Raiden barely registers the sound of the door closing behind him. He notices Kiran pulling him inside even less, all his attention on the board of knives. A cold chill went through him at the sight of it, heading going numb. There’s an insistent drumming in his ears.

  So, it’s true. Even whilst he had believed Kiran on the subject, seeing an impaled picture of the former Duke only drives it in. Of course, it’s hard to tell with all the knives, but the newspaper clipping and the ‘to hell with Ronan Devencrux’ written in a disturbingly red ink would give it away.

  Gods, there had to be hundreds of those things on the wall. Everything from the man’s youth to just before he died. Just how obsessed is this man, he wonders. Is it enough to have done the deed?

  The question brings with it a spark of anticipation that dissolves his uneasiness and has him walking forward to where Kiran is inspecting the board. Those green eyes trace over the pictures on the wall with deliberate care, stopping every so often to read something on it.

  Raiden allows himself to do the same, looking for any clue on the board that would help with Kiran’s investigation. He frowns when it comes up empty. All he can see is the knives and old articles. Which although suspicious, don’t in themselves mean Leo would have something to do with their deaths.

  It does lend to a deranged sort of obsession to still hold a grudge against a dead man, though. Some of the knives impaled in the board are brands that only came out in the past year. He sighs, deciding to focus on something else.

  “Did you find anything,” he asks Kiran, looking around the room.

  The walls are a solid bck. The bedsheets are grey. The decorations, simirly, monotone. There are guns on the wall near the headboard of the bed. Rows of them, with what looks to be a row of swords on either side.

  He hadn’t given much thought to what a mobster’s room would look like, but Raiden is pretty sure this would be what comes to mind. A mix of paranoia and violence. Monotone dull colours with weapons and gaudy decorations.

  “No,” Kiran answers on a huff. “At least not anything more than an unhealthy obsession.” He sighs again, “Maybe it would…”

  Kiran freezes mid-sentence, head tilting towards the door. Raiden strains to see what has him reacting like this, but doesn’t make it even a moment before Kiran is pulling him back. ‘Shit,’ he hears him say underneath his breath.

  “What’s wrong?” Raiden feels a sense of unease at the look on Kiran’s face, voice coming out in a whisper.

  His friend’s lips thin. “We need to get out of here.”

  “What…” Footsteps thump right outside the door, and Raiden feels his blood go cold. Shit.

  Fuck. There’s no way they’ll be able to expin being in the man’s room. Getting into the building is one thing. They could potentially expin it away with missed directions and wrong pces. But this…Shit!

  “Raiden,” Kiran says solemnly, “There’s no time. We have to get out of here.”

  “How?” His throat feels dry as the footsteps outside get louder. Soon their muffled voices can be heard through the closed door. His eyes are locked onto it, hardly registering as his body is moved backwards to a wall.

  “The only way out is the window,” Kiran tells him. “I have rope in my bag, I want you to use it to climb down to the ledge below.”

  “What!?” Raiden can’t make his voice come out in more than a whisper, disbelief and apprehension going through him in equal measure.

  “There’s a ledge just under this window,” Kiran says as he slowly gets the window open. “I’m going to tie this rope around me and the other end around you and give you a leg up, so you can fit through it.”

  “But what about you?” If the situation were slightly different, Raiden would find it impressive how fast Kiran is able to secure the rope around them. But the voices are right outside the door now.

  “There’s no time,” Kiran tells him, “Go. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “We had a deal Mr Faulkner,” says a voice outside, “You can’t just say you’ve found another supplier so fast, Calum.” Shit. There really is no time to think. He takes a settling breath before giving Kiran a nod.

  His friend gives him a small encouraging smile before bending down to help him up. The moment his foot rests on his palms, he’s being propelled up to the window. Raiden’s hand catches onto the frame immediately, legs going out to the ledge. His eyes widen as he takes look backwards.

  The window is rger than he thought. Just enough for his body to fit through if he’s bended as he is. He doesn’t let himself get lost in thought, heart still drumming in his ears and swings his legs through it. In a sitting position, he can see the ledge Kiran was talking about. He shoots another look backwards to see an encouraging nod.

