As we approached the hotel, the streets emptied. It didn’t mean we were safe, though. If anything, we stood out too much for my taste. From outside, the hotel looked like it might’ve been vacated; illusions of wild animals inhabited the front, lending it a deceitful activity. Where were the humans?

  Azul was doing his best to pretend he wasn’t that tired, but I noticed. I bade him and Sergeant Vargas follow me at a reasonable distance—staying outside was discomforting, too.

  The foyer looked even more empty. A potted pnt had been knocked over—probably by accident, because there were no signs of intentional vandalism or thievery. I thought I saw someone escaping down a hallway, but they had already vanished when I turned around.

  “Cassel’s guards messed up our room,” Azul said as we took the elevator. “Last night or this morning, can’t remember which. It should be empty though.”

  Even so, I entered the suite alone to make sure of it.

  Azul flopped down on a bed, not bothering to remove his jacket. He watched me as I checked the protective spells on the windows and wrote a protective circle on lipstick, swinging one leg from the edge of the bed.

  “What kinda script is that?” he asked.

  “Weren’t you going to sleep?” I replied.

  “Was. Don’t feel very sleepy right now.”

  I turned to Sergeant Vargas, who lied in his own bed with one leg swung on top of the other. “When does His Excellency’s flight leave?”

  “Tomorrow nine AM, Your Illustrious Highness.” He searched in his shirt pocket and handed me two tickets. I folded them into my pants pocket.

  “Thank you, Sergeant Vargas. Better try to sleep. You won’t be of any use to His Excellency otherwise.”

  “Thank you, Your Illustrious Highness. I recall His Excellency saying just that.”

  I left Sergeant Vargas removing his boots and turned to Azul. “You only have about twelve hours, so make sure to sleep already.”

  “Yeah, well, I can’t fall asleep like that.” He smmed his legs on the bed. “Ugh, my head feels like it’s stuffed full of cotton but I can’t fall asleep. Guess it’s ‘cause st time I did, I almost got bespelled to death.”

  “I’m showering and going to the airport to make sure the flights are leaving on schedule. If you oversleep, I’ll kick you out of bed, and if there’s no flights, I’ll find you another way out.”

  “Well, that’s comforting for sure.” Azul wiggled out of his jacket and dropped it on the floor.

  Clicking my tongue, I picked it up and hung it on the rack by the door. “I doubt you were raised with those manners.”

  “I doubt you know jack shit about how I was raised.”

  Without thinking, I climbed on top of his bed, pushing him ft against the mattress. You could tell that was one quality frame, because it didn’t so much as creak.

  Azul blinked big hazel eyes at me, suddenly far too awake and far too interested. I held his face with a stronger grip than strictly necessary.

  “Don’t get in my nerves.” His cock pressed against my thigh, so I pushed it with my knee—harder than strictly necessary. “Aren’t you predictable.”

  He shoved my hand away. “Not predictable, comfortably on time. Like sunsets.”

  “A new one every day?”

  Azul threw his arms around my neck, smiling rather smugly. “It’s not my problem if you can’t keep up.”

  “You asked for it.” I ground down on him, holding him down, not listening to his protests. “And if you’re too tired ter, that’s not my problem either.”

  “Asshole.” Azul tried to push me away, but his heart really wasn’t on it; he didn’t want to stop me, just prevent his pride from being wounded.

  Of course, that only made me want to shatter his pride and rub his face on how much he wanted me. But that wasn’t the right time. I was tired, too, and I had a long night ahead.

  “I hear that a lot. Didn’t I warn you?”

  “Wednesday night, when you thought I was with the necromancer.” His eyes gleamed with amusement. Never mind that he was flushed hot down to his neck and his breath caught itself more and more frequently.

  “I did fuck up that time. But you’re not going to be so lucky again.” His rock-hard cock strained against the front of his pants. Close enough to getting off, so I got off of him instead.

  “Aw, come on!” He propped himself up on his elbows, and it was funny how affronted he looked—so cute, too, with his hair mussed and sweaty.

  “I didn’t promise you anything. Maybe you’ll learn manners now.”

