But he had to fight to his last breath. He couldn’t be taken away. As much as he knew the Council would be furious with Veylo if they’d known the truth, he had no way to prove it to them. At this point, everything he could have said would have been unsubstantiated accusations.
He rose unsteadily to his feet, his limbs shaking as they struggled to recover from Neeva’s blasts and the hits against the wall.
Kayvan and Dartavore approached the doorway, gripping onto Hayde by either arm. His wrists were cuffed. He hung his head.
He’s gonna be in so much shit.
Kinzer dropped his knife and put his hands in the air.
“You got me.”
Neeva shook her head disapprovingly. “I don’t know how my sister ever had the patience for you.” She reached into a bag at her waist and retrieved a set of cuffs.
“Turn around.”
He stepped up to her, turned around, and placed his hands behind his back, overlapping his wrists.
As Neeva approached him from behind, he ducked, snatched the syringe that she’d discarded on the floor and drove it into her shin, squeezing as quickly as he could to release the toxin into her.
“Fuck!” Neeva cried, instinctively shooting another blast, one less controlled than her previous attacks. It encircled her and knocked everyone to the nearest wall.
Kinzer went limp so he wouldn’t be hurt so bad by his hit against the wall. As he collapsed once again, he turned back to the others.
Through the doorway, he saw Hayde, Kayvan, and Dartavore lying beside the wall.
When Hayde shook off his injuries, he scooted across the floor to Kayvan, who lay face down. He sat on her back and wrapped his cuffs around her neck, bringing his wrists so close together that she wouldn’t be able to lift her head from his grip.
As Dartavore crawled to her knees, she eyed Hayde. The look in her eyes assured Kinzer she was ready to pounce. He leapt to his feet, scrambled across the floor, and retrieved the dagger Hayde had dropped.
Neeva sat on the floor, stroking her leg. She appeared disoriented. As he approached her, she raised a hand and shot a meek spark from it. Kinzer figured the significant decline in its strength was a combination of the serum and her weakened gift, on account of how much power she’d used in the last blow she’d delivered.
She grunted before falling back, her head smashing against the concrete.
Dartavore sprung at Hayde.
“Enough!” Kinzer called out.
Dartavore snatched Hayde by his hair, but as she turned and saw her fallen comrade, Kinzer’s blade to Neeva’s neck, she stopped.
***
Treycore stuck the hotel card key in the slot beneath the gold door handle and pulled it out as he slid his tongue between Kid’s lips and felt up and down Kid’s body, now hidden behind the clothes he wore.
But not for long.
I want him inside me so bad, Kid thought.
He and Treycore had used a portal that took them to a Greek island, where Treycore visited a small church. After that, he’d contacted Kinzer, and they’d taken a bus, a boat, and another bus until Treycore came to a shop where he created counterfeit passports for himself and Kid, a skill he said he acquired in his work with the Leader. Once Treycore had manufactured the appropriate paperwork and come up with cash, they took a taxi to the airport and bought tickets to San Antonio, where Treycore had arranged for them to meet Kinzer.
Kid found it unbearable to keep his cool in public. He wanted Treycore to ravage him, fill him over and over again until the very thought of fucking seemed like a mundane chore. But that could never happen. Not with his Treycore.
Forcing the door open, Treycore knelt, wrapped his arm under Kid’s ass, and hoisted him into the air. He carried him inside and allowed the door to shut behind them before turning Kid around and slamming him against it.
It’d been a more intense blow to his back than Kid had anticipated. His shoulder blades stung, but he didn’t care. All he could think about was getting his clothes off.
He grabbed the hem of his shirt and tossed it over his head.
Treycore pressed his lips against Kid’s nipple. He opened his mouth and navigated his tongue around it.
