Page 101 of Forge the Blade

“I’m not calling from my phone.” Ellisandre pitched their voice to carry to the five men gathered on the other end. “Listen. Tomorrow morning, at eight, leave your back entrance open. I’ll be there—with friends.”

“More than friends.” Sevastyan wrapped himself tighter around Ellisandre’s body, his naked leg coming up and hooking around their waist.

Ellisandre cursed softly but smiled. They pressed a kiss to Sevastyan’s forehead. “Richard, just make sure security is standing down.” They cut the call. If they could, they wouldn’t let this moment end. Their boy was tired. And emotionally naked. In their mind they calculated the last possible time they could stay and still make both of their flights.

“I’m going to go get us food.”

“Stay.” Sevastyan clung. He was adorable like this, with his walls down. And they’d fallen so quickly this time, as if he hadn’t even wanted them anymore.

Ellisandre closed their eyes, bracing for what they had to do. They were the one who had stripped their boy naked. And he’d trusted them. Given it up to them. Now they had to put those walls back up for him, lead him back to a headspace where he could go back out into the world and handle it like the cold, calculated bastard he’d shaped himself into being.

They brushed their lips against Sevastyan’s forehead. “Stay. I’m getting coffee.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to sit here and drink it with you.” They slipped out of the bed, pulled on a robe, and went out to where the vending machines were. A few moments later they were back with a passable breakfast and four steaming mugs of coffee. If anyone was watching, they wouldn’t know exactly how many people were in the room. It was the small details that mattered.

Sevastyan blinked up at them blearily. He needed sleep. Hopefully he would get some on the plane. There were first-class bunks. If one was available, they’d insist he take it. “Coffee?”

“Black and hot.” Ellisandre slid back into the bed with their back against the headboard. Sevastyan crawled towards them on his forearms. They took the lid off the cup and tested it. Toasty but passable. They blew on it to cool it off a little more and then held it to his lips. He drank, coughing at first, then coming back.

His head dropped to their thigh. “Why does it taste so good?”

“Caffeine,” Ellisandre chuckled. They drank from the same cup. It was good. Vending machine food had no right tasting better here than diner food in Chicago. Or maybe it was because they’d been up most of the night and the last several days.

They tore open one of the baked goods that looked like a cross between a sandwich, a croissant, and a biscuit. It had a name, but they couldn’t read the kanji on the front. It tasted good, perhaps a little sweet, but sugar was welcome. Cupping their palms to catch crumbs, they fed half to Sevastyan. By the time the first cup of coffee was gone and they were a quarter into the second cup, with two of the weird baked goods consumed, their boy pushed himself up on his hands and rubbed his eyes.

“I don’t usually crash this hard.”

“I’m not usually here.” Ellisandre stroked long pale strands back from Sevastyan’s face and looped them behind his ear. “You let down your guard.”

“Did I really . . .” Sevastyan covered his face with one hand. “Did I say things, while you were on the phone?”

“Nothing that wasn’t factual.” Ellisandre smirked. “Don’t think about it. You sounded dark and angsty.”

“I was not. I was under and tired.” Sevastyan tried to glare at them but failed. He didn’t have the heart for trying to intimidate yet.

“Shower.” Ellisandre swung out of the bed and offered Sevastyan their hand. “I’ll braid your hair before you go.” Anything to distract him from the fact he was about to reveal Rei to outsiders, at least outsiders to him. They were braced for him to panic. If they had to, they’d do it themselves, without him, but it would be better if he could go through with it.

His eyes widened at the idea of them braiding his hair.

Ellisandre gave a real smile. “Think of it like rope, but something you can take with you.” And suddenly he wasn’t thinking of Richard or Jun, or anyone else. His eyes were entirely fixed on them, his hand in his hair.

“You can braid?”

Ellisandre laughed. “It’s all rope, of different kinds.”

Sevastyan

Sleeping on the plane had only been possible until the first nightmare. After that, Sevastyan had stayed awake, ruminating. Nothing had worked to completely shift the impending sense of fate and loss inside his chest. In the end, what had tethered him was holding onto the braid Ellisandre had left in his hair and staring out the window. Jun was a good man. He’d look after Rei, when all was said and done. And even after Rei was safe with Jun, Ellisandre would still have eyes on him. He’d be able to protect Rei from afar. Rei would be able to be in the light again.

A message came through from the Yadro as Sevastyan left customs in O’Hare. He opened the message as he walked towards the baggage claim. There was one more condition being added to Merchari’s demands on Jun. They wanted him to return all the properties the United States government was turning over to him. His father had run a long con, using Jun’s US identity to live a double life, putting multiple parcels of land and houses under his son’s name. Now that Jun had reclaimed his US identity, those properties were legally his. The Yadro was demanding those properties be transferred back to Bak Sahyuk, or their chosen representative for him.

Was that demand coming from the Yadro, or from Jun’s father?

He shook his head. The Yadro could try with that demand, but those properties would be tied up in courts for years with many eyes on them. This was a demand he would expect from his mother, not the directors. Someone was grasping at straws and somehow getting it through.

Ellisandre’s security had stood down at the condo before he arrived. The living room and kitchen were empty. Sevastyan removed his shoes at the door and checked his messages again. Ellisandre had just texted that they had landed in O’Hare. They’d go back to their own place, change, and meet Sevastyan and Rei in the back staircase beneath The Residency.