by R. M. Olson
“No, we brought you here so you could cheat the damn pants off those idiots at the gambling tables. C’mon, I’ll walk you through the next one.”
Once the girl had gone, Jez tapped her com again. “Hey. Genius. Got it. Give me the specs on the next games.”
From one side of the room, one of the players at the blue-jacketed woman’s table swore loudly and started shouting for a server.
Across the room, a fight broke out at the centre table.
“Done,” said Tanya, slipping back into her chair, an expression on her face that told Jez she was enjoying this, no matter how hard she’d deny it.
“Good,” said Jez. “Lev gave me another three games. Figure it’s going to start getting interesting in here in about twenty minutes.”
Tae glared down at his holoscreen, biting his lip.
They were in their suite on Grigory’s ship, which was the most explainable place for them to be, but it also meant that he was limited to visuals he could hack from the casino-room cameras.
Jez was doing—well, whatever the hell Jez did, and judging from the fact that so far, five outright brawls had broken out in the gambling hall, it was effective. And Olya and Tanya were slipping back and forth between the tables, and—he scrolled down on his screen.
And so far, it looked like it was working.
He glanced over at Lev, who was seated at the table, a holoscreen in front of him. There were still traces of a headache on his face, and there was a grim set to his jaw as he stared at the numbers.
Tae pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes and let his head drop back against his chair for a moment.
“Lev,” he hissed. Lev jerked his head up.
“Yes?” he asked, after a moment.
Tae gritted his teeth. “Lev, for the Lady’s sake, bloody well pay attention.”
Lev took a deep breath. “What do you need, Tae?”
“How are we doing?”
Lev glanced back at the screen, and Tae shook his head.
He hadn’t been paying attention. And OK, fair enough, Tae knew what it was like to feel like you were going to break into a hundred pieces if you couldn’t be around someone, but this was getting ridiculous.
“We’re alright,” Lev said shortly, after a moment. “So far. If we keep it up, we should be able to pull this off, at least for tonight.” He glanced over to the tall man sprawled out half-asleep on the couch. “Ivan?”
Ivan jerked awake, blinking. “I—sorry,” he muttered, sitting up and shaking his head. “What did you ask?”
“How many can he afford to lose?” Lev asked. “I think—” he squinted down at the screen. “I think we have five of his people in the chamber that’s set to explode. What’s the smallest number we’ll be safe with?”
Ivan blinked again and squeezed his eyes shut, and Tae watched him in concern.
He was pretty sure that Ivan hadn’t slept more than about thirty minutes running since they figured out what Grigory was doing, and from the looks of him, Tae wasn’t entirely sure they could count on him not to actually pass out.
This was maybe the most delicate operation they’d done since they’d started out, and all he had to work with was an exhausted Ivan, who looked perpetually on the verge of collapse, and a still-partially-hungover Lev, who looked like at least half of his attention span at any given time was distracted by images of Jez.
“I’d say—” Ivan closed his eyes for a moment, then blinked. “Sorry. I’d say if we can get ten or twelve in there, that’s going to be more than he can afford to lose. Any less, and he might decide to cut his losses.”
Lev nodded, looking, finally, like he was actually listening to a damn thing someone else was saying to him. And then Jez’s voice came over the com.
“Hey genius. Need another table and the specs.” A pause. “Also, Olya is a natural-born gambler. Be a shame to put that kind of talent to waste.”
“Thank you, Jez, but—” Tae began.
“Also,” she continued, “I figured out the name of that stuff I got drunk off the other night. Golden murder, it’s called.”
Tae dropped his head against the back of the chair.
No. He wasn’t just dealing with an exhausted prison escapee and a hungover lovesick idiot. He was also dealing with a lunatic who seemed to believe this entire situation had been engineered solely for her personal enjoyment.
“Jez—” he said through gritted teeth.
She laughed through the com, and at her laughter, Lev’s eyes went slightly hazy.
Tae swore.
