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“He can’t see you.” Ledger sliced a chunk off of the jyu fruit in his right hand and popped it into his mouth, chewing loudly. He was propped against the floor-to-ceiling window of Pavel’s east office at Concealed, the one that overlooked the restaurant. Though he’d come to drop off Nikita for work, he’d lingered around Pavel for the past half hour. “Are you really going to stand here and glower? For real? That’s your plan?”

No.

But…

“I still have an hour and thirty-six minutes,” Pavel grumbled. He didn’t even need to check the clock to know.

Ledger chuckled. “I can’t believe you’re actually going along with this. It’s all bullshit, you get that right? If Zane really wanted you gone, he would have insisted on playing for that, not a measly few weeks.”

“He changed the prize to match me,” he corrected. “Even though he was confident.” Zane hadn’t wanted to risk losing and tying himself to Pavel permanently.

It stung, but Pavel was confident too. He’d change Zane’s mind about him, about them.

“What if they leave before your timer is up?” Ledger was pushing him on purpose. Goading him into breaking the rules just like when they’d been kids. “Or worse, what if they book one of your rooms here? Level eight, judging by the looks of him.”

“He’s one of Madden’s racers.” Pavel had recognized Great the second he and Zane had entered the restaurant.

Laughing together.

Holding fucking hands.

Even now, Great kept rubbing the side of his shoe against Zane’s beneath the intimate two-seater they were having dinner at.

So far, Zane hadn’t responded, but he hadn’t stopped him either.

“That means you can’t kill him.” Ledger turned so he could glance down at them as well, letting out a low whistle. “Didn’t know Zane could smile like that.”

“It’s fake.”

“Or is that what you want to believe, brother?”

“He’s faking.” The same way he’d been faking last week when he’d met up with Kazimir and Nate at the Velvet Brew. Or the time he’d left the Little Palace just after midnight to walk to the convenience store three blocks away. He’d flirted with the cashier who had to be twice their age.

Zane had left with a six-pack of Doc & Bro.

Which he’d promptly thrown into the trash on the corner of the street.

“He likes to tease me.” Pavel ignored his brother’s snort.

“Or he’s just really into Great and you’re deluding yourself,” Ledger said.

“If he cared about that man, he never would have brought him here.”

Ledge considered and then hummed in agreement. “Fair. But I remind you again, you can’t kill him. We don’t mess with each other’s friends.”

Pavel understood the rules. That was why he was standing here, on the third level, hidden behind two-way glass, his blood boiling with every smile and friendly comment exchanged between his doctor and the racer below.

There were a lot of ways he could make Great pay that didn’t involve outright killing him. Breaking his legs or shattering his kneecap and ensuring he couldn’t race again were just a couple of ideas running through his mind. Madden wouldn’t be pleased with either of those outcomes though, and may even take it out on Zane…

Because only a blind fool would miss what Zane was doing.

Well.

A blind fool and apparently Ledger Undergrove.

“You shouldn’t have told him about the bashert thing,” his brother said. “That’s why he’s taking things this far.”

Maybe Ledger wasn’t as clueless as he was pretending to be after all.

“He doesn’t believe me.” Pavel had known there was a good chance of that happening. “He’s only ever been used and abandoned by the people in his life. He doesn’t trust anyone could want him for forever.”

“He’s afraid?”

Pavel shook his head. “It isn’t fear. It’s disbelief. He can’t comprehend it, so he’s pushing me away and waiting to see how I’ll react. If I give up on him, I prove him right and he’ll go back to his everyday life. But if I don’t, he’ll start letting down his walls and allow himself to start considering me as a potential mate.”

“Mind games.” Ledger wasn’t a fan. “I ask again, are you sure you’ve gotten this right? You’re not just believing what you want to believe?”

“I know him.”

“I’m not convinced anyone knows Zane Solace,” he said. “Hell, I’m not even sure he knows himself. If everything you’re saying is correct, that means the guy is putting himself through the wringer as well, and for what? Because he can’t decide whether or not to give you a chance? How hard is it to date someone and find out?”

In Zane’s defense, Pavel hadn’t exactly asked if the two of them could date…He’d sort of…glossed over that detail. He’d been so caught up in the hunt and the need to finally make his intentions known, he’d forgotten all about the romance and relationship aspect of courtship.

Their mother had run an unofficial DNA test on him when he’d been fourteen and puberty had hit hard. Some of the information had come back inconclusive—most likely because the database known as Demeter Station had many firewalls that required specific clearance and codes to access—but they’d gotten some answers.

He was Yurn and D’vitar for sure, as well as Hexan. The first and second were what allowed him to alter his physical appearance. Being Yurn meant there was a risk of having a total mental breakdown. Though his brain was never taken apart and reformed like the rest of him, it did have to shrink and grow depending on the size of the skull of the person he shifted into. This took a toll. The meds Pavel needed would ideally prevent him from losing his mind, but they came with the nasty side effect of making him more aggressive.

That night he’d shapeshifted to frame Zane, he’d needed to pop two pills. Same as when he’d morphed into the doctor in order to sneak into the Little Palace. He felt untethered whenever he took the pills, like a ball of frenetic energy with nowhere to go and nothing to latch onto.

It was the D’vitar that kept him even remotely grounded. They were a species that mated for life, naturally seeking out their soulmate, or bashert, the person with an energy pattern that would sync nicely with their own.

He and Zane were a perfect match. When he was with him, Pavel felt centered. He felt right. Fulfilled. The problem lay in the fact Zane was not D’vitar. Hexan’s didn’t have the same connections or urges and could marry and divorce on a whim. That wasn’t the type of relationship he was after, but convincing Zane to hand himself over for a lifetime was proving trickier than he’d hoped.

