Rei

Rei kept half an eye on the camera feeds while putting together his daily intelligence report for Sevastyan, heavier than normal to make up for the days missed while traveling.

Keeping his finger on the pulse of various online spaces was one of the tasks that had become a weapon as Sevastyan navigated the layers of power and intrigue that was both the international art trade and the criminal underground.

Watching over long periods of time allowed Rei to absorb the rhythm of normal behavior.

On the cameras, none of the faces moving constantly back and forth from entries and exits in the building for the past few hours had yet to match the ones Sevastyan had shown him.

He looked up at the camera feeds and almost looked down again when something tugged on the edge of his senses.

Rei leaned forward. No, he wasn’t wrong.

That was Lisa, dark hair pulled back in a messy ponytail with the ends sticking out in every direction behind his head.

His tanned cheeks were red with cold; he wasn’t wearing enough clothes for the snow and ice layered beneath the wind blowing outside.

He stood near the front entrance of the building Rei was in, but on the far side of the sidewalk, out of the way of other pedestrians, shivering and appearing to be waiting, shoulders hunched up to his ears and blowing on his bare hands to keep them warm.

Rei cursed and grabbed his phone to text Lisa.

No answer. Rei stared at the screen, as if glaring at it could make Lisa give a damn about himself and move inside.

He texted again. Nothing. Perhaps Lisa had lost his phone. Perhaps he was really there because he needed help and had no way to contact someone.

Rei ran his hand over his face, groaning. He shot off a text to Sevastyan, asking for orders.

Again, nothing.

He grabbed a different phone and texted his device just to make sure the message system was working.

That reply showed up on his phone screen. So he wasn’t the problem. Lisa and Sevastyan were both not taking calls. Might not be able to accept calls. That wasn’t unusual. There was no real cause to worry.

Rei looked back to the camera feeds. Lisa was leaning against a light pole now, slowly sinking to the ground.

He sat in the snow. Rei ran his fingers through his hair and tugged on it.

It wouldn’t be the first time Lisa showed up hurt.

He had a way of making people hate him, or getting caught out doing dangerous jobs for Alexi.

What if he were bleeding? Or drugged?

Rei screwed his eyes shut. He was going to have to go out there.

Go out.

He turned to the door. He hadn’t walked through a locked outer door without Sevastyan in years. It wasn’t done. He wasn’t a quasi agent and slave like Lisa who slipped between definitions and roles. He was an absolute slave.

And yet . . . he could make the case that he was serving Sevastyan and Alexi. It was a gray area.

Gray or not, he couldn’t leave Lisa to fall asleep or die.

Rei grabbed his coat and face mask and went to the door, shoving his feet into shoes.

Sevastyan was going to discipline him for this.

His heart beat in his throat. His hands shook.

Tying his boots was almost impossible. The mask went on clumsily.

On his knees, he pressed his forehead to the door, hand on the handle, and forced air through his nose and into his lungs.

All he had to do was go down the elevator, walk across the lobby, step onto the sidewalk, grab Lisa, and come back. Technically he’d only be three steps outside the building. Sevastyan’s cameras were everywhere. If anything happened, Sevastyan would find him.

His heart pounded in his chest. What if he panicked and couldn’t make it across the lobby? What if he was the one who made a scene and got them noticed?

Just think about Lisa.

That’s all he had to do. Think of Lisa. He’d get to Lisa. Once he had his hands on the other man, then he wouldn’t have to think about anyone else. He could ground himself on helping Lisa and nothing beyond him would matter.

Rei pulled the handle down and pushed up from his knees, passing through the door. The air in the open space in front of the elevator bay was cooler than inside the condo. He jabbed the elevator button, calling it. The number started ticking over in bright red letters above the door.

It opened. There were already people inside. He kept his head down, stepping in. Maybe they wouldn’t notice him. Back to the nearest wall, he kept his hands shoved in his pockets to hide how they were shaking. Everyone else seemed tall, dwarfing him. He managed a quick glance.

Fuck. Richard Reevesworth and Collin.

Rei’s face burned. Why now? At least his face mask was on and the hood of his jacket was up. He stole a second glance. Collin looked tired. There was little about him that resembled Sevastyan. He was turned towards Richard, clearly focused on him.

Attentive. The way Rei would have been towards Sevastyan. Did Sevastyan know?

What if he spoke now? Would they listen? What would he even say?

The door opened and one of Richard’s bodyguards went out first, then Richard, and lastly Collin and the final guard. Rei made himself move on legs that felt like they were formed from mush and jelly.

