Seeing Red

by Lyra Evans

“If you testify, we can—” Niko began.

  Preston barked a laugh. “Don’t try to ply me with empty promises of protection. You can do nothing. Even if all the altruistic police officers and Courtiers and Judges and whoever else banded together, not a damn thing in the Three Courts—or elsewhere—could protect me. Not when the Woods is miles deep.” He shook his head. “If you want evidence, you get it elsewhere.”

  Niko pressed his teeth together, glancing over at Cobalt. He had no argument to make Preston couldn’t shoot down. Corruption was everywhere, he’d come to see. So even if it was cowardly, what Preston was doing, Niko couldn’t argue against it. Not everyone was willing to lay down their lives for justice. Maybe not everyone should be.

  “You were saying,” Niko said reluctantly. Preston nodded.

  “These are enchanted with extensive glamours,” Preston said, holding out a collar and cuffs. They were black leather with simple silver rings, and Niko frowned.

  “Absolutely not,” Cobalt said from the bed. Niko shut his eyes.

  “I’m sorry. Are you the one wearing them?” Preston shot, and Niko pressed his fingertips to his temples.

  “You mean to make Niko your slave and—” Cobalt started.

  “And? How else do you think I’m going to get him into Noor’s closely guarded home? I can’t have Niko dress as some random person I pick up off the street,” Preston said. “He cannot be a Courtier of any kind, nor anyone of any consequence. Noor would know. She knows everyone worth knowing in both Maeve’s and Nimueh’s Courts. And he is not passing for a Werewolf any time soon. She’ll only feel comfortable talking around him if she believes he has no power and no independence.”

  Niko rolled his eyes. “And it just so happens you have enchanted cuffs? And a collar?” Niko asked. He eyed the collar. “Don’t collars have matrimonial symbolism for Werewolves?”

  Preston huffed. “Yes,” he said. “I had these made when I still believed I might one day find someone to wear them. In another life, I suppose.” He studied the leather with sad fondness. Niko felt less comfortable by the minute. “But there is no magic in them to bind you to me in any way. Check if you like. The magic is purely superficial. And they can be removed at any time.”

  He tossed the collar to Niko, who caught it and set about checking it for layers of magic. True to Preston’s word, the collar was infused only with a complex set of glamour enchantments. There were tiny gemstones inlaid into the inner seaming of the collar. Topaz and aquamarine glinted back at him, stones best suited to long-enduring spells and projection magic.

  “What else am I supposed to wear?” Niko asked after a moment. Cobalt seemed horrified from his position on the bed, but Preston’s face broke out in a wide smile. Niko didn’t particularly like either reaction.

  “I’ve got some pieces here that should work for the travel time,” Preston said. “But once we arrive there, I’m afraid you’ll be wearing little.”

  Niko stared deadpan at him. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “You are fucking kidding me,” Cobalt said.

  “There’s a tub in the bathroom there, Sincloud, perhaps you’d like to go soak,” Preston said, gesturing to the bathroom. Cobalt glared at him.

  “The idea is to present you as a toy I’ve been keeping as entertainment for the past three months,” Preston explained. Niko held the collar and cuffs while the Werewolf scurried up the ladder and brought back a small stack of clothing. “She might be surprised I’ve kept one toy for that long, but that’s easily explained away by my isolation. Can’t have a constant stream of visitors, can I?” He seemed to want Niko to nod along, but Niko’s expression remained stubbornly deadpan. “In any case, the story will go we’ve wandered back toward civilization to pick up a brand new accessory I just couldn’t live without, and what with all the police presence and everything, I felt it necessary to get out of sight for a few hours so as not to draw attention.”

  “And we didn’t go back to your condo because…?” Niko asked, setting the cuffs and collar on the bed to look through the clothing. The outfit wasn’t outside the realm of what Niko would wear—jeans and a dark blue, cotton button-up shirt—but the quality of the fabrics was desperately out of his price range. The jeans were Fae-made and so soft to the touch they could have been made of actual clouds, but the fabric fell as though they were real denim with all the appropriate structure. The cotton was smooth as silk and beautifully tailored, but it was also sharp in design. There was a pair of briefs included, though they weren’t quite complete. The front was a soft fabric mesh in black, but the back—well, there was no back. The straps seemed to hook around—“I’m not wearing a fucking jockstrap.”

