CHAPTER NINE
The trip to Graven’s was less harrowing now that Ren knew what to expect. Also, this pilot seemed less inebriated than the last one.
The dinner, too, felt like less of an ordeal than the party had been. It was a smaller group that gathered around a long, polished table hewn from a single piece of gray wood to eat from ostentatiously large platters of cooked meats and vegetables served with spongy injera bread. Ren recognized a few of the men and women from the night before, but they were a more serious crowd, drinking and laughing less. That may have been because their minds were more focused on business, and that business seemed entirely criminal.
To his surprise, Ren found that his training — the constant briefings and meetings he’d been expected to attend on Arcadia concerning interplanetary trade and politics — meant that he could not only keep up but contribute to the conversation. It was when they turned to smuggling that Ren got a bit lost, but there Sebastian would step in with a sharp insight or a funny story that got the whole table chuckling. It was hard for Ren to keep his eyes off Sebastian as he talked, animated and flourishing his wineglass, the softly glowing orbs the room used for illumination catching the gold thread in his coat and the flash in his dark eyes. Sebastian was something to behold — it was no wonder he conserved energy most of the time by lounging around and looking bored so that he could save it for performances like this. He was dazzling.
When Ren did look away from Sebastian, he thought he caught amused pity in the eyes of some of the other guests, no doubt thinking him a besotted fool being used for his money. Fortunately, the other part of his training involved keeping his emotions hidden.
Graven smirked at him. “I hope this gathering isn’t too dull for you, Mr. Rickard? I know you were hoping to avoid business on this trip.”
“Oh, not at all. I’m enjoying the conversation. In such company, business is a pleasure.”
“Ha! Well, may fortune smile on you this evening and bring you everything you wish for in the auction.”
Ren tilted his head just a fraction. “This evening?”
“Yes, didn’t I mention it in the invitation? The auction is tonight.”
Ren smiled pleasantly. Sebastian was on the other side of the table, engrossed in a lively discussion with two women, and Ren didn’t want to risk kicking him to get his attention. “I hadn’t realized your auction was so soon.”
Graven waved a careless hand in the air and drank from an ornate wine goblet with the other. “I felt it best to move it up. I’ve heard rumors of the items in my collection getting a little too much interest for my own comfort. Better to sell and not have so many precious things in one place.” His eyes, slightly mismatched under the scar, focused on Ren. “It’s nothing for you to worry about. Your ship’s captain seems to know how to transport valuable goods without attracting attention.”
“Yes, he’s very skilled.” If his skill was ignoring Ren.
As he watched, Sebastian offered the woman on his right a morsel of food. The woman opened her mouth seductively, looking like she was ready to start sucking Sebastian’s fingers right there at the table. Ren clenched his hands on his thighs as Sebastian leaned in to whisper into her ear. It was only when it looked like Sebastian was going to reach into the woman’s cleavage to retrieve some lost crumb that Ren spoke.
“Sebastian.” His voice was icily correct. “May I speak to you outside?” He nodded to his host who looked like he was smothering a laugh. “Excuse us for a moment.”
He stood and walked away, not bothering to see if Sebastian followed and studiously ignoring the murmurs and giggles from the table.
Ren swung around a corner, dodging a waiter, and watched Sebastian’s approach with a glare he didn’t bother to disguise. Sebastian smiled apologetically and gestured for Ren to move even farther from the dining room into an empty sitting room hung with exceptionally ugly art. Once there, Sebastian heaved a very put-upon sigh.
“That took you long enough. Were you waiting for me to start humping her leg at the table?”
“What?”
“You seeming jealous was a much better way for both of us to leave the room rather than jumping up as soon as Graven said the auction was tonight.”
“Oh.” Ren didn’t know quite what to do now. “So you heard that.”
Sebastian flashed a grin. “Eavesdropping is one of my many skills.” The smile dropped. “So… we are somewhat fucked.”
“What do we do?”
