“Yes.” Ant leaned his head back against the wall, eyes closed. “It almost worked.”
“But it didn’t.” Viktor moved closer, careful not to crowd him, but needing the contact. “You’re here. You’re safe.”
“Because you came for me.” Ant opened his eyes and met Viktor’s gaze. “In the vision, when I was fragmenting...I felt you. Like an anchor in the chaos. You pulled me back together.”
Something fierce and possessive surged through Viktor. “Always will.”
“I know.” Ant reached out and took Viktor’s hand, lacing their fingers together. Through the touch, Viktor felt the lingering echoes of Ant’s terror, but also his absolute trust. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me for not letting you die, babe.”
“I’m not thanking you for that.” Ant’s thumb rubbed across Viktor’s knuckles. “I’m thanking you for being exactly who you are. For not hesitating. For knowing I needed you and coming without question.”
Taking the hand holding as permission to finally hold his mate, Viktor pulled Ant against his chest, wrapping both arms around him. “There’s no version of reality where I wouldn’t come for you.”
They sat like that until Ant’s breathing had completely steadied and the trembling had stopped. Able rested his head on Ant’s knee, brown eyes watchful.
Finally, Ant pulled back. “I saw everything,” he said, his voice stronger now. “The entire murder. The planning beforehand. Where the evidence is hidden.”
“We’ll deal with it.” Viktor stood and offered his hand. “But first, you need actual food and to clean the blood off your face. Then we’ll figure out our next move.”
Ant let Viktor pull him to his feet. “That’s probably for the best.”
“I have my moments.” Viktor winced as Ant wobbled, trying to stand on his own. “I’m going to pick you up now,” he added, sliding one arm beneath Ant’s knees and the other behind his shoulders. “Don’t argue.”
“I wasn’t planning to.” Ant’s head lolled against Viktor’s chest as Viktor stood, cradling him like he weighed nothing. Able pressed against Viktor’s legs, whining anxiously.
Viktor carried Ant through the connecting door into their suite, kicking it shut behind them with enough force that the wood rattled in its frame. He crossed to the bed and lowered Ant onto the mattress carefully, arranging pillows behind his back so he could sit upright without strain.
“Stay,” Viktor ordered, pointing at Ant with the same finger he’d use on Able when the dog got too excited. “Don’t you dare try to stand up.”
Ant blinked at him. “Did you just use your dog voice on me?”
“You’re both equally terrible at following safety instructions.” Viktor strode into the adjoining bathroom, grabbed a clean washcloth, and soaked it in cold water. When he returned, Able had almost emptied his water bowl and had climbed onto the bed, positioning himself against Ant’s side. Ant’s hand was buried in Able’s ruff.
Viktor sat on the edge of the mattress and began wiping the blood from Ant’s face with gentle strokes. He could feel the tremor in his hands, but he kept them moving. Their mate bond was like a live wire between them, fueled with Ant’s exhaustion and equal doses of determination, entwined with Viktor’s barely controlled rage at what the estate’s wards had done to him.
“I’m fine,” Ant said quietly.
“You’re not fine. You were trapped in a vision loop that was designed to shred your consciousness into confetti.” Viktor shook out the washcloth, refolding it to a clean spot, and continued cleaning. “Your nose is still bleeding, your pupils look like you got hit with a flashbang, and you can barely sit upright.”
“But at least I got what we came for. I saw everything.” Ant’s gray eyes sharpened despite his physical state. “I watched Claudius plan the entire thing, Viktor. Eleven hours before he killed Ronald, I watched him review security footage that showed Ronald breaking into his study and photographing documents from the safe.”
Viktor paused mid-wipe. “He knew Ronald was investigating him specifically then.”
“Yes. Ronald used a detection-dampening talisman to avoid triggering alarms, but Claudius checked the cameras later that evening and saw everything. He called Edmund to his office, and they discussed how to handle it.”
Ant’s voice was getting stronger, which Viktor took as a positive sign. “Claudius said that they would make it look like a natural feeding - all completely accidental. Claudius also said that they could take care of any human investigators, and that even if the Justiciary got involved, the wards would corrupt the energies around the death scene before anyone competent got here.’”
Viktor’s lip twisted into a snarl. “He always was an arrogant piece of shit.”
“I think that’s important, though. He specifically mentioned that the Justiciary would take too long to respond, and by then the ambient magic would have already destroyed any readable evidence.” Ant accepted the bottle of water Viktor handed him and drank deeply, his throat working. After he’d taken about half the bottle, Ant added, “He didn’t account for someone of my skill level being assigned so quickly, or for the possibility that his ward-trap might fail to shred my mind completely. He didn’t factor in our mating bond.”
Maybe you’ll think about that next time as well, so I’m not left dithering by the door like an idiot while you’re beingpsychically tortured,but Viktor kept that thought to himself. Ant had called out to him in the end. “What else did you see?”
Ant set the water bottle on the nightstand. “Ronald photographed ledgers documenting shell corporation structures and journals with handwritten notes about which humans Claudius had enthralled. There were names, dates, and amounts transferred. Ronald had everything he needed to bring charges, and Claudius knew it.”
“So he murdered him.”
