Page 34 of Forge the Blade

Sevastyan sent the address of the hotel.

Time was almost up. He took the elevator to the floor above the Bolthole and jogged back down one flight of stairs. Ellisandre was helping Rei get pants over the bandage on Lisa’s leg. Rei was already dressed. Both Lisa and Rei went to all fours and lowered their gaze as Sevastyan entered.

“Continue,” Sevastyan ordered. He went to Ellisandre and embraced them. “See you in a few days.”

“See that you do.” Ellisandre gripped him by the low ponytail at the base of his neck.

“I will.” His goddex’s eyes were beautiful and sharp with worry. He gripped their waist in reassurance. Everything that could be said was already said. Time to go.

It was expedient to allow Rei to use crutches for the trip. Carrying his boy would have been better, but it wasn’t wise to have his hands full when he could need to fight at any moment.

It was a short taxi ride from outside the Bolthole to the mall around the corner from the hotel. Then there was the walk inside and a back entrance to the hotel with the hotel keycard. Taking the secondary elevator up to the room would attract less attention.

Tension eased from his shoulders a little as soon as all three of them were inside the room.

“Clothes off.”

Rei obeyed at once. Lisa couldn’t. Sevastyan gave him a nod and let him lean against the wall while he removed his own coat and shoes. Kneeling to remove Lisa’s shoes was both expedient and instinctual. Every minute his charges were on their feet was another minute they were in pain. Lisa’s breath was coming a little fast and his eyes were glassy. There wasn’t time, nor was it likely to help, to bring attention to his panic. They could only get ready as swiftly as possible. Slavery was Lisa’s only refuge now. But he could try to make it more comfortable.

He stripped Lisa down to nothing but bandages and checked the pad over the wound in the slave’s thigh. It was still good. The best place to settle both of his boys was in the living room on the pillows already laid out. They would be out of sight of the door when it opened, but visible from a few steps inside. Lisa went easily, following the pressure of Sevastyan’s arm around his waist, one arm over Sevastyan’s shoulder and hopping, breath coming in small pants. Rei followed on his knees, folding up their clothes and setting them aside. Without any instructions both slaves settled on the floor, knees on the pillows Sevastyan had left there.

“Rest. No postures,” he ordered. It was enough for their headspace to be naked in a new space and under speech restriction. Alexi wouldn’t expect any more, not with how injured they were. And speaking of injuries, it was time for medications.

The antibiotics were rough on the stomach without food. Sevastyan swallowed his own pills in the kitchen, then ate a sandwich from the refrigerator cold while heating two more meals in the microwave. When Rei and Lisa’s sandwiches were warm, the cheese just melted, he carried them over to the couch and sat.

“Rei,” he called.

Rei crawled to him. He spread his legs and Rei settled between them, sitting sideways, back against Sevastyan’s leg, leaning into the couch, injured ankle tucked to the side. He was perfect, and brave, and soft. Sevastyan brushed his fingers through Rei’s hair and offered the pills, followed by water. In the small moment of quiet, this was an oasis. He could touch Rei as he liked, offer him something. The weight of his boy against his leg grounded him against what was coming. When Rei was finished, he stroked his cheek and signaled him to go back to the pillows, to make way for Lisa.

Lisa crawled over with less grace. He took the pills from Sevastyan’s hand with his lips without hesitation, but his back was a knot of tension and his arms were shaking. Sevastyan swallowed down any verbal praise, though he allowed them both a moment with his hand against Lisa’s cheek, acknowledging the effort and the pain. There was so much pride and terror running through the slave, but he was keeping his word. Sevastyan fed him without requiring eye contact, then sent him back to the pillows with Rei. “Sleep if you can,” he told them. Alexi hadn’t arrived yet. He could clean up the kitchen.

The mild sedative in the water he’d given them would let both slaves rest. Alexi would appreciate the show, and it would give him and Sevastyan time to talk without being overheard. Alexi was likely to be more frank. And Sevastyan would be able to control the stage, taking on the burden of setting the tone of the visit. If he did his jobs well, Alexi would leave Lisa with them and throw his weight behind their next moves.

Lisa and Rei were asleep by the time the place was clean. They’d curled in towards each other, face to face with arms under their heads and hands against their chests, so close they were almost touching. If ever a reminder were needed as to why he was doing what he was doing, the marks on Rei would have been enough. Both his and Lisa’s bare skin were a testament to recent events, scrapes, bruises and bandages on display.

On the other side of every deed he committed now was a world where Rei grew old, drank beers, and fed birds in a park. A world where he didn’t need a seven-step skincare program because it no longer mattered if he looked like a shattered angel.

Sevastyan’s phone buzzed. Alexi was in the foyer.

He slipped on his leather loafers, touched the gun under his suit jacket to confirm it was in place, and went out, locking the door behind him. The sensors on the doors and windows would tell him if anyone tried to enter.

Sevastyan

“Sevastyan, my beautiful friend.” Alexi held open his arms. Behind him stood another man in a suit—Jonathan, his long-time assistant. He often traveled with Alexi as light protection, or stayed behind, running Alexi’s affairs on his Russian estate.

Sevastyan clasped arms with Alexi. “You came. And you have your Jonathan.”

“Yes, just in case.” Alexi nodded towards Jonathan. “The only one of my managers my little fox doesn’t bite.”

Damn it. Alexi had brought backup, perhaps to take Lisa away.

“Your little fox is only biting those I need bitten these days.” Sevastyan smiled. “Come.”

They didn’t speak on the elevator, sharing it with a mother and her two kids, one of them an overstimulated toddler and the other a long-suffering five-year-old. Or perhaps the woman was their nanny. The kids looked little like her. They got off at the tenth floor. Sevastyan, Alexi, and Jonathan stayed to nearly the top floor.

“You rarely go all out,” Alexi murmured, glancing around the furnishing of the hallway, with its original art and soft, nearly new carpets.

“You were coming. And I thought you might be staying.” Unlocking the door took a moment. He had to disable the alarm he’d installed on the inside before turning the handle. “No luggage?”