Sebastian rubbed at his light beard. “There are two options as I see it. One, we go legit. Well, as legitimate as this highly illegal sale is. The auction goes ahead, and you outbid everyone else to get the Heart. We walk out of here with the jewel and smiles all round.”
“You have great confidence in my funds.” Ren was loath to give Graven money for what rightfully belonged to his family — something that was his family. “What’s the second option?”
“We steal it out from under their noses. Now.”
“How can we do that? The mansion is full of people.”
“They’ll be lingering over dinner and drinks for another couple of hours yet. We find Rylan and Jaime and go ahead with the plan. Just a sneakier version. It’s your decision.”
Ren hesitated, even as his heart began to pick up speed. “Do you really think we can do it?”
Sebastian’s eyes were wide awake and lit with fire. “I think we’ll have a much better time finding out than sitting through anymore of that dinner party.”
Jaime and Rylan had been banished from the dining room along with the other bodyguards and staff. Sebastian, with Ren beside him, strode along the corridor to where they were cooling their heels and gave them a precise jerk of the head, causing them to fall into place behind them.
They found another empty room — the mansion seemed big on needless space — and explained the situation.
Rylan grimaced when Sebastian finished. “Getting out of here is going to be a bitch.”
“Which is why you need to get a signal to the ship. You can send one with the gear in your arm, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s a pretty basic code.”
Sebastian shrugged. “It’s a pretty basic message. Kaz needs to get the ship in the vicinity and wait for our signal.”
Rylan set his jaw, not looking happy but not questioning Sebastian. “I suppose we’re gonna need this too.”
He pushed back the sleeve of his shirt to where Simi’s device had been taped to his arm with a bandage that matched his skin tone. They had counted on the scanner at the front door not being able to separate it from the other metal within his arm, and Jaime had been monitoring the machine just in case.
Sebastian took the device. “We’ll install it while you send the message.”
“Sebastian,” Jaime said, looking uncertain, “what about Ebba?”
“Have you spoken to her?”
“Only for a few minutes before she got called away.” His eyes were pleading. “I think she wants to escape.”
Sebastian rubbed his face. “Can you turn off the alarms to the display room without being there?”
“Sure, most of the systems in the mansion are connected.”
“Go find her. Give us ten minutes to plant this thing, then switch off the alarms and open the door. Meet us in the display room.” Jaime nodded and started to turn away, but Sebastian caught his arm. “And Jaime? Be quick. We’re not leaving without you, but we can’t wait for Ebba.”
Jaime dashed off. Rylan briefly touched Sebastian’s shoulder. “Sometimes doing the right thing is a pain in the ass. I know.”
“It’s a good thing I don’t make a habit it of it then. Send the message and meet us there.” Sebastian nodded to Ren. “We’re off to find a discreet comm panel.”
They separated, with Ren and Sebastian walking as quickly as they could without looking like they were hurrying.
“That room we were first in,” Ren said in a low voice. “I think there was a panel next to the portrait of the ugly baby.”
“I would have thought you’d have more refined tastes, Your Highness,” Sebastian said. “Let’s go.”
The painted baby seemed to be giving them a judgmental side-eyed look as Sebastian popped open the panel. Ren stood near the slightly open door, straining to listen for approaching footsteps.
“Hurry.”
“Thank you for the suggestion. Otherwise I was planning to take my time, maybe reflect on my existence, have a snack,” Sebastian replied, fiddling with wires.
“It wasn’t a general recommendation,” Ren hissed. “Someone’s coming.”
“Almost done.”
Ren willed the footfalls to grow more distant, but instead they were getting louder. He moved closer to Sebastian, hoping to block the view of the open panel for as long as possible.
The footsteps paused in front of their door.
Sebastian grabbed his arm, voice an urgent whisper. “Ren, we need to—”
Ren kissed him.