  He inhales deeply, feeling the rope dig around his stomach as he repositions himself and hoists himself down. The st thing he sees is the sight of door knob jiggling before he drops down. Raiden feels his heartbeat thundering in his ears, stomach dropping as he finds himself airborne.

  Yet the tension on the rope slows his descent and has his feet nding softly on the ledge. A shaky breath leaves him that he covers with his hand. Thank gods. The ledge is big enough for him to stand easily and blocked by a bunch of trees.

  Shit. The relief vanishes as panic sets in. Kiran is still in there. Fuck. Raiden doesn’t know how long it’s been. It could have only been a few seconds but feels like hours to him. Worry gnaws at his stomach. And guilt tries to sink its teeth. If he hadn’t been here…

  “Thump!” The soft thud stops the thoughts in their tracks as a lithe male body drops down beside him. Relief fills him once again at the sight of those familiar green eyes. His eyes move upwards, not daring to voice the question on his tongue.

  “It’s alright,” Kiran whispers, “they didn’t see me. I got out before the door was opened.”

  Raiden tries to swallow past the lump in his throat. “What took you so long? I thought…” The whispered words cut off as a shiver goes down his spine at what could have happened.

  “I had to close the window,” Kiran tells him, before putting a finger to his lips. “I jumped as soon you were safely over the edge. I heard Leo say he’s only coming to retrieve something.”

  A part of him wants to ask what he means by that, but the rger part is simply relieved he’s here. But this time, the smaller part wins. “What do you mean? I saw the door knob jiggle.”

  Kiran throws a gnce upwards, mouth thinning. His gaze wanders back as he gives Raiden a wry smile. “I mean that I jumped on to the window as soon as you came down and held the rope so it wouldn’t unravel too fast. There was only a few seconds between it and the door was still closed when I closed the window and went out of sight.”

  Oh. Well then. Raiden feels the rest of his worry slip away, letting the underlying excitement take control. He grins as Kiran makes a shushing motion again, mimicking it. He knew trusting Kiran was the right decision to make.

  The muffled voices above continue for a few more moments before they walk away. He vaguely recognises the sound of the door closing shut. His eyes go to Kiran as it registers, waiting. They’re fairly well hidden by the night and the trees, but they can’t stay on this ledge forever.

  Not one to disappoint, Kiran looks downwards at his look as well. He looks to the sides, taking in their surroundings before meeting Raiden’s gaze. A small smile pys on his lips and Raiden isn’t sure he’s going to like where this is going.

  “How are we getting down,” he asks anyway.

  “The only way there is,” Kiran tells him cryptically. Then, proceeds to unwind the rope from his body.

  “What are you doing?” Why is he unwinding the rope? Yet Raiden feels no apprehension, only a sense of excitement. There’s something about the man in front of him that just makes him feel safe.

  “Here’s the pn,” Kiran says, handing him the rope. “I’m going to jump down. I want you to hold this rope slightly downwards in the off chance it’s steeper than I anticipated. I don’t think so, but the possibility is always there.” He adds the st part quickly, clearly sensing his unease with the thought. “It’ll be fine,” he reassures him.

  Raiden decides to ignore that for now. “And then?”

  At that his friend gives him a solemn look. “Then I want you to lower yourself off this ledge and jump. Can you do that for me?”

  He blinks. “You want me to jump?”Not that he doesn’t trust the green-eyed man, but the thought of it makes him a little queasy.

  “It’s too dark to see anything from up here. The mplights below give a better look and I don’t think you should be jumping off ledges if you can’t see the ground below.”

  “Then why are you?”

  Kiran shrugs. “I’m used to it, living as I have. You however likely aren’t. It’s safer if you just jump down and I catch you. So, do you think you can do that?”

  “You’ll catch me?” Raiden blinks as the pn finally becomes clearer in his head. Oh. Kiran wants him to lower himself over the edge so he’s closer to the ground. And he’ll catch him so there’s a lower chance of injury.

  “Of course,” Kiran tells him. “I will catch you, I promise.”

  “Okay,” Raiden agrees easily. “Sounds like a pn.”

  “Good.” Then in a scene that mirrors the first time they met, Kiran is flipping backwards off the ledge and nding on bowls of his feet on the ground. It’s a surprisingly silent move. He’s just as impressed by it now as he was then.

