Malik didn’t know what to do. Ivan, his Ivan, was a phantasm—a creature not alive and yet not dead. So many times, he’d fantasized about drinking Agent Snow’s blood, and now he never would. His kind wasn’t supposed to exist, but he did, and Malik would not hand him over to the wizard.
He’d heard about the sacrifices wizards did, and Ivan’s blood might be tainted, but he didn’t want it poured in a circle. If he couldn’t have Ivan’s blood, then no one else would either.
“You’re not one to frown, so when you sit brooding, you make me a little worried.” Ivan raised an eyebrow at him when Malik met his gaze.
“Just thinking.”
“That’s great, but please do share.”
Malik shrugged, but carefully. He hardly ever shrugged, he was afraid too many or too hasty motions would trigger the stake. It never did.
He’d fought people, climbed, reached for things above his head, and the stake had never been triggered by mistake, but it was a fear he had.
“I won’t give you to the wizard.”
“Oh, that’s nice.” Raina’s voice was dripping with sarcasm, but Malik kept his face blank. Many didn’t think vampires understood sarcasm.
“Great!” Ivan smiled at him, and Malik’s heart beat hard as tingles skidded over his body. He might not be able to mate with Ivan as he’d dreamed, but he could still be close to him. A true mate bond required biting, and he couldn’t bite Ivan. Sorrow welled up in his chest.
“Hey, what’s with the long face?”
Malik shook his head. There was no use in telling Ivan anything. Ivan might have seen his body react before, but he’d always been careful not to show his emotions. Had Master figured out his weakness, he’d used it against him, and it was best Ivan didn’t know either.
Ivan clapped his hands together. A shiver slithered down Malik’s spine as he looked into those eyes—one almost black, one almost white. It wasn’t white, it was blue, but the contrast made it glow.
“We need a plan. This is gonna be a shitty assignment, but we need to somehow get it done. Today.”
Raina slumped on a chair. “Chains.” She looked at Malik. “At this point, I’d say the chains are the biggest problem. The moment he—” She tilted her head in Malik’s direction. “—sets foot in the hotel, everyone’s gonna notice. You don’t see a vampire walking around in chains in such a place.”
You didn’t? Malik glanced at Ivan, who was pursing his lips. Weren’t there vampires on the security team? It was most often where they worked.
“I’ll go there and have a look around.”
“No.” Malik didn’t want Ivan out of his sight.
“If we can see what Lord Zelly’s guards are wearing and have you dressed the same way, you’d melt in.”
“It’s too dangerous.” Malik wanted to touch him but didn’t.
Ivan frowned. “Too dangerous?”
“People are looking for you.”
The laugh, it was low and raspy, and it set Malik afire.
“People are always looking for me. We try to blend in, but it’s hard. We move around to confuse them.”
Malik shook his head. “You can’t go.”
“Because?”
Thinking hard, he tried to come up with a reason. “Tracker.”
Ivan grimaced and looked at Raina.
“Oh hell, I’ll go. I’ll call Luis and see if I should pick up some clothes or something for the evening.” She gestured at the shocking pink sweater she was wearing. “I fear it’ll be a night in black and white. I do not look good in black and white.”
Ivan chuckled. “Thank you.”
She huffed. “Let’s kill Paltry Remi before we leave town.”
“Then people would hunt us for sure.”
Malik wondered if they killed people often since they spoke so casually about it.
“Right, I’m off.” She got to her feet and met Malik’s gaze. “Feel free to use the shower.”
Malik glanced at Ivan, who grinned and shook his head. “How are we getting him out of his clothes with the chains still on?”
She smirked. “I didn’t think you’d let something like that stop you.” Then she slipped out of the kitchen.
Ivan raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you want to shower?”
Malik stared. He’d never been in a shower. In the winter, they got a bucket of water to clean off. In the summer, Master hosed them off in the garden. The water was icy cold no matter the season.
“We can cut open the sleeves of the shirt to get it off. Hopefully, Raina will have a new one with her when she comes.”
A shower. “I don’t know.”
“Come on.” Ivan touched his shoulder, making Malik shiver. He grabbed a towel out of a linen closet and motioned toward the bathroom. His eerie eyes studied Malik for several seconds. “Let’s start with the shirt, and I can leave you to do the rest yourself.”
Ivan had already seen him without clothes, not entirely, but with his pants pulled down. Modesty wasn’t something the vampires in the basement had the luxury of. “It’s okay.”
Ivan undid the top button of his shirt, his gaze jumping to Malik’s as he reached for the second. “You want to do this? I’ll go fetch the scissors.”
Malik wanted Ivan to do it. The fantasy of Ivan this close and touching him had kept him hopeful through many cold nights in the basement, and now Ivan was doing it in reality.
“You might have to run, too, you realize that, right?” Ivan went on to the third button, working slowly.
“I can’t. Anyone seeing me in the street would know I’m not supposed to be there.”
Ivan nodded. “You’ll come with us.”
Heat filled his chest, but fear followed. “They’ll hunt us.”
Ivan shook his head. “No. We’ll stay hidden. After a week, your hair will have grown out some. We’ll find you proper clothes. You’ll blend in enough for people not to call the cops as soon as they see you.”
He moved on to the last button, and Malik held his breath.
“We’ll find someplace secluded, somewhere rural. Raina will bitch about it, she wants to be in a city, but we can hide if we’re in the woods.”
Malik had never been in the woods, had never been anywhere other than here in the city or to estates where Master had sent him to guard someone. It was rare he did, but it had happened.
Ivan pushed the shirt open, revealing his skin and the protruding cage holding the stake over his heart. “We need to get rid of it. I’m terrified every time you need to squeeze through somewhere that it’s gonna get caught.”
Malik kept still as Ivan leaned closer. It was to inspect the device, but he held his breath, waiting, hoping, Ivan would touch his skin.
“Do you know if there’s a spell?” He turned his head so his cheek almost touched Malik’s bare chest. “It looks like we should be able to…is it screwed to your ribs?” He looked up at Malik—one dark eye, one pale. “Could we cut the metal sprints going in and leave it at that?”
Malik shuddered. “It’s screwed to the bone.”
“Fuck.” Ivan frowned and touched the skin next to where one of the screws went in. “But if we snip it here—” He pointed a third of an inch above his chest. “—pull out the stake, and screw nuts on so there’s nothing sharp pointing out, it should be safer, right?”
Remove the stake? There was a roar in his head. Ivan wanted to remove the stake. He’d be…No one could control him if they removed the stake. He couldn’t find his voice, so he nodded.
“Great!” Ivan grinned. “Hop into the shower, and I’ll try to find some tools.”
Malik looked at all the bottles on the shelf and then at the showerhead. “Where…”
Ivan’s eyes widened. “Oh…yeah. You turn this to get the water running.” He pointed at a knob attached to a metal thing on the wall. “And this is to adjust the heat. If you want it warmer you turn it toward the red—” He pointed at a marking on the side by the knob. “—and colder toward the blue. This here—” He grabbed a bottle. “—is body wash.” He shrugged. “I think we’ll skip the shampoo for now.”
Staring as Ivan took a step back, Malik nodded. Heat. Warm water.