“You’re way off base,” Berga replied deadpan. He slipped his free hand into the front pocket of his jeans.
“Aneski.” Messing with Baikal was one thing, but there was no way Flix could sit back and allow the Tiny Terror to fuck with Berga. He’d been given the role of Butcher for a reason and was potentially the most dangerous of the lot of them.
“Am I though?” Aneski ignored him. “Really?” He planted his palms on the surface of the table and leaned in. “He’s mine, Butcher. He’s always been mine. Get over it.”
The corner of Berga’s mouth tipped up and he removed a small glass vile from his pocket.
“Ani!” Flix’s voice boomed out across the cafeteria, hushing everyone. He stood with a flourish, his chair snapping back into the wall with a loud clatter. “I said,” he growled low, “that’s enough.”
“Ani?” Berga blinked at him and straightened in his seat, pushing the vile back into his pocket at the same time.
Baikal heaved an annoyed sigh. “Seeing as how you’ve nicknamed him, I believe it’s safe to assume he’s at least partially telling the truth after all.”
“I’ve fucked him,” Flix said crassly. “That’s it.”
“Hardly,” Aneski snorted.
“So you’ve been sleeping with the enemy, literally, behind my back?” Baikal crossed his arms. “For how long?”
“It’s a recent development,” Flix said, only for Ani to grunt.
“The first time was three years ago, actually,” he corrected, quirking a brow when Flix frowned.
He didn’t understand the purpose of that lie. Actually, he wasn’t fully certain he understood the other man’s plan for any of this, but still. That one, in particular, didn’t make any sense.
Baikal stood slowly. “We need to talk.”
Flix nodded, knowing there was no way out of it.
“Later,” the Dominus added. “Right now, I have somewhere to be, and you,” he glanced at Aneski, “clearly have your hands full.”
“I’ll come by the house later,” he promised.
“Deal with this,” he motioned to Aneski with a scowl. “If he’s rude like this again—”
“He won’t be.”
“You don’t—” Aneski started, but Flix’s hand lashed out, catching him around the back of the neck. He forced him into a low bow, holding his head down against his momentary struggle to rise.
“Apologize,” Flix ordered, tightening his grip to urge him to just shut up and do as he was told for once. “Do it now, Tiny Terror, or so help me—”
“I’m sorry I was rude,” Aneski practically snarled, but at least he did it.
Baikal seemed satisfied enough in any case, shaking his head at the two of them before swiveling on his heels and exiting.
Flix kept him down until the Dominus was almost at the doors, only letting him up once he was certain they were in the clear. This time. If this had been a few months ago, Baikal would have taught Ani a lesson himself on principle alone. He was lucky.
“You’re dating him?” Berga asked, reminding him that his very dangerous and deadly friend was still with them.
“Yes,” Aneski answered before he could.
“Come with me.” Flix grabbed onto his wrist and dragged him across the room, gritting his teeth against all the shocked gasps and obvious attention on them as they passed. He’d have to give Berga some sort of explanation later, but it was clear if hedidn’t handle Ani first, the idiot was going to push them into an impossible corner.
“Where are we going?”
“Shut up.” Flix kept walking even after they’d left the cafeteria, making their way outside and down the cement path that would lead them toward the back of the neighboring science building. The second he was certain they were out of sight of anyone else, with only the dense forest at their backs, he tossed Aneski against the brick wall and pulled the knife from his back pocket.
The second the blade was against Ani’s neck, and Flix was certain he had him well and truly trapped, he gave in to the anger.