  Preston seemed momentarily baffled. “No? Are you certain? I think you’d look edible in it.” His eyes glinted with delight. Niko glared.

  “You are not eating him,” Cobalt snapped. Niko rather agreed with that.

  Preston shrugged. “If you say so. But I’m afraid all the toys I’ve ever brought round anywhere have worn one. It would be somewhat suspicious if you didn’t.”

  His glare intensified, Niko resigned himself to his fate. “Fine. But do anything I don’t agree to, and Cobalt won’t need to hunt you down, because I’ll kill you myself,” Niko said.

  Preston waggled an eyebrow, as though he was pleased by the threat, and went on, “We cannot use my condo as, I don’t know if you heard, some fugitives broke into it recently.” Niko pulled off his t-shirt to see to getting changed, ignoring Preston’s pointed comment. “And I don’t have any other properties in the central Court. I’ve stopped by Noor’s place in the past on my way to my cabin. She shouldn’t be surprised about it. And if she is, well—let’s just say I can be very persuasive.”

  Niko rolled his eyes. He hesitated before pulling down his boxer briefs, aware of Preston’s eyes on him. Cobalt watching didn’t bother him, but Preston…

  “Maybe you should go run the bath for Cobalt,” Niko said. “Since it’s your cabin and all.”

  Preston shook his head. “A simpleton could decipher it,” he said. “But if you’re feeling precious about your body, shall I remind you you’re meant to be comfortable naked in my company? Noor might notice reticence.”

  “Much as I hate it, he has seen you naked more than once, Niko,” Cobalt said, grumbling to himself. “Though I would have happily lived the rest of my life never having to think about that.”

  “I guess I’m way past personal privacy anyway,” Niko muttered, realizing nearly everyone he knew had either seen him naked or in a compromising sexual position at some point. And those that hadn’t seen it in person had extensive files on the subject.

  He removed his underwear, hating himself for the slight twitch in his cock at being watched, then set about dressing. The jockstrap was rather pleasant against his penis, the mesh soft enough not to grate, but with just enough texture to tantalize. The jeans and shirt were as comfortable as they had seemed, but the collar and cuffs were where Niko hesitated. He had no issue donning that kind of gear, having done so many times in the past, but the idea of doing it for Preston made him tense.

  But there was no time and no alternative. He fixed the cuffs to his wrists, rolling up the sleeves to set them comfortably, then brought the collar to his neck. The moment he set the clasp at the back, he felt the magic wash over him. It tingled on his skin and ruffled through his hair like a gentle breeze. Shivering from the sensation, Niko looked down at his hands as though they might have changed. They hadn’t.

  “I don’t look any different,” he said. But when he looked up at Cobalt, he found the Selkie staring at him, lips parted, eyebrows drawn together. It wasn’t quite the look Niko wanted from Cobalt. Preston, meanwhile, seemed darkly ecstatic.

  “Oh, but you do,” he said. “You won’t see it, even looking in a mirror, but we do.”

  Niko turned back to Cobalt. “What do I look like?”

  Cobalt tilted his head slightly, squinting as though to see through the glamour.
“Like someone else. Your hair is a burnt orange colour, shaved on the sides and tufted at the front. You’ve got brown eyes and tanned skin and your lips are thinner. You look—wrong,” Cobalt said. Niko reached for his neck, fiddling with the edge of the collar. He didn’t like the way Cobalt was looking at him at all. Like he was a stranger.

  He slipped his fingers under the shirt to scratch at his chest, suddenly feeling hot and breathless. But as he scratched, his fingertips drew over the bullet scar.

  “Does it cover my scars?” Niko asked, unbuttoning the shirt quickly. “If you can see or feel those, she’ll know it’s me.”

  Preston reached out and smoothed a hand over Niko’s bare chest, catching him by surprise. He tensed from the touch, then reminded himself not to. He had to let Preston touch him, or this was all for nothing. Cobalt glared menacingly at Preston.

