Episode 6
Sevastyan
The phone Ellisandre had given Sevastyan pinged with a message before he’d even opened his eyes in the morning. The warm body beside him was too tall to be Rei. Events of the previous night flooded back into his brain, even as he opened the phone and squinted at the screen.
Sevastyan rubbed his eyes. Cryptic. Which was to be expected.
He texted back.
Ellisandre responded immediately.
He could do local.
Sevastyan dropped the phone and rubbed his face. If he was going to be up most or all of the night, it would be better if he got more sleep, but now that he was awake, he was awake. Perhaps he could nap in the late afternoon.
Rei lifted his head and blinked sleepily at Sevastyan from the other side of Lisa.
They’d bracketed the taller slave in the shower the night before and then again in bed.
Lisa had slept heavily, especially after the sleeping aids had hit.
They would have worn off by now. The sun outside was already up.
“Breakfast, master?” Rei murmured.
“Shower first.” Sevastyan heaved himself up. Rei followed him out of bed after adjusting the covers around Lisa.
Mornings with Rei were steadying. Sevastyan pulled his boy into the shower spray with him and just held him, back braced on the wall, water pouring down on both of them. Rei leaned into him, head against Sevastyan’s collarbone, body falling lax in Sevastyan’s grip.
Sevastyan did their morning routine over the bathroom counter, a thick towel braced on the edge to protect Rei’s hips, and kept it light, just a few open-handed smacks across Rei’s ass and thighs.
He let Rei stay there while he brushed his teeth and did his hair, pausing now and then to trail his hands over Rei’s body.
Then he supervised Rei getting dressed and ready for the day.
There was no need for words. They moved together in comfortable silence.
That was the energy that stayed in place for the rest of the day.
Lisa woke just before noon. Sevastyan fed him and set him on the tasks of doing laundry and cleaning up, then shopping online for clothing essentials for himself, supervised by Rei.
When Sevastyan handed over a credit card for the final purchases, Lisa’s mouth fell open.
Sevastyan pretended to not notice, keeping his eyes on his own screen.
There were a lot of moving parts in the Merchari world at the present moment.
And that included Sevastyan’s task in Chicago.
Gang Junseo was back from the Estate and moving around the city.
Under the guise of being a news reporter, Sevastyan hired a private investigator to feed him information on Gang Junseo’s goings and comings.
The cameras told Sevastyan that Gang Junseo and the rest of The Residency were often in and out of the condo several floors above, but many nights Gang Junseo was sleeping elsewhere.
And he hadn’t been able to find out where.
Reevesworth’s security company was very good at what they did.
If Sevastyan had to know more, he could ask Ellisandre, but that would be putting a lot on their newly rekindled relationship.
As long as he could fake his mission to the Yadro, then it didn’t matter if he knew where Gang Junseo was each moment of the day.
Either way, he wasn’t going to turn the K-Pop idol over to the Merchari.
Lisa stayed subdued but calm. Sevastyan gave him space.
Whether or not it was the right thing to do, he didn’t know.
But he didn’t have the mental capacity to think of anything better in the straits they were in.
Rei was handling the situation with grace and even gratefulness, so he would give it a day.
Perhaps Lisa was recruitable. His mental stability was another question.
But then again, who among them was stable?
Like reality, what did stable even mean?
Functional? Balanced insanity? Rational?
Sevastyan arrived at the Bolthole at ten-thirty exactly that evening, and let himself in. Ellisandre was already there. They had a map, building schematics, and hand-written notes laid out on the coffee table in front of the couch.
They smirked at him as he tugged off his coat. Their energy was almost giddy.
Sevastyan’s lips twitched. “You look excited.”
Ellisandre chuckled darkly. They slapped a photo down on the coffee table facing Sevastyan. “Pedophile. Multiple generations of his family. Attacked his son when the young man protected his infant sister, and tried to get him put away for murder when his son proved stronger than him.”
Now that sounded like the kind of evil Sevastyan would happily eliminate.
He finished taking off his boots and stepped over to the table to pick up the photo.