He kissed Sebastian because it seemed like an obvious ploy to throw off anyone who might see them — even though it was a cliché out of one of the less serious tomes that Ren snuck out of the library when he was supposed to be studying. He kissed him because at last Ren felt like he was doing something and not just following along, and that maybe, just maybe, he had actually managed to surprise Sebastian. He kissed Sebastian because sneaking through a criminal’s mansion, hiding in corners, and hoping not to get caught had Ren’s heart racing and sent shivers of adrenaline coursing through his blood. He kissed him because Sebastian could laugh and slouch and mock and enjoy life in every way that Ren couldn’t. He kissed Sebastian because he looked so handsome in the ridiculous coat Ren had paid for, and it had been driving Ren mad all night. He kissed him because Ren had never felt more alive.
Most of all, Ren kissed Sebastian because he’d thought about doing it every day for the past four years, even through the anger and the hurt and the hate. Ren wanted this — him — more than anything in his life.
After a first frozen instant, Sebastian responded, his mouth opening beneath Ren’s hard press. He reached for the back of Ren’s neck, and if that movement also allowed Sebastian to close the comm panel, Ren didn’t care, because he had found Sebastian’s body, one hand pressing into his side beneath the coat. Through the fine material of his shirt, Ren could feel Sebastian’s heart speeding up. His other hand stole around to the small of Sebastian’s back, pulling him closer so that there was no space at all between their two bodies.
Sebastian’s tongue was in his mouth now, as clever as it was in conversation. Ren liked this kind of talk better, because for once he felt he could give as good as he could get — pulling back to suck on Sebastian’s lower lip, relishing the contrast between the soft hair beneath it and the plump satin of the lip itself. He dove back into Sebastian’s mouth just in time to swallow a moan sweeter than anything he’d ever heard.
There was the sound of a laugh from behind Ren and they both stopped. Ren turned, trying to make his addled brain remember if Sebastian had actually closed the comm panel.
Their host stood there beaming at them. “Here I was worried that things weren’t well between you,” Graven said. “You were gone so long I was concerned.”
“It was a minor misunderstanding,” Ren said.
Sebastian nipped at his ear. “We just needed to clear the air.”
“Indeed,” Graven said. “But I’d hate for you to miss dessert.”
Ren shifted slightly. He was quite hard, and the cut of his suit made it obvious. “We’ll be along in just a few minutes.”
Sebastian’s hand drifted down, close enough to touch the front of Ren’s pants. “Maybe a little longer.”
Graven laughed again. “Take all the time you wish. I’ll have plates put aside for you.”
“You’re too kind,” Sebastian said, his hand stroking now.
Ren struggled to maintain his composure, giving Graven a tight smile. Fortunately, the other man withdrew, shutting the door behind him.
Sebastian’s hand didn’t move, and Ren made himself step back. “Are you done?”
Sebastian stared at him, eyes black and lips red. Ren set his jaw and gestured to the panel. “The device? Is it installed?”
Sebastian appeared to give himself a shake. “Yes, ready to go.” He blinked slowly. “That was creative thinking, Your Majesty.”
“I apologize. I should have asked first.”
“You never have to with me. Not you.”
Ren exhaled. “We should—”
“Yes, we should.”
They checked the door and then carefully eased out into the hallway, making their way toward the display room. The stone corridor leading to it was empty, but when they reached the end of the hall, the display panel at the door still glowed a forbidding red.
“Fuck,” Sebastian muttered. “Come on, Jaime.”
They both tensed as they heard someone at the other end of the corridor, but it was only Rylan, moving quickly. “Message got sent,” he said. “Where’s Jaime?”
“Still persuading Ebba, I take it.” Sebastian glared at the red light. “We’ll give him a couple more minutes and then Ren and I will have to go back—”
The light on the panel, where Graven’s handprint was meant to go, turned off and then flashed green. The heavy door swung open.
Rylan showed his teeth in a fierce grin. “Magic.”
Sebastian nodded to Ren. He took a deep breath and then led the way into the room and toward the Heart of Arcadia.