Pavel could give him exactly what he’d always yearned for. Shouldn’t that be enough? He would provide family, purpose, and longing. There was nothing and no one he wanted more than Zane, and he was willing to remind the doctor of that every single day for the rest of their lives.

Zane was attracted to him, that much was obvious. He also enjoyed Pavel’s presence, otherwise, he never would have allowed the stalking to continue. Instead of getting angry with him, Zane had even turned it into a game of sorts, purposefully trying to rile him up.

“Mom is worried about you,” Ledger’s voice cut through Pavel’s thoughts, and he realized he hadn’t been listening to a single word his brother had uttered in the last five minutes. “She said you’ve come by three times to pick up more pills. You know you’re not supposed to shift too frequently.”

“I haven’t,” he reassured. “It’s only been a handful of times.”

Ledger looked like he wanted to scold him but sighed. “I won’t lecture you, brother, but remember, you’re not invincible.”

“I also can’t survive without my bashert,” he stated. “So what do you expect me to do?”

“Couldn’t you imprint on someone else?” Ledger asked, unable to meet his gaze. “Literally anyone. Someone who isn’t one of us. A Devil of Vitality getting with another Devil? It’s—”

“Not impossible. Look at Madden and Berga.”

“I was going to say complicated. You can have anyone you want. Why does it have to be him?”

“It just does.” It wasn’t a good reason, but it was the reason nonetheless. Plain and simple. “It’s always been him for me.”

“You were children when you met. You hadn’t even hit puberty, meaning you wouldn’t have been able to create the bond. Don’t act like I wasn’t told to research this, same as you.”

Their parents had collected all of the data on Yurn and D’vitar they could, making both of them read through it. They’d wanted them prepared for what to expect as Pavel’s body changed while he grew, and they wanted to ensure they’d always have each other's back.

“The bond was completed when we met on this planet,” Pavel confirmed, mostly because there was no way around it and Ledger had to have already known as much. “That first meeting at the Princely Gala, when Kelevra was announcing his Retinue. The second we were within ten feet of each other, I felt it snap into place.”

It’d felt like that piece of himself had been waiting all that time, yearning for Zane.

“Even if you thought he’d react poorly, you should have just come clean with him,” Ledger said. “Zane may have taken all of this in stride. You don’t know.”

Pavel slipped his hands into his front pockets, watching the waitress linger at their table a little too long. It was Zane’s fault, of course. He was leaning in too close to her, keeping his voice low enough she had to bend to hear whatever nonsense he was whispering into her ear.

When she laughed and her blush was apparent even from this distance, he ground his teeth together.

“We can’t all be as laid back as you are,” he said once she’d finally walked off. “How are things with Nikita going?”

“You know.” Ledger shrugged.

“No, I don’t. That’s why I’m asking.”

“Whatever. I gotta run.” He pushed away from the window, clearly running from the new topic.

Pavel didn’t bother following, listening to the sound of his retreating footsteps until they came to a stop by his desk.

“Can I grab one of these?” Ledger asked, and it was on the tip of his tongue to tell him to take whatever he wanted before he remembered what he’d left there.

Pavel turned just in time to catch his brother reaching for the pack of Doc & Bro. “Stop.”

Ledger frowned and glanced at him over his shoulder. “What’s up?”

“Not those.” He cleared his throat, trying not to act suspiciously. “Get one from the kitchens on your way out. You’re stopping there to check in on your Tiger first anyway.”

For a moment, it looked like he was going to press him, but then Ledger dropped his arm. “Sure. Later.”

“Bye.” He stared at the six-pack of drinks for a moment, still annoyed with himself over it. Pavel should be above digging through the trash.

Apparently, he wasn’t.

With a heavy sigh, he turned back to the window, noting that Zane and his date had been served their entrees. He wanted to pull out his multi-slate and demand answers, order Zane to leave the other man, or better yet, slash him with one of his star crystal knives as proof this was all a taunt meant to piss Pavel off.

Though…

What if Ledger was right and the connection between them was all in his head? Pavel knew what he felt, but when it came to Zane, all he could do was hypothesize, and it’d be a lie to say he never gravitated to theories that leaned in his favor.

Zane had been resolute these past few weeks, icing Pavel out, leading him on. The deal had been he could reach out and initiate, but he never had, and now that the clock was winding down to the final hour, Pavel was no longer going to have to worry about sleepless nights, staring at his multi-slate, hoping it would ring.

Great stabbed a morsel with his fork and offered it to Zane, who leaned across the table and took the bite without hesitation.

As far as Pavel knew, the two had rarely, if ever, interacted prior to tonight. Either they’d suddenly developed feelings for one another, or this was yet another means for his doctor to fuck with him.

He was thinking in circles, unable to let this go.

The same way he was never going to be able to let Zane go.

“You’re mine, Doctor,” he whispered.

He hated this. Hated how close they were and how he was forced to stand here and pretend like he wasn’t seething inside. Hated—

Hold up.

Why was Zane getting out of his seat?

Pavel tracked him across the expanse of his office, watching out the mirrored window as Zane said something into his multi-slate, his panic apparent. He didn’t even bother saying anything to Great, merely left the guy sitting at their table gaping after him.

He lost sight of him the moment Zane raced from the restaurant, but that didn’t matter. Pulling up the tracking information on his multi-slate, Pavel took off after him.

He’d follow his bashert into the pits of hell if he had to.