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White wasn’t the best color for lurking in the shadows but there was something to be said about the way blood seeped into the material and practically bloomed.

Maybe he should rethink his wardrobe.

There wasn’t really a need to stay hidden anymore.

Pavel hummed to himself as he worked, the metallic handle of the tiny blade already warmed from his body heat. He held it lightly, making a sweeping gesture that sliced through flesh and caused another spray of scarlet to splatter across his face. A bit of it landed on his lips and he sucked his full bottom one in, relishing the burst of saltiness on his tongue.

Not too long ago he’d killed a man for Flix Fulmini at his club, but that had only mildly curbed his appetite for violence. There was something soothing about gore. About watching the life drain away. Seeing a person come apart, both internally and externally.

Most of the Devils of Vitality had a cruel streak, but it stemmed from their lavish upbringings and having their nannies wiping their asses with golden cloth until they could walk on their own. Murder to them equated to indifference. He couldn’t think of a single Devil who hadn’t taken at least one life, but he could also count on one hand how many of them had actually found pleasure in the act.

How boring.

Normal.

He thought these things even though his brother undoubtedly made the list. For all his aggression and attitude, Ledger couldn’t care less about the kill. If he went the rest of his life without ever feeling the warmth of blood on his hands again, he wouldn’t give two shits.

Not like Pavel. But then, that was only one of the many differences between them, not just because Pavel was adopted. He’d been taken in by the Undergroves at a young age, had grown up alongside Ledger, and had moved from their home world Hexa to Vitality when they’d been seventeen.

A year later, Zane arrived on planet and was gifted to Kelevra for his eighteenth birthday.

Pavel had been angry.

But not because Zane had been presented like a rare gem instead of a person.

He’d been angry because he’d been given to Kelevra instead of him.

But at least the prince appreciated Zane and knew his worth. That was the reason Pavel had stepped aside and allowed it. Why he’d been a dutiful soldier in Kelevra’s personal “army” all this time.

He was taking back what was rightfully his now though.

“Mine,” he stated, jabbing the tip of the scalpel into the center of the bloody chest laid out before him. “A fact you should have uncovered before we got to this point.”

To be fair, there was no way for the man—the now very deceased man—to have known. There was no lingering paper trail left to uncover, not even a faded photograph or a list of names on some ancient computer.

All of that had been razed to the ground years ago. Long before Pavel had stepped foot on Vitality soil.

“What’s wrong?” he cooed. “Cat got your tongue?” With a mocking gasp, he pretended to recall where the digit was and pulled it out of the front pocket of the lab coat he was dressed in. Holding the severed tongue up, he waved it about and then snorted. “Oh, that’s right. I have it.”

He had all ten of the man’s fingers as well.

Along with one of his ears.

And his balls.

Pavel glared over at the offending organs, which he’d tossed to the side as soon as he’d separated them from the man’s body.

Samuel had sworn up and down that he’d never coveted Master Solace. That he’d never touched him.

But he’d hesitated when asked if he’d ever been allowed to watch while someone else had done those things.

That hesitation had cost him.

If he listened very closely, Pavel could almost still hear the echo of his screams captured in the thick canopy above. It was too bad the sound was faint and fading fast. He’d hoped to use it to lure his quarry to him, but alas.

He’d gotten…a bit carried away.

For an important member of the Imperial Heir’s personal staff, Samuel had been far too easy to lure into a trap. Pavel had him unconscious and in the back of his car before the older man had even known there was a threat. He’d tied the man to the thick tree trunk he was still resting against and gotten to work almost immediately after Samuel had groggily woken.

That had been…Pavel glanced up at where he’d positioned his multi-slate. Twenty minutes ago. Oh. Maybe he hadn’t rushed through things too much after all. There were only another ten to go before—

The sound of approaching footsteps had him stilling, tipping his head to the side to listen more closely. The noise was unmistakable and easy to place.

His quarry had arrived early.

