I Made A Deal with the Devil.Chapter 38: tinged blue .Amir flashes his teeth in a predatory smile, perfect canines glint against the club's light, a wolf standing in front of a lamb who never even knew he should have run the second he saw him. Across the bar Amir watches Akio stutter and curse, hands shaking on the bottle of wine he was still holding. "I – I'm sorry Amir-sir I didn't know," he spits out quickly, face tight. Amir smiles and sips his wine slowly.Nikolai steps up beside him and grips his arm firmly."That's enough," he whispers in his ear, and Amir giggles.Turning to face Akio who was looking at the two of them Amir smiles sweetly this time."Don't worry princess," he teases, "I was only playing, you're all Nikolai’s. I won't hurt you." Next to him Nikolai splutters and grips Amir’s arm tightly, Akio Haru looks at him in confusion, but Nikolai pulls them away furiously into the crowd.12 am... 1 am... and then 2 am.Amir had drank, danced, laughed, shamelessly
I Made A Deal with the Devil.Chapter 39: pretty, sweet Amir Roswell .Maybe it was the moment Amir drank so much he couldn't think, couldn't even notice when the glass of vodka mixer in his hand was tinged blue with hard drugs.But Amir knows for sure the night has gone wrong when he has his body pressed against the wall of the night club, and not for hard pleasure.One man's leg pushes between his thighs, hair fisted between his grubby hands, another grips his waist, sharp little nails blooming purple fingerprints against his fair skin, the other stands back, voice quick and sharp down the phone, gun lazy in his hand, and a pocket full of drugs.And Amir can't even say a god damn word.Body unresponsive, limbs useless and mouth numb. His mind screams whilst his body fails him.The cold air hits him and he gasps through numb lips, blue and tingling. Amir groans and curses his unresponsive tongue, his filthy mouth dying to scream every insult under the sun at the men that dared to
I Made A Deal with the Devil.Chapter 40: a fool in love .With quick agility, Akio pushes out of the chaos of the club's crowds, and nobody notices until it is too late and he is slipping past the last bodyguard and into the blacked-out car, landing heavily onto cool leather seats he meets the startled eyes of the one and only Nikolai."Hey," he's surprised he managed to speak so calmly, only a slight quiver to his voice."Akio, what the, fuck," Nikolai splutters, phone lax by his ear even as a voice shouts through it. Everything is forgotten at that moment as he stares in surprise at the breathless boy in his car, cheeks flushed and eyes tangled in his gaze.For a second their eyes meet, Nikolai’s dark ones and Akio’s own softer ones, his pants still sounding into the cold night, warming the air between them he feels himself and Nikolai drawing together. Like magnets, the two get lost in the sheer chaos of the night, lost in each other –That is until a rough hand grabs Akio’s hai
I Made A Deal with the Devil.Chapter 41: all a fucking show .Gathering his breath he calms his nerves.You got this Akio, you can do it.Moving forward again he surveys the mess of his face, and finally sees the cause, a tiny little needle sticking into his neck. All at once goosebumps pick over his skin, his gut telling him he was in danger, someone has poisoned him, and they had done it professionally, he didn't know how, nothing made sense anymore.All he knew was that he had to get away.Pawing at the car door he cries in frustration to see they are locked, pulling and scratching at the lock he sobs in disbelief as it unlocks and he can yank open the door.Tasting freedom only a moment too soon as, for the second time that night, dark hands rush into the car and drag him out by his hair, scalp screaming, eyes watering and nerves burning he is thrown onto the hard ground, and in his gut, he knows this is the end...//Nikolai pushes through heavy doors, striding the lengths of
I Made A Deal with the Devil.Chapter 42: Simeon says let’s play a game .When he's close to the sitting man, eyes level to his crotch, he grins and practically purrs, climbing up until he's level with his face. Leaning into his ear he whispers slowly, words dripping in honey."Want to undress me, show me what you can give me," his eyes flick down to the man's lap and then back up, leaning in close his breath ghosts over the man's neck."Let me show you how a real bitch fucks," he says.And with that he bites down hard onto the man's ear until he tastes blood, simultaneously twisting his wrists free of the rope he grabs the burning cigarette and presses the lit end into the man's eyes, watching in satisfaction as the man screams like a fucking baby and cries out, hands clawing at his burnt mess of an eye socket.The cigarette bends and crumbles into his eye, amber ash and bubbling blood pooling around Amir’s fingers. He twists as you would an ashtray and flicks the stub at the othe
I Made A Deal with the Devil.Chapter 43: stuck in a graveyard ."And how would you begin doing that. Nikolai," Alexander questions, leaning forward in his chair in anticipation, drink long forgotten in his dark palm.And then Nikolai moves in for the kill."Well..."His hand is up before anyone can blink, finger squeezing the trigger and sending the bullet flying. The gun recoils and jars his shoulder but he doesn't even blink, watching in satisfaction as his bullet finds the target, sinking into soft flesh and ripping through shattering bone."I guess I would begin by doing that. Alexander Ivankov," he says, eyes capturing Japheth ( Nikolai’s biggest threat) and watching in satisfaction as his face is splattered by the blood of the dead man next to him.Nikolai watches the bodyguard drop, body falling to the ground as his head splits in two, messy opening wound destroying his forehead. Blood begins to pool beneath his frozen face and Nikolai brings his hand to his side, watching t