  “The scars are invisible,” Preston said. “You can feel them, but without the visual input, the sensation is weakened and confusing. There’s no way Noor would know it was you based on that alone. And I sincerely doubt she will touch you at all.”

  Niko stepped away from Preston, buttoning his shirt back up and trying to calm his nerves and instincts. He had done this before. He’d played this same role before. Though with Cobalt he had wanted the touching, the pain, and the heat, Niko knew how to respond to someone he did not want touching him too. He’d spent more than enough time at Sade’s mercy to know how to control himself. He would do it. He had to.

  “Fine,” he said. “Then let’s go. We’re wasting time.”

  “Give me a moment,” Preston said, disappearing upstairs for a minute. Niko heard hangers moving and realized Preston had to change too. To avoid having to face Cobalt as this other person, Niko went to the bathroom and ran water into the tub. It was quite large, though Niko would have estimated the bathroom barely larger than a powder room. Inside, however, it was rather spacious. The tub did take up most of the space, though, made of copper treated with something darker on the inside.

  Niko turned the taps colder than he normally would have done, thinking of Cobalt’s burns. When he went back out to the main area, Cobalt was sitting at the edge of the bed. He reached for Niko’s now unfamiliar hand and stopped him. Squinting through the glamour, Cobalt pressed a kiss to Niko’s palm.

  “Come back,” Cobalt told him. His eyes held a plea, but his voice was strong. He offered Niko a small smile. “That’s an order, Pet.”

  Niko smiled weakly at him, nodding. Preston reappeared on their level and made for the door. As an afterthought, Niko set his hand to the perimeter wall and undid the alarm on the perimeter.

  “Shall we?” Preston said, opening the door tentatively.

  Niko nodded, unable to speak. He left with only a brief glance at Cobalt over his shoulder. It seemed every time he played this role, a different relationship suffered for it. Going undercover with Sade had ultimately killed his relationship with Uri. The last case had given him Cobalt only to take him away again. Playing submissive to Preston was necessary, but Niko worried it would change the way Cobalt saw him forever. He left with only that squinty, uncomfortable expression on Cobalt’s face in his mind and the hope that he’d never see it like that again.

  Chapter 20

  For a while, they walked in silence. Niko let Preston take the lead having no alternative, and Preston, as a result, led them around through a narrow path opposite the river from the cabin. The jungle-forest smelled of chlorophyll and moisture and banana, for some reason. Niko looked up into the tree branches and vines that made up the canopy overhead and spotted a small white and brown monkey watching them with interest as it munched on a bit of banana.

  “Don’t mind Dagonet, there, he just likes to poke his nose in places it doesn’t belong,” Preston said, waving toward the monkey. The monkey—Dagonet, apparently—then screeched an angry string of sounds at Preston and chucked the rest of his banana at him. Preston dodged the projectile. “He’s annoying but harmless.”

  The monkey screeched again and began shaking the branch. “He seems to be annoyed with you,” Niko said. “So I suppose he and I have something in common.”

  Preston pulled a wan smile, then continued on to a small cave. Inside sat a car that had no business being in the middle of the jungle-forest. It was the kind of sports car gear-heads piddled themselves over, and Niko was unsurprised to find this was Preston’s vehicle. But given how low it rode and the nature of the tires, he didn’t think it would survive particularly well trying to climb over tree roots and rocky landscape. It was painted a matte black which allowed it to blend in easily in the cave. It was also absolutely filthy.

  The surface of the car was covered in splotches that looked like bird droppings—or perhaps monkey—leaves, twigs, dust, and Niko didn’t know what else. He curled his lip at the sight of it, wondering at Preston’s chosen garage. Cars like this were expensive not only to buy but to maintain. Most people kept them sheltered in magically protected garages and tuned once a week. Preston seemed to care little for the state of his vehicle, mind, and reached for the handle without concern.

  The door handle emerged from the smooth exterior to meet him, and he opened it in a fluid motion. It rose up into the air, just barely missing the roof of the cave. Preston settled into the driver’s seat and glanced back at Niko with a questioning look.

  “Are you not coming?” he asked.