Perhaps sending the message from Samuel’s device hadn’t been smart. He’d thought maybe Zane would be late in a rebellious attempt to keep him waiting but on the contrary.

With a chuckle, he got to his feet and eased away from the body. He should have known. Zane was always surprising him. Once he was carefully tucked away and out of sight, he went still, even his breathing slowing down to the point he only had to inhale every other minute.

Not that it took Zane very long to reach him. Or, Samuel, as it were.

Vitals typically had semi-decent night vision, but Zane wasn’t from Vitality and couldn’t see much better than the average species in the dark. Proof of that was the flashlight mode activated on his multi-slate. He’d unstrapped it from his wrist and was holding it up to trail the light in front of him.

Just like Pavel had hoped he would.

Good boy . He couldn’t wait until he could purr the praise against the curve of Zane’s ear.

Preferably as he fucked his ass loose and sloppy.

Unaware he was being watched, Zane made his way through the brush, light swinging. The second it landed on Samuel’s feet, he paused and then lifted it until it illuminated the man’s entire body where he was propped against the tree, still tied with blood-stained ropes.

Even though he wasn’t a Vital either, Pavel could see impeccably in the dark, so it was impossible to miss the way Zane’s plush mouth curved upward at the corners momentarily.

He’d smartly wiped the look away a second later, but it was too late to conceal his pleasure from Pavel. He was pleased Samuel was dead.

But would he verbally deny it?

Zane took a closer step toward the body and then crouched, reaching out to brush the torn dress shirt to the side to expose the art Pavel had so lovingly carved across the man’s chest.

The heart was a bit crude—his art professors would weep if they ever saw it—but it was identifiable, and he was rather proud that he’d managed to carve it around the gaping hole that was also there.

With a sigh, almost as though he were bored, Zane straightened, and without removing his eyes from Samuel said in a firm voice, “Come out.”

Pavel didn’t need to be told twice. He rounded the tree he’d been hiding behind and stepped close enough for a swath of moonlight to illuminate him. It wasn’t hard, considering the white ensemble he was in. Though, admittedly it was now more red than snowy.

There was a flicker of surprise on Zane’s face before he schooled his features once more.

Soon, Pavel was going to teach him not to do that. Not with him. He wanted everything. His thoughts. His emotions. His honesty . He would claw the truth out of the sexy doctor-to-be if he had to. His time of being denied was over.

“Where is his heart, Pavel?” Zane asked casually, as though he was asking where the TV remote had gone.

“That’s it?” He placed his hands in the front pockets of his linen pants and lazily came closer. “Not, why did you kill him? Or how? Just, where is his heart?”

“The how is fairly obvious,” Zane stated. “These are scalpel marks.” He stared down at Samuel’s hands and then added, “How long did it take you to cut off his fingers with only a scalpel?’

Pavel held back the smirk, only because he knew it would irritate Zane and he wasn’t quite ready for that yet. “You sound very interested in the answer, Doctor.”

He hummed in agreement, then lifted his gaze back to Pavel, seemingly unbothered that he’d bridged half the gap between them and was now less than ten feet away. “Perhaps I’m considering trying it out on you and would like a timeframe. There are better uses of my night, after all.”

“Surely.” Pavel didn’t take the bait.

“This was a mistake,” Zane said. “No matter your reasons for it. Lyra will never let you get away with killing her person.”

The fact that his own threat hadn’t worked so he’d instantly fallen back on using Lyra pissed Pavel off. His hands fisted in his pockets and his gaze darkened. “Kelevra has her in the palm of his hand. All we have to do is tell him Samuel died because he was being used to spy on you.”

Zane tensed, but Pavel wasn’t finished.

“Speaking of, why haven’t you done that already? You have a get-out-of-jail-free card in Kel. Why haven’t you used him to escape from underneath his sister?”

His carefully crafted mask cracked slightly and Zane sucked in a sharp breath. “What do you think you know?”