Just cross the lobby. Don’t try to speak. Don’t try to do anything except what he’d come for. That’s all he had to do.

Richard and Collin were walking away with their bodyguards. They were out the front doors before Rei was even halfway across the glass-walled lobby. Rei looked through the glass to the street. Lisa was fully in the snow now.

No, no!

Rei pushed himself through the doors, crossing the three steps to the pile of snow Lisa had collapsed against.

His vision cleared as he touched Lisa’s light jacket, just as he knew it would.

When it mattered, somehow, he could fight through the static that would try to take his senses.

He’d pay for it later, but for the moment, his legs locked in place under him and strength returned to his fingers.

He pulled Lisa upright.

Lisa opened his eyes and smiled. “Rei-Rei.”

He looked like he always did. Sharp chin, sharp nose as if he were fey.

Long dark lashes beneath slender brows that never touched.

His eyes were dark and lush but too deep in his face, like bruised flowers.

Everything about him was sharper than it should have been, as if the softness had been pared away.

“You!” Rei growled at him in English.

Lisa grinned, letting Rei pull him to his feet.

“Are you hurt?”

Lisa’s hand went over his heart. He smiled like a lunatic but his eyes weren’t completely open.

There really weren’t enough clothes on him: black, weathered jeans; a blue jean jacket over a cotton long-sleeved black shirt that had the words “Asshole” on the front in Times New Roman.

“Ah, were you worried?” He spoke in Russian.

Rei sputtered. “Worried? You collapsed!” The shirt was accurate.

Lisa’s thin lips twisting to the side. “Had to ring the doorbell somehow.”

“I thought . . .” Rei slapped a hand over his mask and grabbed Lisa’s hand. “We’re going to be seen.”

Lisa let Rei pull him into the building.

Rei’s stomach threatened to come up through his mouth.

He marched straight for the elevators, refusing to look left or right.

Sevastyan could do whatever he wanted to him for this stunt.

He’d welcome it. Going out on his own was hell.

Too many sounds. Too many smells. Too much movement and no grounding point to keep him from spinning off into the tingling, dizzy space that seemed to hover just above his head.

All the possibilities and not enough air.

At least not air he could get into his lungs. He kept a tight grip on Lisa’s hand and punched the button for the elevator. One of them opened at once. He stumbled inside, still squeezing Lisa’s hand. There was no one else but them. The door closed.

“Floor?” Lisa said.

Rei managed to pry his hand from his stomach and jabbed the numeral eight.

The elevator rose. Neither spoke. Rei kept his grip on Lisa’s hand all the way to the door of the condo.

He could barely press the buttons to get inside, but somehow he managed.

As soon as they were through the door and it had locked behind them, Rei’s knees gave out. He fumbled with his shoes.

But he couldn’t pass out, not yet. Lisa might still be faking.

He needed to make sure nothing was wrong.

Then he could crash. Rei yanked off his boots and pulled Lisa’s off as well.

Lisa let him. Rei found his feet again and led Lisa into the living room.

He pushed the other man into one of the chairs, glad that non-Merchari-sanctioned work was out of sight.

“Jacket off.”

“Ah . . . ReiRei, rules. You know. Masters.” Lisa waved to the general air above their heads. “Us. Slaves.” He gestured between them. For a moment he looked vastly younger than his roughly twenty-seven years.

“You’re a liar who lies.” Rei jerked on Lisa’s sleeves. “Show me.” He started patting Lisa down. No visible blood. No winces from broken bones. Just cold emanating from every inch of fabric and visible skin. “How long were you out there like this?”

“Not long.”

Rei gripped Lisa’s slender fingers. “You’re cold.”

Lisa shrugged but didn’t pull away. If anything, his eyes were smiling. “I’m always cold without you.”

“You should have just told Sevastyan you needed to come over.”

Lisa’s eyes darkened and his bottom lip pressed up into his upper one in a pout. “Don’t need Sevastyan. Can find you on my own.”

Rei growled. “I’m getting tea. You’re going to drink it.” He let go of Lisa’s hand to walk to the kitchen.

Lisa sprang out of the chair, following close behind. “Don’t be mad.”

“Don’t be mad?” Rei spat. He kept his back to Lisa as he put water in the electric kettle and started it heating.

Lisa was thin. He had always been slender, but this time he actually felt underweight.

His skin had a more burnished glow than normal, more so than his natural look of completely indeterminable heritage usually granted him.