Page 114 of Shadows in Bloom

Ledger’s multi-slate went off then and he took a second to read the message before rolling his eyes.

“What?” Flix asked.

“Kelevra sent me here to find something for Rin, only they just found it in the car.”

“Typical.”

Without warning, Ledger latched onto Nikita’s wrist and tugged him toward the edge of the mat. He jumped down first and then held the ropes open, motioning for him to follow when Niki hesitated. “Let’s go, Tiger. I’m exhausted as it is.”

“What?”

“It’s way past his bedtime,” Flix said, grinning when Nikita turned his frown his way. “What? Don’t you know how much sleep that guy needs to function?” He glanced to Ledger. “How long have you two known each other?”

“Long enough.” Ledger helped Nikita down and then started for the door, motioning to Flix over his shoulder that they were leaving. He kept his steps steady, hand back on Niki’s wrist. The second they stepped out into the night air, he let go, still walking forward without a word.

Nikita followed Ledger to the parking lot in the back of the fight club. He kept quiet, his arms wrapped around himself comfortingly as they made their way toward a cobalt blue hovercar. It was a sports model, but he couldn’t identify it past that. Cars had never been his thing. Mostly because he’d never been in a position to afford even a clunker, let alone something that cost that much.

“Get in.” Ledger hit a button on his multi-slate, and the doors to the vehicle clicked open. “Well? What are you waiting for, Tiger?”

This was it, probably his last chance to make a break for it. There was no one else out here, and Flix was still in the building. Nikita could make a run for it and?—

And…what?

Go back home where his parents treated him like second-rate trash? Or where his brother could find him? That’s where he’d been less than two hours ago, sleeping on the ratty couch in their basement, better known as his bedroom. Oran had come storming down the stairs, screaming his head off about how he’d lost another race and it was up to Nikita to deal with the fallout.

Nikita had secretly daydreamed about stealing something from Club Vigor for months now, but up until tonight, that’s all they’d been. Daydreams. Fantasy. A means to escape his shitty existence. When Oran had offered to make a bet with him instead of having him pay outright, Nikita had taken it. He’d stupidly believed his luck was finally changing, that he’d gotten a break and the universe was giving him an out.

“Are you going to kill me?” he asked, voice low. A gust of wind blew by and he shivered from the chill, only then realizing he’d left his jacket hung up over the ropes of the ring. He risked a glance over his shoulder back toward the door but decided not to bother making a fuss about it.

“It’s not even the end of summer and you’re cold already?” Ledger scowled at him. “Get in the car, it’ll be warmer inside.”

He hadn’t answered his question, but Nikita gave in anyway, reaching for the door handle. The Devil was right, in any case. As soon as he slid into the car and settled against the cushy leather seat, he found himself instantly warming up. He expected to feel confined and trapped as soon as the door was shut, but instead, he felt…safe.

Cozy almost.

He snorted at himself. He was losing his damn mind, that was for certain.

Ledger didn’t immediately follow him in, making a call instead. His voice was too muffled for Nikita to make out what was being said or who he was talking to, but he figured it wasn’t any of his business anyway, so he sat there and waited quietly.

A light pattering of rain started then, tiny drops splattering against the windows, causing the lights from the streetlamps to glitter in bursts of gold. They were pretty, and Nikita leaned forward, watching them, thinking back to the last time he’d felt this calm.

And he was calm.

Whether or not Ledger planned on killing him, Nikita found he’d meant what he’d said back in the club.

He didn’t really care.

The door opened, and Ledger finally got into the driver's seat and started up the car. “Sit back and buckle up.”

Nikita quirked a brow but did as he was told. Seemed like an odd demand from someone who planned on killing him, but okay. “When will you do it?”

“Do what?”

“End it? Oh. Probably after we’ve had sex, right? Is that where we’re going now? Somewhere?—”

“I can spread your thighs around my waist?” Ledger interrupted. “Unfortunately, fucking is going to have to wait. There’s something else on the agenda first.”

He frowned. “Are you really going to sleep?”

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