for the reporting from TCNN. But he still had a job to do.
He waved an enchanted microphone at the two of them, just like everyone else, as Niko and Cobalt passed. But in his eyes, Niko saw that he expected no answer.
“Mr. Sincloud, how long have you been working with the MCPD? Did you know a Selkie was to blame for the disappearances and death of your Prince from the beginning? Were you sent with specific instructions to kill him quietly?”
“Detective Spruce, how long has the MCPD been investigating the sex trafficking of Selkies and other victims in Maeve’s Court? Should the public have been warned earlier that another predatory ring was operating in the aftermath of the Hemlock Case? Are there still others in operation?”
“Has the MCPD tracked down how Vermillion Oak set up his false persona and established his fake name? Are there others out there who may be in disguise as Fae or other members of the Three Courts? What do the police plan to do about this possibility?”
“A number of Maeve Court’s wealthiest and well-known figures have come out and claimed they were unaware of the illegal activities perpetrated by Vermillion Oak, others that they were also under his control. These are names you reported as having been complicit in the criminal enterprise, Detective. Do you have any evidence to back up those claims?”
Niko grimaced inwardly as he led Cobalt through the throng and down the street. Some reporters tried to follow them, but Niko shot a warning glance over his shoulder, and they gave up. They would continue to follow him and others, he was sure, until enough details came out. But he wasn’t going to be the one to leak them without express instructions from Chief Banyan or Maeve herself.
Coming to his car, Niko unlocked the doors and fell into the driver’s seat. Cobalt settled next to him, and Niko turned the key in the ignition. He pulled out into the street, needing to be on the move to achieve a greater level of privacy. He didn’t want photographers catching him having an in-depth conversation with Cobalt just sitting in his car. Niko started along the road back to his apartment without thinking, wanting only some quiet.
“They won’t stop until they get answers, will they?” Cobalt asked, glancing out the window at the disappearing crowd of reporters.
“Or something more newsworthy happens,” Niko said. “But don’t worry. As soon as this bullshit investigation is over, they’ll clear you, and you’ll see just how fast the news cycle really is in the Three Courts.”
There was a silence, and Niko breathed in the breath of ocean freedom Cobalt gave off, hoping to stave off the ache in his chest.
“Niko,” Cobalt said, his voice quiet again. Niko’s throat tightened. “What you did at the sound stage for me…for Indy…I—”
Niko shook his head. “I didn’t do anything,” he said. “It was self-defense. It was the only way to keep people safe. That’s all. I would have done the same thing.”
Again, there was silence. And in it, Niko felt Cobalt watching him. He felt the radiant warmth of the Soul Stone in his chest telling him he was lying, and Cobalt knew it. Niko would not have killed Vermillion. He hadn’t killed Sade, even when there was more than enough cause. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t the right thing to do. And though Niko wasn’t sure he could have done the same, he didn’t regret his decision in the end. He didn’t regret telling the police what he did. But the weight in Cobalt’s eyes, apparent even in a single glance, told Niko that Cobalt did regret it.
“I’m sorry I ever put you in that position,” Cobalt said. Niko gripped the steering wheel tighter. The traffic was light for midday. “I kept my true mission secret from the police for obvious reasons. I kept it from you,
though, because I couldn’t bear to put that on you. From the moment I realized exactly what you are to me, I tried to find another way.”
Niko gritted his teeth, choking back the dry heave that rolled up in his throat. “The other way would have been not to kill him,” Niko said, but the words were so soft he wasn’t sure he actually spoke them until Cobalt shut his eyes.
“It is the duty I took on when I became a Royal Guard,” Cobalt said, turning away. His expression was a painting of his tone—resigned, mournful. “I knew what being a Royal Guard meant, and I still chose to do it.” He stopped, looking over at Niko now. “But I never imagined having to do it in these circumstances. To have to mete out justice for my best friend while threatening the life and well-being of my Soul Mate… Fate is cruel, I suppose.”
“Did you choose—” Niko began, but he cut himself off abruptly, unable to ask the question he wanted. It was too self-pitying, too clingy. It was too much for him, and he hated himself for even thinking it. It was stupid and childish to ask Cobalt if he’d chosen Indigo over him, as if anything was that simple. But Cobalt seemed to read him anyway, and that struck Niko even harder in the chest.
“No, Niko,” Cobalt said. “It wasn’t a matter of choosing. But if it had been—” Cobalt stopped, reaching out and brushing his fingers against Niko’s jaw. Niko felt himself lean into the touch, the ache in his chest and stomach increasing. The bruising was only partly to blame. “Do you honestly think there is a choice?”
Swallowing hard against the thickness in his throat, Niko passed the driveway into his building’s parking lot and kept going. He drove along without thinking about it, his mind on other things. When they came to a stop, it was at the edge of a road that led to the small, somewhat hidden strip of beach where Cobalt had called upon the octopus messenger. No one came to this beach, and it was blocked off from view from the street by palm trees and rough rocks. Niko turned off the engine.