AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE

CHAPTER 4: An Unholy Alliance

The first time Nikolai saw Dimitri fight, he fell in love, the second time he fell to his knees, and this was the third time and all he could think about was how beautiful death looked on him. They moved through the service tunnels like ghosts, silent and efficient. Nikolai led while Dimitri followed, they didn't speak because they didn't need to, and the tunnels were ancient and dark and smelled like wet stone and old rot.

Nikolai's heart was pounding, not from fear because he'd been in worse situations than this, but from the sheer proximity of Dimitri, so close that he could feel the heat radiating off his body, and could hear every breath he took.

They reached a dead end, a rusted iron gate that barred their path. Nikolai tested it and found it locked, he turned to Dimitri with frustration in his voice. "Damn it, we need to go back."

Dimitri shook his head, his voice was flat and certain. "No we can’t. Because they're in the main hall and if we go back we die."

"So we just stay here?"

"We climb." Dimitri pointed to a rusted ladder embedded in the wall, and it led to a ventilation shaft that was barely wide enough for a man to squeeze through. "It’ll take us to the roof, and from there we can escape."

Nikolai stared at the ladder, then at Dimitri, and he couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face. "You want to crawl through that? But you're claustrophobic."

Dimitri's eyes narrowed dangerously. "How do you know that?"

"I know everything about you, Grigori, because I make it my business." Nikolai's smirk widened, gesturing toward the ladder with exaggerated courtesy. "But if you're willing, I'm willing, so after you."

Dimitri didn't argue, he grabbed the ladder and started climbing, and Nikolai followed close behind because there was no other choice.

The shaft was a nightmare of darkness and cramped spaces, and Nikolai could feel the metal walls pressing in on him from all sides. His shoulders scraped against them with every movement, and his breath came in short sharp bursts that were loud in the silence.

He could see Dimitri in front of him, moving with an almost inhuman grace, and the man was beautiful in motion, fluid and precise and deadly, and as Nikolai watched him, he felt something twist in his chest that he refused to name. They emerged onto the roof gasping for air, as the city stretched out before them like a glittering carpet, indifferent to their survival, and below them the theater was still alive with gunfire and screams.

Nikolai sat down on the cold concrete, pulled off his jacket, his shirt was torn and bloody, as he looked down at the gash on his shoulder and winced because it was worse than he'd let on.

Dimitri watched him with those cold, calculating eyes, and his voice was flat but there was something underneath it. "You're bleeding."

"Yeah no shit. Obviously."

"Let me see."

Nikolai looked up in surprise, and Dimitri's face was unreadable but his eyes were soft, almost worried. Nikolai let him look and let him touch because he couldn't help himself.

Dimitri's fingers were cold against his skin, clinical and efficient, but there was a tremor there, a slight hesitation that made Nikolai's heart stop.

"You saved my life back there," Dimitri said quietly, his eyes met Nikolai's with something that might have been confusion. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're going to get."

Dimitri's jaw tightened,  his voice was sharp and cutting. "We're enemies, Petrov, so you should have let me die, because it would have been easier for you."

"I don't want easy." Nikolai reached up and grabbed Dimitri's wrist, his grip was firm and almost painful. "I want you."

Dimitri froze, and for a long moment neither of them moved, the tension between them was suffocating and electric and alive. Just then Nikolai pulled him closer and Dimitri didn't resist. The kiss was brutal and desperate, a collision of teeth and hunger, as they clawed at each other like animals, months of hatred and obsession finally spilling over in a torrent of need.

When Dimitri pulled back, his eyes were wild, his breath ragged, and his voice was shaky when he spoke. "This doesn't mean anything."

Nikolai laughed, low, dark and knowing. "Yeah. Keep telling yourself that."

Dimitri didn't bother arguing because they both knew he was lying.