“Don’t worry, tech-head, not going to get drunk.” She paused. “At least, not planning on it at present. There’s still enough crap going on to keep me interested.” She paused again. “Although if genius-boy doesn’t get me the next specs pretty quick, things are going to start to get boring in here, and I can’t make any promises after that—”
“I will make you a very solemn promise,” came Tanya’s voice through the com. She sounded like she was talking through her teeth. “And that promise, Jez Solokov, is if you touch one drop of alcohol of any kind, you won’t have time to get hungover, because you’ll be waking up tomorrow morning with a headache big enough that you couldn’t possibly drink enough to earn it. Do you understand me?”
“Hey now, Tanya, don’t underestimate me,” Jez drawled. “Don’t think you realize how big of a damn hangover I can earn.”
Over the com, Tanya sucked in a long breath.
Tae squeezed his eyes shut and tried to fight back a headache.
It was damn well unfair that it was starting to look like he was the only person on this damn crew who wasn’t either recovering from a hangover or planning for one, and he hadn’t been able to get rid of his headache from the moment they’d set foot on Grigory’s ship.
“Lev,” he said through gritted teeth. “Get Jez the damn specs for the next damn table.”
Lev glanced over at him, startled out of his reverie. “Of course. I’m sorry. Jez, table in the corner furthest from you. I don’t care who wins, but the man in—” he squinted, and expanded the screen. “The dark suit, white hair, expensive boots. He needs to lose.”
“On it, genius.” Tae could almost hear the smirk though the com, and Lev must have too, because his eyes went hazy again for a moment.
“What are they playing?” Jez asked.
Tae glanced at Lev, then gave up and hit his own com. “They’re playing lady in the park,” he growled.
“Hey, no need to snap at me,” Jez shot back. “Figure we’re doing pretty damn well in here, aren’t we, you bastard?”
“Jez.” Tanya’s voice was flat. “Olya is—”
“Mamochka, I know what a bastard is,” said Olya, in a slightly superior voice. “It just means when a person has a baby—”
“Thank you, Olya,” said Tanya. She sounded almost as grim as Tae felt. “We will talk about this when we are back in our rooms. And Jez, you and I will also talk about—”
“Hey, got a job to do here, Tanya. I mean, I know I’m hot and all, but if you’re going to get distracted every time I—”
Tae hit his com off for just a moment and groaned.
“Tae. Are you alright?”
He blinked and looked up. Ivan had pulled up a chair next to him, and his voice was warm and amused.
“I—” Tae glanced around helplessly.
Ivan gave him a wry smile. “And I’m not helping, am I?” He chuckled softly. “I can’t decide whether I’m jealous of you running with a crew like this, who can pull off something so ridiculous under such—” he glanced at Lev. “Unconventional circumstances, or to feel sorry for you.”
“Definitely feel sorry for,” Tae grumbled, shaking his head and smiling a little, despite himself.
“Sorry. I’ll try to stay awake, I promise,” said Ivan, fighting a yawn.
“Tae.” Ysbel’s voice over his earpiece was tense. “There’s someone coming up the hall.”
“Can you—” he glan
ced around frantically, slapping off his holoscreen. “Lev, Ivan. Grigory’s sent someone to check on us.”
Lev glanced up, frowning, and Tae swore, jumped to his feet, and slapped his palm across Lev’s com. His holoscreen flickered and disappeared.
“Ivan, get—” Tae began hurriedly.
There was a knock on the door, then the lock clicked, and the door began to swing open.
Damn.
There, in full view, on a chair that had been shoved half-way across the room, the ledger chip that he and Ivan had stolen three days ago. It was marked with Grigory’s marking, and even just a cursory glance—
Ivan followed his gaze and turned to stare at him, panic on his face, and Lev met their gaze as well, for once looking like he’d finally damn well figured out what was happening.
The door swung farther, and someone was stepping through—
“Sorry Tae,” Ivan muttered, and before Tae could react, Ivan grabbed him and pulled him onto the couch. Tae landed cradled in Ivan’s lap, Ivan’s arms around him. He was too shocked to do anything more than blink as Ivan tilted him back against the arm of the couch and leaned in, his hand tracing the line of Tae’s jaw and sending shivers through Tae’s entire body.
