Page 7 of Forge the Blade

The room had low lights. There was a large bed. Sevastyan set him on the edge. He pulled Rei’s coat off and kept stripping him until he was naked.

On the other side, Lisa was climbing in the bed as well. Ellisandre was moving around but Sevastyan stayed by Rei, arranging the covers over Rei’s legs.

“Rei.” Sevastyan cupped Rei’s face in his hands. “Come back, little one.”

Rei blinked his vision into focus.

“Private space,” Sevastyan said. “Safe.”

Rei shivered. He looked around the room. There was old dark furniture everywhere. Ellisandre was there, looking ready to leave. Rei dug his fingers into the sheets.

“An hour,” Sevastyan said. “Stay with Lisa for an hour. This is a safe house. There’s double security on the entrance. The Merchari don’t know about this place.” He placed a gun down on the bedside table near Lisa.

Rei nodded. Sevastyan had to leave. Again. He wasn’t going to beg him to stay. He wasn’t.

Sevastyan pressed his lips against Rei’s forehead and guided him to lie down.

Rei pressed his cheek to Sevastyan’s and forced himself to let go. Sevastyan had to go. It had something to do with the attack. He wasn’t sure. Something to do with the bodies.

Sevastyan gave him one last look and then glanced towards Lisa. Then he was turning and walking away. Rei gripped the blankets with both hands, willing himself not to cry out.

An arm pulled him down into the mattress and then his face was pressed against Lisa’s bandaged chest.

Rei waited until he heard the outer door click shut.

Only then did the shaking start. He couldn’t stay. His thoughts rose up and slipped to the right, taking him away. And finally, everything was quiet again. There was nothing but sheets and Lisa and he hung there, outside of time or context.

Ellisandre

Ellisandre called Alice while Sevastyan was in the bathroom getting rid of trace DNA. They would need to make a more thorough cleaning later, if possible. For now, it was best to give the place the best cleaning they could in a short period. Their boy was running on fumes. If they hadn’t needed his help carrying the bodies or performing the charade with the clothes, they would have left him with his slaves.

Slaves. Not as foreign a word as it should have been. And it fit. Neither young man was free. Ellisandre could no more separate them from Sevastyan than they could separate Dana from Alice. Not for long at least.

Alice took Ellisandre’s instructions in stride and got off the phone. Ellisandre wiped down the kitchen where they’d made the call, making sure to bag the food to take with. They took it out to the living room. A cheerful call to the building services had managed to get them the use of a large plastic rolling bin, the kind used by hospital laundry services. They hadn’t asked too many questions. Ellisandre lined the bins with plastic and dumped the bagged bodies inside. They’d already gone out with Sevastyan dressed in the dead men’s clothes, making sure to be seen by cameras once or twice before stripping off and returning and avoiding cameras for the most part. It wasn’t perfect but it was most likely good enough. Tomorrow they could see what Ash could do to clean up the rest.

Ellisandre pulled up the bloodied carpet and broke up the remnants of the coffee table. Sevastyan finished in the bedroom and helped taken apart the couch. They covered the bodies with the furniture pieces and took all of it down the elevator to the van Ellisandre had sent for. With a little creative parking to avoid cameras, the two of them loaded everything into the back of the van in three trips.

Sevastyan’s energy was more than flagging by the time they finished. He leaned on the side of the van. “What now?”

“You go back to your boys,” Ellisandre said. They nodded at an approaching car. It glided up to them and turned off. Alice stepped out of the driver’s side.

“Alice, meet Vast. Vast, Alice.” Ellisandre made introductions. “Vast, Alice is going to drive you back and drop you off at the door.”

Sevastyan grimaced and nodded.

“See you soon.” Alice flashed Ellisandre a smile and slid back into her car. She was wearing a hat and scarf that mostly obscured her face. Good. She was learning fast. Sevastyan slid into the back seat, sinking into the shadows.

Ellisandre nodded to Alice and jumped into the front seat of the cargo van. It was going to be a long night.

Ellisandre

Alice rejoined Ellisandre in the back of a junkyard an hour away. She looked bright for such a cold winter night.

“So, what are we doing?” Alice rubbed her hands together.

“Moving bodies, and trash. From this vehicle to that one.” Ellisandre pointed to a small box truck parked beside the van.

Alice pulled a face. “How many?”