“Oh, I don’t think anything, Doctor. I know all about how she orders you around and rides your cock at her leisure. As though she has a right to any of you. Why haven’t you put a stop to it?” That was the only part of the puzzle Pavel hadn’t been able to find out.

Kelevra was a heartless bastard, but he was also highly attentive when it came to his things, of which he fully—wrongly—believed Zane to be one of. If Zane had told him Lyra was making him uncomfortable and using him, Kel would have put a stop to it on pride alone. Yet, as far as Pavel knew, Zane had never spoken a word. And not just to the prince. Not to anyone.

Except for maybe Kazimir.

Pavel felt his mood sour even more, a thing that wasn’t made better when Zane finally moved past his shock and opened his mouth to reply.

“Has it ever occurred to you that I don’t have a problem with the way she treats me?” Zane cocked out a hip and slipped a thumb through his belt loop. “What takes place between the Imperial Heir and me is none of your business.”

“You’re saying you like it?” Pavel lifted a daring brow. “Her?”

Ignoring the warning Pavel was absolutely certain he’d allowed to ring in his tone, Zane shrugged a single shoulder. “Why not? What’s not to like?”

“Liar.”

He grunted. “Let’s move this along, shall we? Surely you didn’t murder Samuel just because—”

“Of course I did.”

Zane faltered a second time.

“Is this the part where you threaten to report me, gorgeous?” Pavel grinned when the new nickname did the trick and splintered through another layer of Zane’s icy exterior. “I advise against it.”

“Why is that?” He had Zane’s full, undivided attention, that was clear.

“Because you’ll only be exposing yourself.”

Zane frowned. “I didn’t kill him.

“Are you sure of that?” He tipped his head. “As sure as you are that you like the Imperial Heir?”

“What kind of bullshit trick is—”

Pavel cut him off by pointing toward one of the trees near Samuel’s body, waiting while Zane cautiously moved closer to it. He chuckled the second the other guy saw what he was referring to. Rolling his shoulders while Zane had his back to him.

The change always came swiftly, his bone structure breaking down and reforming with ease in less than ten seconds. He’d heard stories that it hurt for some, but that wasn’t the case for him. The rush of dopamine and adrenaline was almost intoxicating actually, his brain pumping him full of fun chemicals as a defense mechanism while his body altered.

“You filmed it?” Zane clucked his tongue. “I fail to see how that’ll help you pin this on me when there’s definitive proof that—” haughtily, he spun on his heels. And came to a halt.

“Can you see it now?” Pavel asked, flinging his arms out, presenting himself. “Well? How do I look, Doctor?”

He was identical right down to the sound of his voice and he knew it. This was a visage Pavel had spent weeks perfecting over the years. The one he cherished even more than his own.

“You…” Zane stumbled over his words and then finally managed, “How?”

“Genetics, obviously.” What a dumb question. He’d forgive him for it though. Poor thing was in shock.

“…Does Kelevra know?”

“That I’m a shapeshifter?” Pavel dropped his arms. “Of course. But it’s only him and Ledger who do. And now you. Which is to say…”

Zane was fast on the uptake. “No one would believe me if I told them the video was fake and you wore my face while you murdered Samuel.”

“Precisely.”

Pavel wanted to ask what it was like, but he kept quiet, allowing Zane to peruse him and collect his thoughts. It must be strange, in any case, seeing himself but knowing that it was someone else wearing his face and form.

This wasn’t the first time Pavel had shapeshifted into the other man. On the days when he was the weakest, where he felt like he might cave, he’d resort to this instead. Turn himself into the object of his affection and fuck himself in front of the mirror, wondering if he got the expressions right.

Wishing he could hear what Zane sounded like when he was close to release.

“I can’t think of a single thing I’ve done to wrong you,” the medical student said then, seemingly perplexed.

“Is that what you think this is about? You think you’ve wronged me?”

