Page 8 of Love and Chaos

Frowning, he held the phone out to Charlie. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of Max, but he’s not returning my calls. I’m guessing his lecture ran long. If he calls, could you tell him what’s up?”

“Got it,” Charlie agreed easily as he pocketed Ed’s phone.

Will patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. We won’t let Max miss out on this.”

That was good. Ed wished he could share this fun with Max, but they had very different ideas of fun. He enjoyed sneaking and blowing things up. Max enjoyed crawling through old ruins and digging in the dirt. He didn’t mind accompanying Max on his archeological expeditions, but it was a little hard for Max to tag along on Ed’s war games and rescue missions.

Yet, he’d always been there at the end with a drink, a bandage, and a wide grin on his face. Ed just hoped he’d been there with those things at the end of this so-called rescue mission.

With a wink at Charlie, Ed darted along the dock, sticking to the deep shadows and lurking behind parked cars and large crates as he worked his way closer to the yacht. He crouched beside a large box truck and rubbed his chin as he looked over the seven guards on the dock. They looked pretty professional but definitely green in their manner. Their arrangement was sloppy and left too many openings. These must be the newest recruits for the royal security team.

It also didn’t hurt that Charlie hadn’t searched him prior to setting him loose. Ed dug through the pockets of his black cargo pants until he came up with a set of firecrackers, smoke bombs, and a spare wick. His nimble fingers tied the things he needed in the proper order before he snagged his flameless lighter.

At just the right second, he lit his mini-bomb and tossed it into a trash can two slips down from the yacht. He hurried past the boat when smoke poured out of the can followed by a loud, concussive bang.

More than half the guards rushed to check out the trash can, running past Ed’s hiding place. With a smirk, Ed lifted his paintball gun and popped off five of the guards. They had no idea what had happened until it was too late. Shouts and groans rose from the chaos, but they dutifully lay down on the dock, “dead,” even though one of them stopped to stomp his foot in frustration.

Ed waited with a grin, snagging two more guards who stupidly went to check on the “dead” without securing the area first. Part of him felt sorry for these guards. Charlie had been helping to train the palace security, and they were going to get torn new assholes after this debacle.

Before the smoke completely cleared, Ed hauled himself onto the yacht using one of the mooring ropes rather than the gangplank. He’d barely gotten to a hiding spot behind a large sofa on the main deck as something whizzed by his cheek and splatted against the bulkhead. Ed looked over his shoulder to see a splat of blue paint.

Alexei snickered. “Oh, my God. That was horrible. Did you even bother to aim?”

“Shut up,” Soren grumbled softly. “I’m out of practice. You’re the assassin. Not me.”

Shit. The thief and former assassin team meant the skill level had just jumped significantly. And because of his size, hiding wasn’t the easiest thing. At least not compared to the very lithe twink Alexei. The little shit could squeeze into practically any spot. Ed was the bulldozer or wrecking ball of the team. Not that he didn’t enjoy sneaking when he could. It was just that the yacht was a very confined space. Not much sneaking room.

It was better to stick to his strengths. The second he pinpointed where Soren was located, Ed darted out of his hiding spot and charged toward Soren like an enraged bull. Soren popped out to shoot him but yelped. Ed was suddenly too close. That hesitation was all he needed to knock Soren’s gun aside and grab him. He slung the man around to use him as a human shield just as Alexei was jumping out to shoot him. Like his boyfriend, Alexei paused for a breath, seeming reluctant to shoot his own boyfriend even if it was only with a paintball.

Ed didn’t have the same hesitation. He shot Alexei from under Soren’s arm and then shot Soren in the thigh for good measure. Soren howled at the bite of the paintball while Alexei groaned while lowering his weapon.

“I can’t believe I hesitated,” Alexei muttered.

“Neither can I,” Soren replied, sounding rather stunned.

“Soren, love, how could I shoot you?” Alexei flashed his boyfriend wide blue eyes and fluttered his lashes.

“Quite easily when you’re showing off for your uncles,” Soren pointed out. Alexei blushed, but Soren let him off the hook. “But you’re getting better, Angel.” Soren attempted to take a step forward as if he meant to embrace Alexei, but Ed tightened his hold on Soren’s collar.

“Nope,” Ed said, pulling him back.

“What? Corpses are supposed to exit the yacht until the game is over,” Soren argued.

“Yeah, but you’re my shield now. I think I’ll keep you for a while longer.”

Alexei cackled and strolled toward the gangplank. He waved one hand above his head as he left. “Try not to let him get too bruised before you return him to me.”

“Assholes. Both of you are mean assholes. I don’t care if it’s your birthday,” Soren snarled under his breath even as Ed pushed him across the main deck.

Just like with Alexei, the royal guards all hesitated at the sight of Soren and didn’t fire, which was surprising since Ed was considerably wider and taller than Soren. It wasn’t as if there weren’t parts of Ed they couldn’t aim at and not hit Soren. But Ed wasn’t about to point that out. He just took out the guards he spotted the second they showed even a sliver of a target.

Unfortunately, the tables turned when he entered a lounge area under the main deck and he discovered Justin and Gabriel—world-class assassins and Alexei’s uncles. He barely had enough time to shove Soren at them and dive behind a large wingback chair.

“Ow! Ow! Fuck! Ed let me go already!” Soren shouted as he was pelted with paintballs.

“I know. Shooting you is just fun, and Alexei won’t let us use real bullets.” Justin snickered.

Of course, Justin had confided in Ed that they liked Soren well enough and were glad he made Alexei so happy. They just enjoyed tormenting Soren to keep him on his toes.