  Niko shrugged and made to open the passenger-side door. The handle did not come out to meet him, but instead the door merely popped itself open without Niko’s input. He stepped back to allow it clearance, then slipped into the leather bucket seat that made up the front passenger side. As soon as he was entirely within the chassis, the door began to close. Niko searched around for a seatbelt to buckle but found none. Preston started the car.

  “Uh, seatbelt?” he asked as Preston revved the engine. It sounded just loud enough to please a car enthusiast but also quiet enough to indicate the level of magic and engineering involved in its creation. Preston shook his head, shifting the gear to drive.

  “No seatbelts. Where’s the fun in that?”

  Niko was not amused. “I neither want to die today nor be arrested for a traffic violation.”

  Preston waved him off. “The car has enchantments and runes and magic built in to protect you,” he said. “This model was made intentionally without seatbelts to prove the efficacy of the magical protections. It’s road safe; unclench your ass.”

  Glaring at Preston, Niko ignored his instruction and instead focused on the filthy windshield. The headlights were on but nothing was visible out the windshield due to the dirt.

  “You planning on cleaning this?” he asked, gesturing to the mess.

  Preston shook his head again. “It won’t matter in a moment.”

  Niko barely had time to begin to ask what that meant when Preston slammed the gas pedal. The car lurched forward like a rocket taking off. Only it was pointed into the cave rather than out of it. Heart in his throat, Niko thought he might have squealed in surprise as Preston drove them headlong into what seemed like a stone wall.

  “Fuck fuck fuck!” Niko cried as the wall approached in a blink. He shut his eyes and braced for impact while Preston’s manic laughter played as a soundtrack to their deaths.

  Only the impact didn’t come, and when Niko opened his eyes, it was to the sound of an intense barrage of water on the roof and windshield. Then it was over. Niko blinked, searching around out the windows, which were now clean and dripping.

  “The cave comes out under the waterfall,” Preston said. “Makes for a great natural place to store this thing while I’m here.”

  Heartbeat staccato and rapid as machine-gun fire, Niko slowly released his hold on the edge of the seat and shot Preston a murderous look. “Thanks for warning me,” he snapped.

  Preston eased the car onto a narrow road that seemed to lead out of the forest to the main highway into Maeve’s Court. The wolfish smile was back. “Fear smells good
on you.”

  “And you wonder why I think you’re a monster,” Niko said flatly.

  “I don’t wonder,” Preston answered. He kept to a fast but legal driving speed as they broke onto the main highway. The sound of helicopters chuffed above them, and Niko instinctually flattened himself into the seat, trying to be less visible. “You’re in disguise, remember?”

  Glancing down at himself, Niko calmed a moment when he saw the cuffs. He didn’t look any different to his own eyes, but the expression on Cobalt’s face surfaced in his mind. There was no doubt the glamours were working. Not when that was the reaction.

  “The police have means of detecting glamour spells and enchantments,” Niko said. “If we get stopped at a checkpoint or something—”

  “You’re with me,” Preston assured him. “If they even try stopping us, they won’t keep us longer than it takes to see my face. I’ve got friends in high places, remember?”

  Niko frowned. That did nothing to reassure him. “Right. Care to name names?” Preston shot him an inscrutable look. “All right. Well, what if I were to name names and you just subtly indicate whether or not these people are your friends or just someone you know?” Preston seemed to consider this, but there was a hesitation. Niko pushed. “You want us to bring down the Woods, remember?”

  With a heavy sigh, Preston nodded. “All right. Give it a try.”

  “Captain Baobab,” Niko said immediately. Preston cocked an eyebrow.

  “I thought we were naming people of influence,” he said. At Niko’s intense expression, he shook his head. “No. I don’t know your precious Captain.” Niko eased somewhat. It didn’t clear the Captain entirely, but if Preston was unconnected to him, it was unlikely anyone else in the Woods was.

  “Fine. Influence.” Niko thought it over. “Obviously you’re old pals with Ambert Redwood. Do you know any other Redwoods?”

  Preston weighed that out, as though tasting a wine for signs it was corked. “Yes,” he said after a while. “We’re friends.”