From the corner of his eye, he saw one of the boyeviki step in. She glanced quickly around the room, and then her eye caught Tae and Ivan and a small smile formed on her mouth.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said, her voice amused. Ivan gave Tae a quick wink, then sat up quickly, as if startled.
“I—hello,” he said, his voice faintly embarrassed. Tae just sat there, stunned and completely speechless. He was leaning back in Ivan’s arms, settled firmly into Ivan’s lap, and for a moment he couldn’t seem to form a complete thought.
He blinked at the woman, unable to even formulate a reaction.
“Ivan Ivanovich, isn’t it?” asked the woman in amusement. “It looks like you and Tae are getting along quite well.”
Ivan cleared his throat. “I—I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting anyone—”
From the corner of his eye, Tae noticed Lev half stand, reach surreptitiously over, and slide the chip into his pocket, and even in his stunned state, he managed a quick breath of relief.
“Just wanted to check on you all. Now that things are moving,” she said. “Grigory wanted to be sure you weren’t forgotten in all the excitement. You have everything you need?” She raised her eyebrows meaningfully.
Tae cleared his throat. “We’re—fine. Thank you.”
“Yes,” she said, with a knowing, slightly amused look. “It looks like you’re fine.” She turned, and glanced at Lev, who was now frowning down at a sheet on his holoscreen that seemed to contain nothing but a dense treatise on intra-governmental relationships.
“And you?”
He glanced up. “Yes?”
“Is there anything you need?”
Lev frowned and looked around. “No. I—don’t believe there is. Although, if the kitchens are open, I would be delighted to know when dinner will be prepared.”
She glanced at her com. “In about half a standard hour, I believe. And—” She glanced around the room, frowning slightly. “And where are the rest of—”
“Sorry, Tae,” Ivan whispered again, a rueful look on his face. And even though he had a split second to realize what was about to happen, the feel of Ivan’s lips on his somehow shoved every other thought out of his brain.
He’d never actually kissed anyone except Dmitri, but Ivan seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and for some reason, even though he knew that the only reason this was happening was the fact that they desperately needed a distraction, Tae found himself leaning into the kiss. Ivan shifted, pressing Tae against the the couch, his hand curling into Tae’s hair, pulling him closer, and Tae suddenly couldn’t remember anything at all except the fact that Ivan was kissing him—
“I—think they’re trying to find somewhere else to be at the moment.” Lev’s wry voice was somehow hazy and distant. “I would as well, but I promised Grigory—”
Distantly, he heard the woman laugh. “I understand. I’ll suggest to Grigory that he find the two of them a private suite—” There was a suggestive tone in her voice that probably would have embarrassed Tae if he was in any state at all to feel embarrassed at the moment, but everything had gone slightly hazy, and he was having a hard time thinking about anything at all except Ivan’s lips on his, Ivan’s strong hands on his back and tangled in his hair, the muscles of Ivan’s lean body under his thin shirt, and Lady and Consort, Ivan must have done this before, because the way his mouth moved against Tae’s—
In the back of his mind he heard retreating footsteps and the door swinging shut, but he couldn’t actually pay attention to that right now, because the only thing he was aware of was Ivan, and Lady and Consort and all the damn saints, the way Ivan was kissing him he wasn’t sure he’d ever pay attention to anything else ever again—
Someone cleared their throat.
A moment later, they cleared it again, louder.
Reluctantly, Ivan drew back back.
Tae sat blinking for a moment before he remembered where he was and what he was doing there.
“I—I’m really sorry,” said Ivan. He sounded slightly breathless, but then Tae wasn’t sure how reliable any one of his senses were at this precise moment.
“Well, I’d say that was effective,” said Lev, in a slightly amused voice, and it took Tae a moment to remember why Lev was here.
He drew in a shaky breath.
