Chapter 232: Close

Liam looked at him. "You are leaving me unsupervised?"

Stanford froze so badly that Liam thought he might become a statue. Only his eyes moved from Arik to Mezos to Mara and then back to Liam.

"My lord," Stanford said carefully, "I think you have enough security around you."

Liam’s face fell into a slight pout.

Arik unapologetically loved it.

He found it cute.

That was a private disaster, because Liam pouting in the middle of a compromised laboratory, while a maintenance passage was being investigated for Canmore thieves and Ray’s execution approached above them, should not have been cute. It should have been concerning. Irritating, perhaps. A sign that Liam was tired and emotionally strained.

Instead, Arik looked at his fiancé’s faintly offended mouth and felt a warmth so sharp it almost made him forget the service tunnel.

At the back of his mind, Goliath made a low, amused sound.

Arik ignored him.

Or tried to.

The old emperor was not helping.

Keep him close, Goliath murmured, not in words exactly, but in the cold certitude of instinct sharpened by centuries. The mate stays where the danger can be seen.

For once, Arik agreed with him completely.

That was also irritating.

Liam pointed toward the transport cases. "Mara has the useful data. Stanford has the tunnel. Mezos can inspect whatever suspicious room you want to inspect with twelve Shadows and a drone swarm. I can return to Lab V and start the diagnostic listener properly."

"No," Arik said.

Liam’s pout disappeared.

The glare arrived.

"I was not asking you for permission."

"You phrased it as a plan. I rejected the plan."

"That is permission with better phrasing."

"Yes."

Mezos made a small sound, which he turned into a cough when Liam looked at him.

Mara held the recovered notebooks more tightly against her chest and wisely chose not to enter the argument.

Liam took a breath through his nose. "I need to work."

"You will."

"At Lab V."

"Later."

"Arik."

Felix’s name had not been spoken again, but it sat in the room like poison left in a cut.

Arik looked toward the open maintenance panel, then toward the corridor beyond the laboratory. The old Canmore Palace was too quiet above them. Ray was still alive for another hour. The family was scattering, staff were compromised, stolen data had been baited, and somewhere on the first story of this same building, Felix’s personal quarters waited.

He did not know why the thought of sending Liam away from him made something under his skin reject the idea so violently.

That was not true.

He knew.

He simply did not like how little of the feeling belonged to reason.

Liam was safer at Lab V. Objectively, with Mara, Alexander, who had been hired by Arik, and distance from Felix’s rooms, he might even be safer away from the old palace. But every instinct Arik possessed, his own and the older, crueler thing coiled behind his ribs, refused to let Liam out of sight while they opened any door Felix had once called private.

Goliath’s presence stirred again.

Do not separate from him here.

Arik’s jaw tightened.

Liam noticed.

His glare softened into suspicion. "What?"

Arik did not answer at once.

Mezos’s expression changed slightly, which meant he had understood too much.

Arik hated competent people.

"I want you with me," Arik said finally.

The room went still.

Liam blinked, as if the honesty had struck him harder than an order would have.

Then he decided to do something stupid and rose on his toes to kiss Arik.

It was brief, warm, and placed directly against Arik’s mouth in front of Stanford, Mara, Mezos, and at least six Shadows, who appeared while they were talking and had all suddenly developed an intense professional interest in the walls.

Arik caught Liam around the waist before he could lower himself.

Liam’s eyes widened.

"You cannot reward me for honesty," Arik said quietly, "and then expect me to let you go."

"I was not rewarding you."

"What was that?

"A tactical interruption."

Mezos turned away.

His shoulders moved once.

Arik narrowed his eyes at him. "Do you have something to contribute?"

"No, Your Highness."

"That sounded suspiciously amused."

"I am relieved Lord Liam has discovered an effective method of interrupting imperial arguments."

Liam’s ears turned pink.

Arik felt his own mouth curve.

He lowered Liam carefully, though his hand remained at Liam’s waist. Goliath’s satisfaction settled at the back of his mind like a great beast stretching before a fire.

Mate close.

Arik refused to acknowledge that thought.

"Fine," Liam said, adjusting his coat with unnecessary dignity. "I will inspect Felix’s quarters with you."

"You make it sound as though I convinced you."

"You admitted emotional dependence."

"I said I wanted you with me."

"Yes. Very vulnerable. Almost poetic."

Stanford looked down at the maintenance panel as if considering whether the tunnel might offer an escape from the conversation.

Arik leaned closer to Liam. "Keep mocking me and I will carry you upstairs."

"You would not."

Goliath immediately supplied several vivid opinions about that.

Arik ignored those too.

"Try me."

Liam studied his face, evidently deciding how much danger he was in.

Then, because he had never possessed a functional instinct for retreat, he smiled.

Arik tightened his grip once.

Mara cleared her throat. "My lord, I will take the recovered material to Lab V. I can begin cataloguing it before you return."

Liam looked toward her, his expression sharpening back into focus. "Do not connect anything directly to the primary system. Use the isolated benches and compare the timestamps against the listener logs. If any notebook references a blank interval longer than six seconds, flag it."

"And the transport cases?"

"Seal them in the western chamber. No external power."

Mara nodded. "Understood."

Arik looked at Mezos.

"Send four Shadows with her."

"Already assigned."

Stanford stepped toward the open maintenance panel. "I will remain here with the inspection team. We will map the passage, identify every access point, and determine whether it extends beyond the Canmore boundary."

"Mara remains under escort until she enters Lab V," Arik said.

Stanford nodded. "Yes, Your Highness."

Arik looked toward Mezos. "We are inspecting Felix’s sealed wing. If someone entered the palace through this passage, there is a possibility they restored the teleportation ward."

"We erased it," Mezos said.

All trace of amusement had disappeared from his face.

"So we believe," Arik replied.

The silence that followed was heavier than the stone around them.

Felix had built things to survive him. Poisons that remained dormant for decades. Wards hidden beneath newer wards. Loyalties buried inside families until the right moment called them awake.

"Felix is a poison that keeps returning," Arik said.

Then he noticed Liam’s expression.

Curiosity had sharpened behind his eyes.

Arik knew that look far too well.

"Stay away from Goliath’s portrait."

Liam blinked. "I did not say anything."

"You did not need to."

"It may contain useful information."

"It’s just a canvas with fancy paint."

Liam’s mouth curved down again.

The pout returned.

Arik stared at it for one dangerous second, then caught Liam by the waist and turned him toward the door.

"You are still not touching the portrait."

Liam allowed himself to be guided out of the laboratory with the wounded dignity of a man being denied a basic scientific right.

Behind them, the first drone entered the dark passage.

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