12. Kyle

CHAPTER 12

Kyle

" E ver had ice slathered all over your body and then shoved up your pussy?" Indira asked, the vulgar words his cousin's version of a hello . She was reclined in a cheap metal chair and had her booted ankles crossed and resting on top of the table.

"I can't say I have," Kyle responded wryly, taking the opposite seat, "or that I expect I ever will."

"Shame." Indira sipped her iced latte, blue eyes twinkling in amusement above the rim of the chipped glass. Blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders and the leather jacket she was wearing. "It's fucking heaven on not-Earth."

The pair of them were nestled amid the cheap outdoor seating of their favourite café on Level D, although ‘outdoor' was a bit of a misnomer. Everything other than the surface level was inside on Xerxes, wrapped tightly within four riveted and rusted walls. But the artificial lighting was dialled to an early morning glow and spending an hour with his cousin was a pleasant way to unwind after work. Even if the coffees had to be decaf and low sugar, for they both had to get some sleep before their next shifts at their respective Houses.

Kyle would sometimes join his colleagues for a cheap beer or two, but Indira didn't drink. She said she didn't like the idea of it detracting from her self-control, and that if she had to spend her hard-earned credits, it was going to be on something that didn't taste like piss.

"You're in a good mood," he observed now, gesturing at the second, untouched iced latte on the table between them. He hadn't expected her to shout him such an expensive treat.

"Subtle," said Indira, her tone lightly teasing. " Not . If you want to hear my news, you're going to have to ask for it."

Kyle, who had no problem in begging outside of a scene, shot her a brilliant, luminous smile. "Please tell me what's gotten you so excited that you're willing to spend money on me? And if it's a mere ice cube, cousin, I'll have to thank your client."

"Fuck my client," Indira shot back, and matched his grin with her own. "Fuck all of my clients, and not in the way they're hoping for."

Kyle's breath caught. "You mean-"

She jerked her chin in a nod and then they were both up on their feet, hugging and squealing and making those silly little on-the-spot jumps they'd always done as children.

"Indy! You did it!"

"I did! And don't call me that, Kylie ."

"I don't care! You got promoted! Had the guts, got the glory, cuz!"

Indira laughed, her joy infectious, and when the patrons began to grumble at the racket they were making, she didn't even flip them off. Kyle had never seen his cousin so happy.

"I thought your boss said it would take you another year doing it part-time?" he asked in wonder.

Indira grimaced. With apprenticeships paying an unconscionably low wage, she'd been forced to keep working shifts at House Rho in order to make ends meet for her and her husband. It had meant slowing down her studies, but they'd had little choice even with Kyle chipping in for as many expenses as they'd let him get away with.

"They did. I dunno," Indira added, idly drawing shapes in the condensation her glass left on the table. "Maybe those Engineers that went missing last week made them short on staff? All I know is that I was called up to Level A yesterday afternoon and told that as of now, I'm a certified Runic Engineer."

"Then they're completely mad," Kyle teased, drumming out the opening bars of Eye of the Tiger on the table now that it was in his head. "My batshit cousin, responsible for making sure the engines keep Xerxes up in the air?"

He reached over to chuck her under the chin. She snorted.

"I highly doubt I'll be allowed to work on something that important. I'll probably be maintaining the Uppers' air conditioning…making sure the runes keep it at precisely 22.4 degrees Celsius so the sweat lines don't show on their fucking exercise wear." Indira pulled a face, draining the rest of her drink and slamming it back down onto the metal table. "I don't care. Anything that isn't whoring."

Piercing eyes found his. "I could maybe get you an apprenticeship too if you-"

"You know I'm fine where I am," Kyle said. They'd had this same conversation many times. Indira hated what they'd both had to do to survive after his mother died, but Kyle had long since come to terms with selling his body each night. Besides, he had no aptitude for understanding the physics and complex equations required to make magical runes work. "I don't mind my job."

Indira rolled her eyes. "No, you don't mind that House Master of yours. I'm surprised Epsilon hasn't yet drowned in all your drool."

Kyle reached for his own drink so he didn't have to look her in the eye. His fingertips unexpectedly met warm glass.

"What's wrong?"

"Chilling rune is dead," he told her, lifting the non -iced latte so he could peer underneath. There was still a complex spiky shape etched into the base of the glass, yet it held no visible glow. Kyle scratched at the mark with a fingernail, but it remained dull and lifeless.

There was another eyeroll from his cousin. "Isn't that typical? Maybe it's no surprise they need more Engineers when the existing ones can't rune for shit."

"You know what would really show them? You fixing this one," Kyle declared with a smile he hoped would dazzle, holding the drink out to her. Indira raised an eyebrow at his outstretched arm.

He thought she was going to protest but instead she wordlessly slid her runing wand from her jacket. It was around ten inches in length, and made of an elegant, light metal that Kyle could never pronounce – try…try… trythirrium – the rare metal that had been discovered just over a century ago and allowed humanity to enhance their technologies with runic magic.

