Zane placed a hand over his victim's mouth for better purchase and then slashed through the major artery, severing the lumpy organ he’d been after. Admittedly, he’d sort of made a mess, a much bigger one than Pavel had managed when he’d done this song and dance, but then again, he was probably more excited.
It hadn’t been their honeymoon then.
Now that he had the heart, Zane peered down at it resting in his palm, and realized…he didn’t know what to do with it. There’d been all that talk about eventually giving him Samuel’s, but that’d never happened.
What had Pavel done with the organ then?
He stood and stepped away from the cooling corpse, absently cleaning his blade off on the side of his white medical jacket. It wasn’t his—it wasn’t even from this planet. Aodhan had given them a rather thoughtful gift for their engagement party, and Pavel had suggested they do something equally touching in return. The plan had come to fruition rather easily after that.
It helped knowing how much his brother’s coworker got on his nerves. Really, the game had practically written itself.
Their official ceremony had been held early this morning, and Zane had invited the entire medical staff at Aodhan’s hospital. Since attending an event put on by an Imperial was a big deal, and true to his word, Kelevra had made sure Lyra’s name was all over it, pretty much everyone had RSVP’d they were coming. Including the fool at Zane’s feet.
He kicked him, still clutching the bloodied mess of an organ, and was grateful he’d had the foresight to change out of his personal clothes from earlier. The suit he’d worn to walk down the aisle had cost a fortune—and not a small one, either—a gift he’d gladly accepted from Kelevra and Rin.
They’d both joked about how he was getting married before them, but Zane hadn’t minded their teasing. With Lyra off his back, it’d been entirely his decision to go through with the wedding before graduation.
She’d made him realize he’d been blind. Up until that point when she’d broken into their home, Zane had allowed fear and doubt to rule him. Despite all of his claims about wanting to be important and needed, the second someone came aroundpromising those things, he’d locked up. It was easier to read other people, to get under their skin and feel around.
Apparently he wasn’t as adept at seeing his own issues for what they were.
But he had Pavel for that now.
He gave the body another swift kick, startling some when a voice called out to him suddenly.
“I’d ask where his heart is, gorgeous,” Pavel drawled, stepping from the darkness with his hands in his pockets, “but that’s fairly obvious.” His gaze dropped to the organ still held aloft in Zane’s right hand.
“I was trying to figure out what to do with it.” He tipped his head. “What’d you do with yours?”
“That’s simple. I gave it to you.” Pavel lifted his left hand and tapped at the matching gold chain band on his finger with a wink.
Zane rolled his eyes. “Cute, but not what I meant and you know it. What did you do with Samuel’s heart? After you cut it out.”
“Oh, that.” He wandered over and took in the mess Zane had made. “It’s still in a glass jar somewhere in the castle on the hill. Should we go find it?”
They were headed that way anyway. It was part of the plan. Part of the game. But Zane pretended to consider it, tossing the organ in his hand like it was a ball before chucking it onto the dead body.
“Let’s be done with this prop,” he suggested. “It’s too cumbersome.”
“It’s served its purpose already,” Pavel said, still looking at the dead guy. “Did he put up much of a fight?”
“Of course,” Zane replied. “Though plying him with six bottles of alcohol at the party was a good call. You made him nice and vulnerable for me.”
“Glad I could be of some service. Though, I will admit I’m surprised you didn’t involve your brother. Surely he could have used some of these…parts.”
“He’s out of that business now that ties with Lyra have been severed.” Which meant Aodhan was going to have to come up with his own way to avoid getting caught when his urges took control. “How’s everything going on that front, by the way?”
Since they’d been offered a lavish wedding, they’d agreed to put it off a month so there’d be plenty of time for planning the ceremony. Though that wasn’t all they’d been cooking up.
“All of the evidence we’ve managed to collect with the help of Aodhan has been officially submitted to the Intergalactic Conference,” Pavel smiled at him. “My guess? We’ll still be honeymoon fucking when the Intergalactic Police Force come for her.”
Organ trafficking was illegal, even for an Imperial. Lyra’s side gig had been extensive too, more so than Zane had even realized, and involved many people, both innocent and otherwise. They’d made sure to leave his brother out of it, concocting ironclad alibis in the off chance Lyra tried to drag Aodhan through the mud with her, but Zane didn’t see it coming to that.
She was far too embarrassed by everything to risk it. The entire galaxy already thought she was a spoiled heiress who couldn’t believe reality when she was turned down by one of her brother’s friends. If she tried to accuse that friend's brother of being a psychopath on top of it all? She’d only be hurting herself more.
“They’ll strip her of her title at best,” Zane surmised, “and lock her up for life at worst.”
“Should we be worried about Kelevra retaliating?”