“Well, clearly I’ve done something to piss you off.” Zane motioned toward Samuel’s body. “People don’t go around framing guys they’re on good terms with for murder. Especially not one of this caliber. If Lyra finds out and thinks I did this—”

“I’m not mad at you,” he stopped him. “And she never has to know.”

Zane eyed him and then asked, “So long as?”

“So long as you run for me.”

He scowled. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“I’m not going to run off and let you hunt me down like some kind of animal. If you want to kill me too, you’re more than welcome to try.” Despite his words, Zane didn’t reach for where he kept his hidden dagger, one arm remaining down at his side, the other keeping the flashlight aloft. “I’d say it’s strange for you to want to bother after claiming you aren’t angry, but then again, this is Vitality. People don’t really need a reason to want to get their hands bloody.”

“I do like that last part,” Pavel admitted. “But you’re wrong about my intentions. I don’t want to kill you, gorgeous. I want to own you.”

Zane blinked at him. “What?”

“The video will certainly keep you in line because if I release that to the press you’re screwed, Royal Zane Solace, and not in the way I want you to be.”

“You think I give a shit if—” Something seemed to occur to him and he came up short. For reasons still unknown, Zane had always wanted to be named the Royal Doctor to the Imperial family, it was a role that would turn him into both their primary physician as well as their surgeon should that ever be required. It was a difficult thing to achieve, and there was only ever one given the title at a time, so despite the prestige that came with, most people weren’t interested in wasting their youth putting in the work.

But when it came to Zane, the position wasn’t just offered, it was asked for.

Which meant he wouldn’t be able to so easily throw it away. Not even if it meant sticking it to Pavel and holding onto his pride.

“How about this,” Pavel felt the ripple of his ability course over him as he shifted again into someone different, “Will this help?”

“Why the hell do you look like Kazimir?” he demanded.

“Would you run for him?”

“No,” Zane’s eyes narrowed. “You sound upset by that possibility.”

“You’re catching on.”

He huffed.

Pavel stalked toward him. “What would you say? If it was Kaz asking you to play CNC with him in the woods?”

“You’re talking about consensual nonconsent? Here?” He sounded incredulous, like he still hadn’t gotten the full picture even after everything. “Well for one, you’re missing the biggest part of that, which is the consent part. Secondly, and most importantly, you’re not Kaz.”

Pavel stopped less than three feet away, hating that it felt like he’d been slapped by those words.

If that was how his delectable doctor wanted to play this…

“What are you…” Zane sucked in a breath when Pavel shifted a third time, his body shrinking.

“What about this?” he asked, his very masculine voice probably looking ridiculous coming out of Lyra’s body, especially since his clothing didn’t change along with him. He was practically drowning beneath the weight of the soaked fabric. He didn’t want to sound like her though. Didn’t want to speak to Zane in her tongue. “Since you’re so keen on being her bitch. How about—”

Zane didn’t let him finish. One second he was standing there, gaping like a fish, and the next he was slamming into Pavel, taking him down in one swift move that knocked the wind out of him.

His hand wrapped around Pavel’s throat—or, rather, Lyra’s, which was much smaller and more delicate than Pavel’s real one—squeezing as the man practically seethed.

For a moment, Pavel let him, waiting until black spots started to wink in his vision and the pain began to register. Then he simply tapped a finger against Zane’s hip and stretched his arm back out toward the tree.

And the camera still filming them.

With a curse, Zane flung himself off of him, still spitting mad. It was actually kind of hot. The medical student losing his carefully constructed icy persona, coming apart as he paced back and forth, trying to collect himself.

Which he did all too soon, if you asked Pavel.

He’d morphed back to himself while he waited, still seated in the dirt, though he’d sat up. He had one arm rested over his knee, the other tapping a silent tune on his left thigh. When Zane stopped and turned to look at him, he smiled.

Apparently, it was just as off-putting as everything else he’d done that night because Zane’s frown returned.

“Why are you doing this?” Zane’s voice was a mere whisper. “I don’t understand.”