  He clenched his teeth, gring at me under his eyeshes. Right then, I couldn’t even imagine he’d ever tiptoed carefully around any offense I might take at his words. This—this was so much better.

  “Come here and fuck me, coward.”

  “Don’t be silly. We don’t have time for prepping. Go to sleep already.”

  He let himself fall on his back, arms crossed. “I can take your cock anyhow.”

  “No you can’t. You know how big I am.”

  “Yeah, right. You’re not that big in real life.”

  “I can’t believe we’re having this ridiculous conversation.” I looked down at my half-hard cock.

  Azul looked at my half-hard cock, too. “And I wasn’t born yesterday.”

  With a sigh of exasperation, I half-kneeled on the bed, grabbed his hand, and made him grasp my cock.

  That wiped the contempt clean off of his face. For a moment, he didn’t even seem to remember he was trying to be rebellious.

  “That really is something,” he said.

  I stepped away from him. “And I’m not fucking you.”

  “They put lube in these fancy hotel rooms, you know. Somewhere in the bathroom.”

  “I’m aware. Go to sleep now, or you’ll be making things worse for you next time.”

  He crawled under the bedcovers, grumbling in frustration. “I know you wanna fuck me too and you can bet I’m not gonna make things any easier for you.”

  “Keep telling yourself that.”

  He dropped one boot on the floor. “Fuck you.” He dropped the other. “And fuck you.”

  I couldn’t help smiling; maybe it was barely noticeable if you looked at me, and maybe not. But he couldn’t see me either way.

  My preferred hair soaps and oils weren’t included in the suite, not that I expected otherwise. The hotel brands would suffice for the time being. Better than allowing any hint of the Underworld to cling to me. After thorougly cleansing myself, shaving, and reapplying my makeup, I looked far better than anybody had the right to expect after a day like the one I’d just had.

  Just as well. Chances were before the day was through, I’d need every particle of authority I could muster—unless things went smoothly, but that looked far too unlikely.

  And indeed, it was.

  Azul was asleep when I left the bathroom; he’d poked his head out of the covers, breathing evenly with his lips slightly open. The skin around his eyes had a bruise-dark look to it, and I wanted to kiss him for five or six different reasons, and it irritated me to no end that I couldn’t do that.

  The room had gotten stuffy, so I opened a window. Another storm weighted in the still air. I closed the curtains in case the wind picked up.

  As I expected, a small crowd had gathered in the airport. I wasn’t in a hurry, but this crowd, unlike the st one, reacted like they usually do and left me pass before I even considered asking for it. I wasn’t in a hurry, though, and calmly searched for anybody who looked likely to answer my questions. Perhaps that was a mistake; at the time, I thought the people around me seemed to be still upset, and I’d rather not make it worse.

  They’d gathered to spend the night together, searching for comfort in numbers; some of them dressed like secretaries or clerks, most like tourists, a few rather expensively. All, I’d bet, outsiders. Quite a few of them rested in improvised beddings next to the wall—most of them children or elders. The others seemed to find it hard to fall asleep, just as Azul had said, and became very interested in me the moment I stepped among them.

  I might as well try to reassure them. Turning to the crowd, I removed my left glove and showed them the brand of the Imperium.

  Even then, it was clear most of them didn’t recognize me. It amused me and confused me, to see people greet the sight of me with a measure of wary deference without understanding exactly why.

  there’s something wrong with you

  I cleared my throat. “Good night. I’m Vanth Umbra, King of the Dying Sun.” Many breaths were caught. “I’ll speak to Her Magnificence as soon as I have an opportunity, and assure to her nobody leaving this city is a traitor.”

  An immense relief spread through the crowd. Some of them came forward to thank me, but I waved them off.

  The ticket booths, as you might expect, were closed. A line of airport guards in dark red uniforms blocked the gates to the strip. I went to them, but one met me halfway, bowed almost deeply enough for protocol, and escorted me to the airport manager, who looked somewhat rumpled but still had her cravat and turban in pce. Instantly, she offered me a free ticket—the way she said it, I suspect she would’ve had to kick someone out. But all I wanted was a reassurance that the next flight would be leaving in time, and I got it, and I returned to Azul’s suite feeling pleased with myself.

