Chapter 21 – NIKOLAI
NIKOLAI
This is fucking pointless.
We've been wandering these overly gilded hallways for what feels like hours—probably only ten minutes, but who's counting?—and there's no sign of Plague anywhere.
The chaos from Raven's little fire stunt has the whole palace in an uproar, guards rushing past us every few seconds as they try to herd the panicking tourists toward the exits. Everyone is too frenzied to notice a couple of likely tourists.
"I told you this was a waste of time," I mutter, pressing myself against the wall as another contingent of guards thunders past. "Plague isn't going to be hanging around the public wings during a fucking emergency."
"Then where would he be?" Raven hisses back, somehow managing to look elegant even while hiding behind a massive potted plant. The bastard could make rolling around in the mud look graceful.
"How the fuck should I know? His office? The royal quarters? Taking a piss in the golden toilets?"
Raven shoots me a withering look. "You're being particularly charming today."
"I'm being realistic. We're wandering around like idiots while Cosima's off with Geo and Knight."
"Jealous?" Raven cuts in, that infuriating smirk playing at his lips.
"Of what? That she's stuck with a grumpy pirate and her pet monster?"
"Oh, you're definitely jealous. I take it your little talk on the balcony didn't go well, even after I practically threw you a softball."
I'm about to tell him exactly where he can shove his "softball" when footsteps echo down the corridor.
Not the rushed, heavy tread of guards evacuating tourists, but measured, authoritative steps heading directly toward our hiding spot a hell of a lot further into the palace than we're supposed to be.
Shit.
"Someone's coming," I growl under my breath.
Raven's eyes widen slightly as he peers around the plant. "Guard. Solo. He's checking rooms."
My mind rapidly sifts through our options.
We could try to slip past, but the corridor is too exposed.
Could kill him or at least knock him out, but that would raise alarms when he doesn't report back.
Could try to bluff our way through and claim we got lost in the evacuation, but something tells me this guard isn't going to buy that from two alphas skulking in the shadows.
The footsteps grow closer.
"Follow my lead," I mutter, grabbing Raven's wrist.
"What are you—"
I yank him against me, spinning us so his back hits the wall with enough force to knock a soft "oof" from his lips. Before he can protest further, before I can think better of it, I crush my mouth to his.
For a heartbeat, Raven goes completely rigid against me. Then, fuck, he melts into it, his lips parting on a gasp against mine. He tastes exactly like I remember. Like honey. The familiar taste is far too welcome on my tongue.
This is just a distraction. Just a cover. Nothing more.
Might as well make it a convincing one. My hands move of their own accord, one tangling in his golden hair while the other grips his hip, pulling him closer.
He makes a soft, needy sound that shoots straight to my cock, and suddenly we're back at the old compound, tangled up in his nest, desperate and hungry and—
"What the hell are you two doing?"
The guard's sharp bark breaks through the haze. I tear my mouth from Raven's, trying to look appropriately embarrassed rather than murderously frustrated at the interruption.
"Sorry," I manage, injecting what I hope sounds like shame into my voice. Not really one of the three emotions in my toolbox. "We, uh, got distracted."
The guard's face twists with dismay as he takes in our disheveled appearance. Raven's swollen lips, my hand still tangled in his hair, the way we're pressed together from chest to thigh.
"The palace is being evacuated," he snaps. "This is not the time for... whatever this is."
"Right. Sure. Evacuating." I step back from Raven, who sways slightly like his knees might give out. It figures the one time I could use his silver tongue, it's tied up. "We were just—"
"I don't care what you were doing," the guard cuts me off. "Get out. Now. Before I decide to arrest you both for trespassing."
"Of course. Our apologies." I grab Raven's elbow, steering him down the corridor away from the guard. "Come on, love."
The endearment slips out without thought. Raven stiffens but doesn't pull away, letting me guide him around the corner and out of the guard's sight.
The moment we're clear, he wrenches his arm from my grip.
"What the hell was that?" His voice is rough, breathless in a way that makes me want to press him against another wall and finish what we started.
Maybe the smoke is getting to my head. Killing off the few braincells standing between me and the alpha instincts Raven shouldn't even be capable of triggering.
I force a casual shrug. "We needed a distraction."
"And that was your go-to?" His blue eyes flash with anger that's far too appealing on the heels of what we just did. What I just did.
He has a point.
"It worked, didn't it?"
"That's not—" He cuts himself off, jaw clenching.
"What?" I snap defensively. Now that the adrenaline of getting caught is wearing off, along with more arousal than I want to admit, the awkwardness is setting in fast. "It didn't mean anything."
The words don't slip out quite as easily as that little term of endearment earlier, but I regret them all the same when I see the hurt in his gaze. I'd do anything to put the anger back.
"Obviously," he hisses, brushing past me.
"Raven—"
"Don't." The word cracks like a whip between us. "Just... don't."
