Page 14 of Distant Heart

“There’s a problem with that plan.” Illya stepped out of the dark suddenly, seeming entirely unaffected by the cold weather. He stopped at the bottom of the landing, keeping the three steps that led up to the porch separating them, but there was no mistaking what he was doing.

Blocking the exit.

“Who’s that?” Aneski asked, his concern ringing clearly.

“Rexton isn’t going anywhere this time,” Illya stated in a clipped tone, leaving no room for argument. His steely gaze held Rex’s prisoner as he spoke. “He’s staying here. With me.”

“I’ll call you back.” Rexton hung up. There was no reason for it, but he felt a bit guilty.

“Is that why you’re here? Because you had a fight with your friend?”

Oh. That was why he felt guilty.

“Illya.” Unsure of what to say, Rexton found himself shifting on his feet, going quiet instead. The wind whistled around them, bringing with it the sound of laughter and music in the distance. It was too cold for people to be hanging around outside, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be moving about the same way the two of them currently were.

“I meant it.” Illya moved dauntingly up the steps, using them to punctuate his words as he spoke. “I’m not letting you go, xa’us.”

He retreated instinctually, his head hitting the closed wooden door a second before Illya’s left hand wrapped around his throat and applied enough pressure it had him gasping. Rexton tried to pull him off, tugging on his wrist, but the other man wouldn’t budge.

“Maybe I should have had you run straight into the fray of the party after all. I could have taken you on the dance floor in front of everyone. Made them watch you scream my name. You couldn’t leave then, not with such a public claiming. You’d be branded mine in every sense of the word, with nowhere to go. No rights left to you unless I allowed them.”

Rexton recalled the dangerous subject they’d danced around earlier. Since his mother was originally from Usurn and they sometimes visited his cousin’s family, Rex wasn’t a stranger to the darker customs of the planet. Cor Night was a joke in more than one sense.

The Black Harts didn’t need an excuse to take someone. They could do it in broad daylight any time of the year and their government would be on their side.

“I’m a Vital,” Rexton reminded.

“Do you think your Emperor would fight for you?” Illya scoffed. “My family shares close ties with the Imperials on your homeworld, xa’us. For me, gaining ownership of you is as simple as signing another business deal.”

“You’re taking this too far.” Rexton hoped the other guy didn’t see the way he’d shivered at those words instead of recoiling like he should have. A part of him was disgusted by the fact he reacted at all, but the other part…

Who didn’t want to be wanted? Plus, hadn’t that been why he’d come here in the first place? Because he’d felt left out and forgotten on Vitality?

“I let you have your fun,” Illya growled, “now playtime is over.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Get inside.”

Rexton shook his head. “No.”

“I’m not asking.”

“Not so you can lock me up.” He shoved as hard as he could, sending Illya back a step, but before he could even try to make an actual escape, the Black Hart was back on him.

Illya slammed his palm against the keypad at the side of the door and caged Rexton in while they waited for the locking mechanism to unlatch.

Which was how Rex realized what dorm building he’d ended up in front of.

A curse was on the tip of his tongue when the door unlocked and he was pushed over the threshold, stumbling into the dark. It was only like that for a moment before the sensors kicked in and a bright golden hue lit up the entranceway he was now standing in.

Rexton glanced up at the high ceiling and the dark wooden walls. The entire campus was polished and screamed money, but this…

“I’m curious,” Illya stepped in after him, closing the front door shut with an audible click that had Rexton’s heart skipping a beat, “how did you know this was my building?”

Castle Black, as it was called, wasn’t a castle at all, but an exclusive building on campus where the Black Harts were allowed to reside—if they didn’t opt for private residences off or around the rest of campus. It was probably one of the fewbuildings inaccessible to the rest of the partygoers, so shouldn’t have been a threat.

Rexton should have realized the organizers of the event would place it as close to the Black Harts lair to make it as easy for them as possible.

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