I Made A Deal with the Devil.Chapter 44: they are killers .Akio sits at the table slowly, Japheth sits next to him, towering over him dark and menacing. Nikolai returns back to the head of the table eyes not leaving his face, and hand not leaving his side where it rests over his gun.Alexander watches it all slowly, seeing in Nikolai’s eyes what Alexander must have looked like when he first met Amir, when he slowly corrupted his heart.Love makes men like them weak."Do you know who I am," Alexander asks Akio, everyone around the circle sits tense, watching Yoongi carefully.Akio’s eyes flick up nervously and he shakes his head quickly, soft hair rippling. Nikolai’s every instinct screams at him to get Akio out of there, next to him Ren rests a hand on his back lightly, grounding him."My name in Alexander Ivankov" he says simply, and watches as the recognition burns in Akio’s eyes, the stories, the whispers, the bloodiness to that name. Akio’s face is tense and he looks at Niko
I Made A Deal with the Devil.Chapter 45: love, desire and pure wildness .Amir grins evilly. He could taste the end, so near, he wanted to watch them break, see it in their eyes when they know they've lost.Because the lost the moment they decided to touch him. "Are you a gambling man?" He stares intently at the leader who raises a gun slowly, shakily, hand not even on the fucking trigger yet, pointing it at Amir’s dirty face.Amir scoffs at his pathetic existence, his finger shakes as it moves towards the trigger, the other men have abandoned him now, running to the exits to save themselves.Amir stares into his eyes and watches him."Let's hope you are a gambling man,"He doesn't speak, mouth set firm as the gun trembles in his strong hands."Shall we make a bet?" Amir teases, "what are the odds that those are my people, or yours?" He muses out loud, alive and pulsing with adrenaline and joy.The leader sweats and looks wildly at Amir, eyes begging him to shut up, but he won't,
I Made A Deal With The Devil .Chapter 58: greatest gift of all; you .He kissed the inside of Akio’s wrist. “Who gets to cherish you.” He kissed the other wrist. “Who gets to make you feel good in every possible way as I worship this beautiful, beautiful body of yours.”Akio unexpectedly felt a pinch in his throat. He hadn’t realized how much he’d wanted that reassurance; hadn’t even known there was a lingering insecurity hiding behind his heart. But Nikolai’s words made his heart glow and fill to the brim with adoration and thankfulness. Thankfulness that he was in love with a man who was so tender with him in word and deed, and who treasured him in a way that made Akio feel like he was floating among the clouds. And when he had ultimately removed his shirt that day, he’d seen nothing but desire in Nikolai’s eyes, and more importantly: pure love.As their intimacy continued growing over the passing weeks, if there was one thing that was true, it was that Akio had never felt more
I Made A Deal With The Devil .Chapter 57: love, oh so sweet .Akio’s throat dries as he continues admiring Nikolai. With every step Nikolai takes, his muscles shift or flex, and it’s making Akio forget his name. He wants to lick Nikolai’s entire upper body up like it’s a scoop of ice cream, and heat blooms in his cheeks at the wild thought. He tries to look away, but Nikolai’s movements make the tattoos covering his torso come to life, especially the large dragon tattoo that takes up his entire right pec and upper arm. The design almost seems to ripple, like a reflection in a pond.Akio’s eyes shift to the opposite pec, where the name ‘Akio’ is emblazoned on Nikolai’s skin, right over his heart. Akio feels a surge of pride and love at the sight, the way he always does. Subconsciously, he runs his fingertips over his right wrist bone, where he’s recently gotten the letter N tattooed. He likes to think of the tattoos as mirror images of each other, each a sign of Akio’s and Nikolai
I Made A Deal With The Devil .Chapter 56: maybe a few more .It takes a moment for Akio to organize his thoughts. For a moment, he’s wondering if he’s actually woken up in some kind of parallel universe, where Alexander’s men are nice to him and go out of their way to ask about his hobbies and interests.“Uhm,” he responds, ever so eloquently.“I’ve got this niece heading to college for it. She asked for a camera for Christmas. Parents don’t really have the money for something like that. I told her I’d take care of it. Don’t really know what I’m looking for, though. Figured you could maybe point me in the right direction.”Seeing an opportunity to redeem himself, Akio instantly brightens. He tells Sal he’ll be right back, then dashes away to grab his laptop from his room. When he returns, he holds up the laptop, navigates to a webpage, and shows Sal the latest camera models, going on and on and on about all the newest features and specifications and everything else he can think of.