“That’s okay, Doctor. You will. Eventually. For now,” he got to his feet and dusted the debris off his pants, “you just need to accept that I’ve got you right where I want you. You’re going to stop being difficult and do as you’re told now, okay? My patience has run its course.”

He shook his head, still at a loss. “Consensual nonconsent implies you want to—”

“Fuck you,” he confirmed. “Yes. Very much so.”

Zane’s face contorted. It was like Pavel had just told him fish could walk on land.

Pavel sighed. “You’re going to run, and I’m going to hunt you down and make you confess to being a liar. You like her, did you say? Her ? No, gorgeous, I don’t think you do, and when I have your tight ass pumping my cock, my hand around that pretty neck of yours, you’re going to confess as much as you scream my name.”

The other man shivered, and Pavel felt a rush of heat sweep through him straight down to his loins. Despite his protests, a part of Zane was warming up to the idea.

Everyone needed an outlet, and sex was typically his. Since Kazimir had left him high and dry, he was either getting off with Lyra at the Imperial Palace or not at all.

Pavel would fill that role for him. Bedpartner. Lover. Confident. He was going to fill every role imaginable. Embed himself so thoroughly in Zane’s life, tangling the two of them together by all the possible definitions of relationship .

But they needed to start first, and he’d gone above and beyond setting the scene if anyone asked him.

“You could take out your knife and try to kill me,” Pavel suggested, knowing Zane needed one final push to get him to see he was well and truly stuck. “If, by some miracle, you did manage to overpower me and slit my throat, you’ll only be hurting yourself. The video footage is set to release on a timer. Only I know the password to stop it.”

It was a lie, but Zane didn’t have to know that. He was banking on the other guy being unable to take the risk.

“Your entire future, everything you’ve worked so hard for,” Pavel said, “down the drain, just like that. All because you thought yourself above getting hunted in the woods and fucked in the dirt.”

Zane licked his lips, either stalling or trying to hide the flash of heat in his dark gaze. “I would still like some clarification before I decide.”

He snorted. “Go ahead, gorgeous. What’s on your mind?”

“Did you really murder a man just so you could frame me for it and get me to have sex with you?”

Aw, it sounded kind of sweet when he put it like that. Innocent even.

“No, I didn’t do all of this just so I could have sex with you.” His grin widened when Zane’s shoulders noticeably slumped some. Zane’s need for desire was what was going to be his downfall here.

“I did this so I could possess you, Doctor. I’m going to devour you, head to toe, top to bottom.” Didn’t matter that those two things meant the same thing, excitement was bubbling beneath the surface and pretty soon he really was going to run out of patience. “I’m going to brand you and make you complicit in the deconstruction of your own life.”

“Why?” the single word was practically gasped, almost inaudibly.

“Because I want to.” Need was more like it, but he was already coming on strong here, and knowing Zane, the line in the sand was a fine one. The delectable doctor wanted to be wanted, craved, longed for.

But he had commitment issues.

Shocker.

“Did it ever occur to you to just ask?” Zane shifted on his feet. “I wasn’t aware you’d even noticed me, let alone that you were interested in me physically. You could have asked, Pavel.”

“Could I have?”

“Of course.”

“And?” He grunted, already knowing the answer to his question. “What would have come of that, hmm? If I’d stopped you in the halls at school and simply asked if I could come inside you. What would your reaction have been?”

Zane didn’t respond.

“That’s what I thought.” It wasn’t Pavel who hadn’t been paying attention. “You’ve never seen me before tonight, but I’m going to make you look at me now, Doctor. Once I’m through with you, you’ll see nothing but me. My face is going to be the first one you seek whenever you enter a room. My touch the only one your body will respond to. I’ll have you lapping at my heels like a good little—”

His quarry didn’t let him finish.

Zane turned on his heels and shot into the trees in a blur of motion, momentarily leaving Pavel speechless.

Then he laughed, a sharp sound that no doubt carried its way to the fleeing doctor, and Pavel took off after him.