[BL] I Didn't Sign Up For This-Chapter 86: In Which We Get Interrupted (Again)

"I don’t know, are we?"

Instead of answering, he kissed me properly.

It wasn’t gentle or sweet or any of the things a kiss probably should be after an argument. It was frustrated and desperate and full of all the fear neither of us wanted to voice.

I kissed him back just as hard, my hands wrapping around his shoulders, pulling him closer, needing the physical confirmation that he was here, alive, not dying in some future rift closure while I watched helplessly through the binding.

He backed me up against the wall, one hand sliding into my hair, the other gripping my hip like he needed the contact as much as I did.

"Still angry?" he asked against my mouth.

"Furious," I managed, then pulled him back down.

We probably should have moved this somewhere private, we were in the common area. Mara and Henrik could come back any second, this was deeply unprofessional.

I didn’t care.

Azryth’s mouth moved to my neck and I made a sound that was definitely not appropriate for a tactical safehouse.

His hands were under my shirt now, warm against my skin, mapping scars and muscle like he was memorizing the fact that I was whole and undamaged.

I pulled his shirt off.. When had I decided to do that?.. because I needed to touch him, needed to confirm that yesterday’s near-miss hadn’t left marks, that he was fine, that we were both fine.

"Riven," he said, my name rough in a way that made heat pool in my stomach.

"Yeah?"

"We should.." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Someone knocked on the door.

We both froze, Azryth’s hands still under my shirt, my fingers tangled in his hair, both of us breathing hard.

"It better be an emergency," Azryth called out, his voice impressively controlled given the circumstances.

"It is," Mara’s voice came through the door, carefully not opening it. "Veyrith just sent forces to the Coastal Asia cluster, they’re fortifying every anchor point, we’ve got maybe four hours before they’re fully entrenched."

Azryth’s head dropped to my shoulder. "Of course."

"If we’re going, it has to be now," Mara continued. "Like, right now. As in, get yourselves together and meet me in the common area in five minutes."

"We are in the common area," I pointed out.

Brief pause. "...Of course you are." Her voice was carefully neutral. "Then make yourselves presentable and meet me outside in five minutes."

Her footsteps retreated.

I looked down. Oh. Right. No shirt.

Azryth’s hair was completely destroyed, his lips were swollen, and there were probably marks on his neck that were going to be deeply obvious.

"We’re not done with this conversation," I said.

"I know."

"Or the other thing."

"I’m very aware." He stepped back, and I immediately missed the contact. "But Mara’s right, if Veyrith’s fortifying positions, we need to move fast."

I found my shirt and pulled it back on. "This is the worst timing."

"Catastrophically bad timing," he agreed, fixing his own clothes. "Though in fairness, we did close seven rifts yesterday. I think we earned Veyrith’s undivided attention."

"I wish he’d show his attention in ways that didn’t involve interrupting."

"I’ll add it to my list of complaints." He paused at the door, looking back at me. "Riven, I love you too. Even if I’m terrible at showing it in ways that don’t involve self-sacrifice."

"You’re really bad at it."

"I’m aware." He opened the door. "Come on, let’s go prevent an apocalypse, then we can continue this argument."

"And the other thing?"

His smile was sharp and promising. "Definitely the other thing."

We emerged from the safehouse to find Mara and Henrik waiting by the portal equipment, both of them studiously not looking at us.

"You have something on your neck," Henrik said to Azryth without looking up from his tablet.

Azryth touched his neck, found the mark I’d apparently left, and didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed. "So I do."

"Are we ready to be professional now?" Mara asked. "Or do you two need another minute?"

"We’re ready," I said, my face absolutely on fire.

"Good. Because we’ve got three rifts to close in Coastal Asia and approximately four hours before Veyrith makes that impossible." She pulled up the map on her tablet. "Henrik’s staying here to monitor, I’m coming with you. And we’re bringing additional firepower."

"What kind of additional firepower?" Azryth asked.

A portal opened behind us, and three figures stepped through.

Demons. Tall, armed, looking like they’d stepped out of a very specific kind of nightmare.

"My kind," one of them said, inclining their head to Azryth. "Lord Valek."

"Kelvin." Azryth’s expression was carefully neutral. "I wasn’t expecting reinforcements."

"Lady Mara suggested we might be useful." Kelvin’s eyes slid to me. "And we were curious about the warden who’s been closing rifts with our lord."

"Curious in a good way or a ’planning to murder me’ way?" I asked.

Kelvin smiled, showing too many teeth. "We’ll let you know."

"Great," I muttered. "That’s super comforting."

Mara ignored the byplay. "We portal to Shanghai, close the first rift, then move to Seoul and Tokyo in sequence. Same strategy as yesterday, fast and coordinated." She looked at me and Azryth. "And this time, try not to let enforcers get within grabbing distance."

"We’ll do our best," Azryth said dryly.

"Your best nearly got Riven killed yesterday."

"I’m standing right here," I pointed out. "And I did kill that enforcer myself."

"After it got way too close." Mara’s expression softened slightly. "Look, I know you two are effective. But Veyrith’s escalating, he knows what you’re doing now. These next closures are going to be significantly harder."

"Hence the demonic backup," Kelvin said cheerfully. "We’re excellent at violence."

"That’s not reassuring either," I said.

"It’s not meant to be reassuring, it’s meant to be effective." He gestured to the other two demons. "Serra and Kade, meet the warden."

Serra, tall and angular with silver markings, nodded once. Kade, shorter and stockier with gold eyes, just stared at me like I was a particularly interesting specimen.

"You’re smaller than I expected," Kade said.

"I get that a lot."

"But you closed seven rifts yesterday."

"Technically three, the other four collapsed on their own."

"Still impressive for a human."

"I’m a warden."

"Still human." But Kade smiled slightly. "I think I like you."

"Great, can we focus?" Mara interrupted. "Four hours, people. Shanghai first, then we move fast."

Azryth pulled on the key, the portal opened, showing a bustling street in what I assumed was Shanghai.

"After you," Kelvin said to me, gesturing gallantly.

"Are all demons this polite or just the ones trying not to get killed by Azryth?"

"Both," Serra said. "It’s efficient."

We stepped through the portal into Shanghai’s pre-dawn streets, and I had exactly five seconds to appreciate that we were on a completely different continent before Mara’s scanner started screaming warnings.

"Enforcers," she said. "Lots of them, Veyrith’s already here!"

Of course he was.

"How many is ’lots’?" I asked.

She checked her scanner. "Twenty, maybe thirty."

Azryth looked at Kelvin. "Still feeling useful?"

Kelvin’s grin was absolutely feral.

"Very."