I Made A Deal With The Devil .Chapter 55: at the boss's orders .Once Akio’s in the attic, it doesn’t take him very long to locate the specific boxes he wants. He’s labeled every Christmas-related container in the space, which shortens the amount of time he has to spend sifting through storage. He grabs the end of the first container, which houses an artificial tree, and starts dragging it toward the attic opening. Then he starts to descend the ladder, while pulling the container along with him.He’s not a third of the way down when he realizes this setup isn’t going to work. It would be easier if he simply had someone at the bottom of the ladder to carefully pass the container to, but since he’s alone, he has to bear all the weight himself, and the moment the bin completely slides off the edge of the attic opening above, all of its heaviness will shift against his chest and throw his center of gravity off. He’s not entirely sure how he’ll be able to stay upright when that happens.
I Made A Deal With The Devil .Chapter 54: adjusting to the pattern .Akio loves Christmas.It’s his favorite time of the year. It always has been.He loves the colorful lights strung up on houses and trees. He loves the festive and bright decor: poinsettias, holly, and wreaths adorned with pinecones and big, red bows; Christmas trees dressed up with candy canes, glistening ornaments, and shiny ribbons; fireplace mantels garnished with stockings, majestic garlands, and a plate of cookies for Santa, of course.He loves enjoying the many Christmas festivals, performances, parades, and light spectacles put on throughout Seoul, such as those at Everland and Lotte World, where it always feels as if Akio’s been transported to some kind of magical winter wonderland.He loves shopping for gifts for the ones he loves, he loves wrapping said gifts in cute, colorful wrapping paper, he loves eagerly watching as those very gifts are opened and enjoyed.And most of all, he loves the underlying sp
I Made A Deal With The Devil .Chapter 53: awaiting warm summers .Nikolai rests his gun heavy on the table between them not menacingly, but a message of his own all the same."And yet here I am taking it" he challenges, he didn't come here to ask.There's a moment where it looks like the two will fight, eyes flashing and pulses rising, until Amir jumps up from where he had been watching the whole scene, and drapes himself over Nikolai kissing his jaw and neck messily like a puppy."Oh Nikolai my Nikolai I will miss you so much!" He wails sobbing into his chest dramatically and flinging his body weight all around until even Nikolai almost dropped him at one point.Smiling at him softly Nikolai sighs for the first time since entering the room, "You're not getting rid of me," he teases, "I'll be around."Amir grumbles into his top complaining about everything through his pout.Over his shoulder Nikolai surveys Alexander who stares at him hard watching the whole time."You'll be back,
I Made A Deal With The Devil .Chapter 52: all coming to a stop .Nikolai shakes his head... he couldn't be distracted, not now, not when it was almost done.He had to finish the code 8... kill them... just like Alexander ordered. For him and Amir.Stop killing for them."Sorry brother."Ren looks like he wants to say more but stops himself at the last moment.They look at each other for a moment, the muffled click of a lock breaking open echoes between them with a sense of finality."We're in Nikolai."Together Nikolai and Ren burst into the safe house, arms raised first with loaded guns and fingers ready to pull the triggers at any second. REN’s boot kicks down the door and they rush inside... straight into the barrel of two more guns... held steadily and aimed at both of their faces by none other than Japheth and Madrigal.The two of them don't even seem surprised, in the moment that they see Nikolai storm into the safe house with his gun pointed and his eyes dark as the night, t
I Made A Deal With The Devil .Chapter 51: out .Nikolai feels more free than ever, and for a moment all he wants it to be in Akio’s arms, until he remembers... remembers how he left his house with Akio’s sobs filling the empty space and dripping from the walls.And suddenly he doesn't feel so warm.He turns to look at Ren and feels his body tense for what he knew was about to come."Brother," Ren looks over to him, dark face rippling beneath long shadows and amber light flickering from the flames.Nikolai takes a deep breath of icy air."What I'm about to do..." he trails off, god he didn't even know how to say how crazy the plan was they were about to do... he was practically asking Ren to commit suicide with him.Ren must have read his thought for he says softly, "I would go to the ends of the world with you Nikolai. Always," his eyes dark and alive with flames, almost as black as Nikolai’s , "So tell me the plan."He smiles despite the seriousness of the situation."How did you
I Made A Deal with The Devil .Chapter 50: not an end yet .Nikolai looks away pulse racing at the words that itch against his skin and weigh heavy in his chest, against his skin Akio’s hand feels warm and safe and perfect... and so scary.Too good for him."I wish that was true," he says, seeing how Akio’s gaze drops.He feels the words on his tongue to break his heart and he knows they are true."I chose this life," he knows it."Not only did I choose it. I've worked for it. I excelled at it. I'm powerful," the words burn and Akio’s hand drops from his face, lost in the space between them – worlds apart."I'm powerful" he says it out loud forcing himself to believe it.The little boy who grew up on the streets with nothing needed to believe it. Akio looks at him carefully. "Yes you are," he admits softly. "And yet you're lost" he says."Don't look at me with your fucking pity," Nikolai spits out, building his defences behind anger and pain, too scared to be vulnerable, knowing Ak