He keeps walking, heading deeper into the palace without a backward glance. I stand there for a moment, staring after him like an idiot, before my brain kicks back into gear.
"Raven, wait—"
He doesn't slow down. Doesn't acknowledge that he heard me. Just keeps walking with that purposeful stride that says he'd rather be anywhere else but here with me.
Fuck.
And I follow him, because what else am I going to do?
Let him wander off alone in a palace that's rapidly emptying of civilians and filling with guards?
I fall into step a safe distance from him, the silence heavy in a way it never used to be.
Even when we were at each other's throats back at the black market, there was always something.
Banter, insults, something.
This quiet feels wrong.
Usually Raven's the one who can't stand silence.
He fills it with chatter about nothing, observations about everything, that honeyed voice weaving words like silk.
But now he's mute as we navigate the increasingly empty corridors of the palace, and the absence of his voice makes the quiet feel even heavier.
Ten minutes pass. Ten fucking minutes of nothing but our footsteps and the distant sounds of evacuation. My jaw aches from clenching it, words piling up behind my teeth that I can't seem to spit out.
Finally, I can't take it anymore.
"Kind of weird," I say, wincing at how loud my voice sounds in the empty hallway. "The guard not batting an eye at two alphas going at it."
Raven doesn't look at me. "Their prince is mated to both an alpha and an omega, remember?" His voice is carefully neutral, like he's discussing the weather.
"Right." The word comes out awkward, stilted. Of course. Plague and his unconventional pack. The red-haired omega and that giant loudmouth. No idea how that fucking works.
More silence. More walking. More of this unbearable fucking awkwardness that makes me want to either punch something or grab Raven and—
No. Not going there.
I clear my throat, searching for something, anything to say.
Maybe this is the moment. Maybe I should try to smooth things over, acknowledge the elephant in the room that's been following us since the day he left.
Some acknowledgment of the history neither of us wants to address but can't seem to escape.
"Listen, Raven, about before—"
"Holy shit." He cuts me off, rushing to a window. "Look."
I follow, irritation at being interrupted warring with curiosity. Through the glass, I can see into a courtyard below where—
"Is that…?"
"They did it," Raven breathes, his voice filled with something like awe. "They actually fucking did it. They got Plague."
Sure enough, there's Knight's massive form hauling an unconscious body through a window while Geo helps from the other side. And there, directing the whole operation through the window with the confidence of someone who's done this before, is Cosima.
"You crazy little psychopath," I mutter under my breath.
"Our crazy little psychopath," Raven corrects, and the possessive pronoun fucks with my head as much as that kiss back there did.
I glance over at him, taking in the way his eyes have gone soft and misty as he watches her. "Are you actually tearing up because our omega kidnapped the crown fucking prince of Surhiira?"
He ignores me, already moving to open our window. "Come on. We need to cover their escape."
He's through and dropping to the ground before I can respond, landing with that feline grace that used to drive me crazy.
Still does, if I'm being honest.
I follow, hitting the ground harder than I'd like. My back protests. Geo's bullets might be healing, but the muscle memory of pain lingers. By the time I straighten up, Geo is helping Cosima out of the window, his massive hands spanning her soft waist as he lifts her down gently on the ground.
A growl rumbles up from my chest before I can stop it. Mine. The word pounds through my head in time with my heartbeat.
Mine, mine, mine.
"Down, boy," Raven says dryly, already drawing his weapon. "Save the pissing contest for later."
I reach for my own gun, the piece of shit I grabbed at the market after Geo confiscated my favorite. The weight is all wrong, the grip uncomfortable in my hand. I'm calculating how many shots I might get off before it jams when Raven sighs.
"Here." He holds out a familiar golden gun, the shiny metal gleaming in the afternoon sun.
I freeze. "I would've thought Geo melted this down for scrap metal."
Raven's lips quirk in that secretive smile that means he's been up to something. "He was going to. But I know where he keeps all his valuables."
"Of course you do," I mutter, taking the gun. This one's weight is perfect, the grip worn smooth by my hands over years of use.
It feels like home.
Which is fucking ridiculous. It's just a gun.
But Raven gave it to me, all those years ago. The first gift anyone had ever given me that wasn't payment for a job or an attempt to buy my loyalty. Bought it with his cut of our first big haul together. He'd presented it with a sheepish little smile I haven't seen in years.
The weight of his eyes on me is almost physical. I can feel him watching, waiting for... something. A thank you? An acknowledgment?
Might as well wave a fucking white flag.
I check the clip instead, pleased to find it fully loaded. "We should move. They're going to notice their prince is missing soon."
"Right," Raven says, and there's something like disappointment in his voice. "Of course."
I tell myself the twist in my gut is just adrenaline. The way my fingers itch to reach for him is just muscle memory. The urge to protect him, to keep him close, to claim him all over again, it's nothing more than the lingering effect of playing his protector for so long.
Nothing more.
It can't be anything more.