  That was, no doubt, a misstep.

  This time, there were people in the hotel. You might call them looters, though seeing how the hospitary industry likely would decay in the next weeks, it made sense for them to raid the kitchens. They looked at me with mild curiosity, pushing a handcart den with flour bags and bottles of what seemed to be oil. I nodded at them in my way to the elevator, and they moved on, curiosity seemingly satisfied.

  Once in the hallway, though, something felt out of pce. I advanced slowly, cautiously.

  That was it: I couldn’t feel my protective circle anymore.

  I strode to the suite and pushed its door. It swung open, smming the wall.

  Azul’s bed was empty.

  Before I lost it, I forced myself to check the bathroom. Empty. I returned to the main suit. Sergeant Vargas had remained asleep. He wouldn’t have stirred if Azul had walked out on his own—but I couldn’t believe that.

  And yet, I didn’t feel any danger coming from Azul. That wasn’t enough to make me lower my guard, but it was enough to help me mantain a cool head.

  I shook Sergeant Vargas. He mumbled something.

  “Sergeant Vargas. You must wake up.”

  With an effort, he sat up. Then he saw the empty bed.

  “Oh, shit!” He looked at me with something close to panic, then tried to control himself. “Is he—“

  “His Excellency seems to have been kidnapped.” Those words felt so absurd coming out of my mouth, I could’ve ughed out loud. That wasn’t a very common occurrence, thankfully, but I hated it so much.

  Sergeant Vargas didn’t look like he would’ve cared if it happened, though; he was too busy holding his head on both hands. “What the fuck is gonna happen now? I’m not going back to Vorsa like that. Oh, fuck fuck fuck.”

  An accent from the slums had crept into his studiously neutral speech.

  “Sergeant Vargas.” I tried to use a gentle tone, but as usual, it sounded cold and clipped even to my ears. “Don’t concern yourself over His Excellency. I can assure you he will board that aircraft tomorrow morning, over a dozen dead bodies if necessary.”

  He looked up, taking a deep breath. On second thought, my words hadn’t been exactly reassuring, and yet, that seemed to be exactly what Sergeant Vargas needed to hear.

  “So you know where he is.”

  “Not exactly, but I can find him easily. And I know who has him.”

  Sergeant Vargas swung his feet to the floor. “Those people from the energy center, right?”

  “Correct. What makes you think that, though?”

  He lifted his eyebrows. “What makes you think that?”

  Right after that, he remembered he hadn’t used my title, or for that matter, that he hadn’t been the slightest bit deferential. I cut off his attempts at an apology.

  “It’s a good question. Simply put, their leader is one of the very few people I’ve met who can shatter a circle like the one I cast.”

  “And who are the others?” he asked, sounding very much like he didn’t want to hear the answer.

  “Only the Megarchon.”

  Sergeant Vargas’s despairing look held no surprise.

  “But I strongly believe they won’t harm him. His Excellency is worth far more alive than dead, and besides, if they’d intended to kill him they would’ve done it already.”

  “That necromancer wanted His Excellency dead, though.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Your Illustrious Higness can feel when His Excellency is threatened, though. I must offer Your Illustrious Highness my deepest and humblest apologies, and plead incompetence this time.”

  “Not incompetence, Sergeant Vargas.” I paced slowly. “Do you remember the kid who cast the fixator spell? At first he was too upset to do it, but then that man called Willka cast a spell on him, and calmed him down.”

  “Yeah. I remember now. So Your Illustrious Highness thinks I was put to sleep?”

  “Evidently.” I stopped. “If anybody must be guilt of incompetence, it’s me. I turned my back on His Excellency when he most needed me. But don’t worry, I’ll bring him back before the aircraft leaves. I know it’s hard, but try to sleep again.”

  He shook his head. “No, I’d rather take stock of His Excellency’s baggage and take to the airport.”

  “Very well. Await him there, then.”

  Sergeant Vargas nodded.

  I wanted to tell him I held no grudge against him, and moreso I wanted him to be happy, but I’d never been able to say emotional words like those out loud—I always felt like a character escaped from a melodrama. In the end, I simply nodded back and left.

  broccolifloret