“Are you alright?” Ivan whispered, concern in his tone. “I’m—I’m really sorry. I don’t usually—It’s just that they already think that we’re—I mean, and I couldn’t think of anything else off the top of my head, and I—”
Tae shook his head and swallowed hard, finally remembering how to talk. “No,” he said, “it’s—it’s fine. It—was quick thinking. I didn’t—I mean, I wouldn’t have—I mean, don’t worry about it.”
Ivan gave him a small, wry grin. “Still. I’m sorry. I promise I usually ask before I kiss someone.”
“Yeah.” Tae found he was slightly breathless as well. He swallowed again, hard, and pushed himself awkwardly out of Ivan’s lap. “It’s—fine. I—It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
He stood, feeling slightly dizzy for a moment.
“Tae?” asked Lev. He still sounded amused. Tae scowled at him.
He was one to talk.
“Give me a minute to pull everything up again,” he muttered, and made his way back to his seat, his legs slightly more unsteady than he was used to. He dropped into his seat, but he had to stare at his com for a moment before his brain reminded him which screen he needed to pull up, and it took him longer than it should have to navigate back into the program.
“Lev?” he grumbled.
Lev looked up sharply. “Yes?”
Tae groaned to himself. “Lev,” he said patiently, “Pull up the damn holoscreen, please. Jez is going to be done at the table you gave her, and we still have about—” he scowled down at his screen, trying to force his brain to damn well recall how in the hell he was supposed to figure out what the long string of numbers scrolling across the screen in front of him meant. “About thirteen more games to rig if we want to get ten of Grigory’s people in the wrong section. And if Jez doesn’t have something to do for even two seconds, I don’t know if even Tanya is going to be able to stop her from either getting drunk, or wreaking absolute havoc.”
Lev nodded, and pulled up his own screen, frowning at it.
Tae cast a surreptitious glance at Ivan, who looked slightly stunned as well, but also, for the first time that day, like he was actually awake.
Which honestly was a very good thing, because it looked like now Tae was dealing with not only an exhausted prison escapee, a hungover lovesick idiot, and a chaotic lunatic, he was also dealing with the fact that his own damn brain couldn’t seem to hold onto a single thought except the ones dealing with how w
arm Ivan’s lips had been, and the feel of his hands in Tae’s hair, and the strange tightness that formed in the pit of his stomach at the memory of his back pushed up against the arm of the couch, the leisurely urgency of Ivan’s mouth on his.
He hit his com back on, in time to catch the tail end of what sounded like an impressive stream of muttered profanity from Tanya. “—and so help me, Jez—”
He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes, the sound of Jez’s maniac cheerfulness in the face of Tanya’s icy fury a familiar refrain that slowly brought his brain back into a functional state.
After a few moment, Lev tapped his com. “Ysbel,” he murmured, “Do you know why the boyevik was here?”
“No,” said Ysbel, and there was concern in her tone. “I thought I was going to have to come up with an explanation of why I was standing in the hall with Misko, but when she came out again, she just grinned at me and didn’t ask.” She paused. “Do I dare even ask what—”
“No,” said Tae flatly, slapping his com and glaring at Lev.
“That’s all well and good,” said Lev quietly. “But I’m worried Grigory is getting suspicious. If he sends someone again, we’re going to have to come up with something better than Tae getting snogged on the couch to explain why everyone else isn’t around.”
Tae dropped his head into his hands. “Lev—” he said through his teeth.
There was a moment of silence over the com.
“Hold on just a damn minute,” Jez’s delighted voice drawled at last. “You mean Tae just—Tae! Move quickly, don’t you?”
“Oh for the Lady’s sake—” he groaned, dropping his head back against the chair.
“Although, it wasn’t a bad idea, really,” said Ysbel thoughtfully. “I mean, he had some practice in the university, so—”
“Tae was just kissing someone?” asked Tanya, sounding interested despite the residual irritation in her voice. “Who was Tae kissing?”
Ivan looked amused, and Lev was clearly trying to hide a smile.
Tae sucked in a breath through his nose. “Can we please focus?”
“We are focusing, tech-head,” said Jez, the grin apparent in her voice. “We’re just focusing on the fact that apparently you were just snogging on the couch.”
