“Time for thievery!” he cried and turned on his heel to bound out the front door, which opened for him as if Cooper didn’t have ten different locks engaged. The door slammed behind him, the locks somehow still in place.
And just like that, he was gone.
He’ll be back, Cooper reminded himself immediately when his stomach started turning over again.He might even finish his errand before I do. He could be waiting here when I return. Either way, he’ll be back.
He told himself the same thing over and over, breathing in and out slowly, until his phone finally dinged at him. It was a message from Smith—his contact for fake identification—with the address for the day. It was unfamiliar to Cooper, but that was normal. Smith switched offices regularly, sending Cooper a different address almost every time they met. He was a chill guy in the sense that he wasn’t a murderous mafioso, but he was pretty paranoid.
Cooper felt practically well adjusted in comparison.
He left his apartment building, wincing as the frozen outdoor air hit his face. Good thing he’d finally put a coat on over his sweatshirt. It had been a mild, dry winter so far, but the mornings were finally starting to turn bitterly cold.
Yet, coat or no coat, Cooper missed Chaos’s warmth already. If they’d been together right now, Chaos would be holding Cooper’s hand, swinging their arms between them, his skin burning hot against Cooper’s. He’d probably also be making a spectacle of them in some way, but Cooper wouldn’t mind—getting noticed by people wasn’t so scary when Chaos was around.
Because Cooper might be going unnoticed right now—walking alone by himself, his hood up and his head down—but somehow he felt more vulnerable than ever.
He’d gotten used to the comfort of his demon beside him.
Still, he took the subway rather than use any of Ivan’s drivers. Smith didn’t like any more outsiders than necessary to know his location. The station and the subway cars were as crowded as ever, but everyone was minding their own business, so Cooper did his best to breathe out his anxiety.
He distracted himself by trying to figure out which of humanity’s little quirks on display would tickle Chaos the most. After three stops, he gave the honor to a guy carrying a dog that looked like some sort of husky mix in an oversize tote, technically in compliance with the rule that all dogs be contained in carriers on the subway. The massive dog was absurdly calm and well behaved, clearly used to this method of transport.
Yeah, Chaos would definitely get a kick out of that. Although, he’d probably like it even more if there was another, rival dog—maybe a really tiny one—and the two dogs started barking at each other and then leaped out of their respective carriers, jumping all over each other and all over the passengers and generally causing a terrible commotion.
Yeah. Cooper smiled to himself. Chaos would probably like that best.
He got off at the stop closest to his destination and walked the last block, his head down and his gaze focused on his feet once more, the nerves from being away from Chaos giving way to a new sense of anticipation. This meeting would be quick enough, and then…
Then they were going to bond. Today. As soon as Chaos could get back with the Book.
Chaos had told Cooper he didn’t want to wait. “No take backs,” he’d reminded him as soon as Cooper had opened his eyes that morning, as if Cooper being a flight risk was a real possibility.
Maybe it should have been. This was the kind of life-altering decision that Cooper would normally think and rethink and rethink again until he’d talked himself out of any course of action.
Instead, this would be the second time in his life he’d acted completely on impulse. The first had been offering himself up to Dimitri in place of his father. Maybe not the smartest thing he’d ever done. But if he hadn’t done it—if he hadn’t inserted himself into the Mafia world—he never would have come across that Book in Ivan’s office, would he?
The rough, lonely road he’d traveled had led him to Chaos.
It was a comforting thought. Cooper didn’t believe in fate—if it existed, it was a real bitch for taking away his mother the way it had and leaving his dad in such despair—but he could pretend, for just a moment, that he’d always been meant to belong to Chaos. To be his friend. His anchor. His human mate.
And that would mean Chaos, in turn, had always been meant to be Cooper’s. To behisfriend. His lover. His wily, tricky, wonderful demon.
Cooper stopped in front of the address that matched the message on his phone. It was a narrow, nondescript building, with little placards at the entrance for each office inside. A good number of them seemed to be empty, but there was one for a lawyer and one for a personal accountant. The office number Cooper had been given didn’t have a business name next to it, but then, Cooper wouldn’t expect it to.
The main door was unlocked, no buzzer needed for entry, and Cooper walked down the narrow, dimly lit hallway until he came to the last office on the first floor. He knocked, but there was no answer. He tried the handle—unlocked.
He walked inside to find himself in what seemed to be an abandoned waiting area, with a few busted chairs and an open doorway leading to some sort of inner office.
“Smith?” he called out.
Silence.
The door to the back room was open, though, and Smith liked to use noise-canceling headphones while he worked sometimes. He never sat with his back to the door, but it wouldn’t be the first time he hadn’t heard Cooper come in.
Cooper tried again anyway. “Smith?”
Nothing.
He approached the open doorway, looking through to a small, windowless office with an empty desk and no chair. There were a few boxes with the lids half off, filled with what looked to be old paperwork. There were none of Smith’s usual accessories. There wasn’t even a computer.