It showed the face of a grizzled man most likely in his sixties.
His hair was starting to turn white. There were lines around his mouth and eyes that went beyond age.
His eyes . . . Sevastyan scowled. The man’s eyes were flat and angry in a way that told Sevastyan volumes.
The photo had been taken in front of a single family house.
The man was gripping the porch railing and leaning over it.
A green coat hung open showing a navy blue shirt underneath, no collar.
Ellisandre provided the factual summary. “Most recent photo, taken a bit over a week ago during a stand off with the police. Name is Thaddeus Kramer. Biological father of Damian Sathers.”
Sevastyan raised an eyebrow. So this was related to Gang Junseo’s lover.
“You’ve probably noticed that Gang Junseo and Damian Sathers haven’t been at The Residency every night since they came back to the city,” Ellisandre said.
Sevastyan nodded. Ellisandre had to know he was conducting surveillance.
Ellisandre inclined their head towards the photo.
“On January twelfth, Damian Sathers’s nieces and nephews were removed from their mother’s care and out of Kramer’s house, where they were living.
Damian and Jun have been looking after them.
Kramer is accused of raping his minor daughter.
DNA evidence proves that this isn’t the first daughter he’s trespassed on.
A few days ago, he used his twelve-year-old son to facilitate the kidnapping of one of his daughters back.
His second attempt to get to her, actually.
He was successful in grabbing the girl from her school once, but she was recovered voluntarily, on the face of it.
It wasn’t very voluntary, but the police declined to arrest him at the time.
His second attempt failed, but in the process, someone shot at my family. ”
Their eyes burned a little on the last few words. Heat skittered up Sevastyan’s spine. “Which part of your family?”
“Damian Sathers and Gang Junseo. Children were also endangered. They’re not family yet, but they may be, at some point.”
Sevastyan put down the photo. “So, he’s a dead man, then.” This was not going to be work at all. The icing on the cake was doing it beside his goddex. For all the times he’d had to make nice with horrible people, this would feel like a relief to off at least one of them.
“Not kill.” Ellisandre grinned. “Though additional punishment isn’t beyond the bounds of what I’m open to considering.” They laid a sheet down on the table.
Sevastyan squinted at it. “What is this?”
“Copy of the arrest warrant. I would have messaged you a few days ago, but it’s taken my sources some time to find him.
He’s in hiding. There’s plenty of evidence to get him sentenced.
Any public defender will push him for a plea deal, and the case will never go to jury. All we need to do is deliver him.”
Sevastyan scowled. “Execution is much more certain.” Also easier in terms of keeping his involvement unknown.
“Yes, but the police won’t look as closely at Damian Sathers and the rest of the Residency if they have a live and convicted prisoner, versus a dead and convicted body.”
Sevastyan’s lips twitched in annoyance. “And you trust this system?”
“We can always kill him later, if he gets away.”
Sevastyan’s lips twitched, a crooked smile darting across his face. “I would, gladly.”
Ellisandre chuckled. “Sit. We have a mission to plan.”
His deux was very thorough. There was almost nothing for Sevastyan to add.
All he needed to do was slot himself into the role Ellisandre had mapped for him.
It had been years since he’d been able to be a foot soldier under a trusted leader, and the ease that ran through his shoulders and down into his limbs as Ellisandre walked through the entrances, exits, vehicles, and surveillance systems was as good as standing under hot water holding Rei.
It made something inside warm, soft, and pleased.
“Gods, I love working with you,” Ellisandre murmured, after Sevastyan recited street names and window entrances from memory after only one review.
Sevastyan smirked. He was good. It had been a long time since anyone had got to see how good he was, except for Rei. But Rei didn’t hand out praise like that. Nor would it have meant the same thing.
Ellisandre disappeared into the bedroom and came back with two small tactical packs. They tossed one to Sevastyan. “Check it out. Should have everything needed. Tell me if you want any other tools. I probably have them.”
“One would think you still work for Europol,” Sevastyan joked.
Ellisandre raised an eyebrow.
Well, shit. Maybe they still did. Or not.