  “Alright,” he hears his friend call, a light shining up at him now. His phone, Raiden realises, that’s what’s making it easier for him to see. As he moves to the ledge, the ground becomes clearly, the shadows of the building no longer blocking the light.

  His heart stops. It’s both a blessing and a curse as now he can see just how high up he is. He gulps. Kiran is right. That is a steep drop. His mouth feels dry as he looks down, nausea starting to form. Oh no.

  “Raiden,” a voice says, cutting through his panic. “Jump. Trust me, I’ll catch you.”

  He gulps. Eyes squeezing shut as he decides to take a literal leap of faith. Raiden forces himself not to think too much about it as he lowers himself off the ledge and allows himself to fall. His stomach drops with it, regret filling him almost immediately.

  Yet the crash he fears never happens. Instead, he feels a pair of strong arms wrap around him as he descends, staying in pce as they guide him down. His eyes snap open as the world stills, widening as he comes face to face with Kiran, arms holding him in an imitation of a bridal carry.

  “You alright?” Kiran asks him, gently lowering him to the ground, using an arm to support him as he stands on his own. It’s probably a good thing because Raiden isn’t sure he can get his own to work right.

  A small ugh leaves him as soon as he’s safe on the ground, a hand going to cover his mouth. It’s not enough to smother it. It only grows until he’s doubled over wheezing with the strength of his ughter. It sounds manic to his own ears, the pure relief flowing through him giving it an edge.

  “I think you’ll be fine,” Kiran notes, taking his arm and moving them away from the building. “Come on, let’s get out of here before someone notices us. The guards have gone in to deal with some scuffle, but who knows how long we have.”

  Raiden can’t manage anything more than a nod, the exhiration of the night feels like a drug in his veins. Gods. He has never felt so relieved in his life. Some may call him crazy for it, but this might be the most exciting night of his life. He wouldn’t be opposed to doing it again.

  “You know,” he says when they’re halfway back the direction they came, “We’ll need more evidence if we want to link Leo Conner to the fire.”

  “I’m aware,” Kiran says with a small smile. “But it is a start. And something we can use.”

  “Touché.” A pause. “You know there is something else I’ve been wondering.”

  Kiran turns around and gives him an questioning look. “Which is?” The masks were packed away not long after they left the site and Raiden has got everything back.

  “How did you know Ezim’s national casino was up for sale?” It had been bugging him the entire time. He hadn’t even known Ezim even had one of those, let alone one linked to the criminal underground.

  He chuckles. “I have my ways.” A pause and a small smile. “There are many rumours about it. That there was a main branch of business that they visited and learned through the grapevine it was having some trouble.” He shrugs. “Figured it was something anyone who wanted power in that sort of thing would want.”

  Raiden supposes that makes sense. And it does put his imagination to rest, in a reassuring way. He can continue with a clear conscious now.

  His friend seems to think otherwise. “You were thinking I was linked to the underground, weren’t you?” Kiran snorts a ugh. “Don’t even try to deny it.”

  “Well, what was I supposed to think!?” He feels a little indignant. “You seem to know so much about it.”

  “More like you don’t know enough,” he replies lightly as they finally make it back into a busier area.

  “Hey!” Raiden can’t quite make it sound as offended as he should. “I take offence to that.”

  “Oh no,” Kiran says in a deadpan. But a smile spreads over his face a second ter. “You still followed even you were considering these things,” he says teasingly.

  “Yes, well…You…Oh, whatever.” He can’t think of anything to say to refute that.

  The sound of Kiran bursting into ughter somewhat makes up for the embarrassment he feels. Although that might have more to do with ughter of his own joining it. His friends ughter is contagious, it turns out. The adrenaline of the night slowly seeps away as they come into clear line of the manor.

  Raiden barely notice it midst his conversation with Kiran, which has now moved on to happier topics. Mainly, just teasing and the stubborn man once again refusing to join his group. And yes, he does realise the irony of the statement.

  Through it all, Raiden reaffirms a conclusion he came to long ago. Things are never boring when Kiran Knightwood is around. He can’t wait to see what sort of situation he’ll find himself in next. Despite all the risks, this adventure of theirs was quite fun.