Every inch of the wand's pale blue surface was engraved with its own tiny glowing runes, the thin lines denoting meanings that Kyle didn't have the first idea about. But Indira was in her element, her expression frozen in concentration and barely disguised glee as she carefully overwrote the rune in the glass with the sharp bladed end of her wand.

"I'm not your pet Engineer," she muttered from the side of her mouth, reinforcing the mark even as she bitched about it. Kyle grinned at her, unable to summon much of a complaint when his cousin stole a large mouthful of the freshly chilled latte before passing it back to him. She looked...happy.

"So when are you telling Master Rho you're quitting her House?" he asked. "And can I be there for it? She's going to explode ."

"She is," Indira agreed cheerfully. "Especially because she's being a bitch lately and booked me in for a client couple tomorrow. But I'm waiting until I get this week's paycheck before I leave."

"If you don't want to do a threesome, just tell her that."

"Kyle." His cousin sighed, long and loud. "Not all House Masters are like yours. If any of us said we didn't want to do something, Master Rho would turn us out on our asses. If the cost of avoiding starvation is being some husband and wife's plaything one last time, who gives a shit?"

Kyle gave a shit. He enjoyed his job on most nights; loved making men feel good, at least for the short time they spent in his company. But it had never brought Indira that same joy, and he was glad she was able to finally escape the industry.

He just wished the same could be said for everyone else who was forced to get on their backs night after night just to be able to eat the next day.

And meanwhile, the Uppers lived their lavish lifestyles with little consequence. Missing a day of work – if they even bothered to work at all – didn't mean they had to miss meals that day too. They didn't have to worry about their family and friends falling sick from the myriad of diseases that ran rampant in the lower levels, or being arrested if they dared ride one of Xerxes' lifts to the surface in the desperate hope of getting to see the sun for a few minutes.

And that freedom bred an unfathomable arrogance in some Uppers, like Kyle's client from earlier. He'd been so surprised that Epsilon would bother to stop him doing whatever he wanted to the man he'd paid for...

Indira nudged his knee with the tip of her boot. "What's up?"

"Nothing."

"Uh-huh. You don't get to pull that crap on me, Kyle Jacob Randall."

Kyle gave her an innocent look. "What crap?"

"That whole ‘I'm fine' lark."

"I am-"

Her hand shot to his mouth, a cool finger pressed warningly over his lips.

" Don't . You're the most chill, upbeat person I know, and right now, you're frowning . So spill."

Kyle leant back in his chair and sighed. "Just a client."

"Anything I can do?"

"Break the asshole's teeth for me?"

"Done," Indira said promptly, flicking her hair behind her shoulder and cracking her knuckles. "Who is he?"

"No clue."

"Actually no clue," she asked, "or just I'm being boring and protecting my clients' confidentiality again?"

Kyle eyed her with amusement. "You know that's a key part of our job, right?"

She shrugged. "Meh."

But for all their nonchalance, he knew she took it just as seriously as he did. You wouldn't last long under a Master if you blabbed about who visited their House in the dead of night, and what depraved things they wanted to do or have done to them.

"Actually no clue," said Kyle. "Some Upper. Epsilon took care of him."

Indira wrinkled her nose. "You know your voice changes whenever you say his name? It's kind of embarrassing."

"Fuck off."

"Seriously. This whole unrequited pining over your boss thing has got to stop. When was the last time you even had sex with him?"

Her tone made it clear she expected the answer to be months. Years.

"This morning," Kyle said, feeling immensely gratified by the way her mouth dropped open.

"By the stars ," she cursed.

"What?"

Indira glowered at him. "You've got that grin on your face."

"I don't know what grin you're talking about."

"The one that says no one else will even come close for at least a month," she said through gritted teeth.

"At least," Kyle agreed readily.

Try forever.

"Why do you do that to yourself, Kyle?" Indira dropped the admonishing tone, but the soft plaintiveness that replaced it wasn't much better. "Why do you let Epsilon do it to you?"

Kyle snorted. "I don't know what you imagine our dynamic to be, but I wasn't letting him do anything to-"

"Ruin you," his cousin interrupted flatly. "After you've been with him, you never enjoy yourself with others. Your expectations become far too fucking high."

That was true. The rest of his appointments felt lacklustre – too loud, too quiet, too enthusiastic, too boring. It was hard to compare to the perfection of what Epsilon delivered.

"I can't give him up," admitted Kyle, downing the rest of his drink in one. Couldn't let him down either, but he wasn't averse to making him cry when Master Epsilon cried so prettily. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "You know that."

Indira gave him a rueful smile. She'd been at his side a lot longer than the five years he'd been working at House Epsilon, and had seen just how badly Kyle had…well, pined was probably quite an apt word.

"Maybe you should just go for it," she urged now. "Tell him how you feel."

Panic instantly swelled through him, making the latte sit uneasily in his stomach. He shook his head. "I can't…I can't do that."

"You're Kyle Randall. You can do anything you want to, especially when it comes to taking hot men to your bed."

"It's not about fucking him," he protested.

"Right, because you're doing that on the regular," Indira shot back. He ignored that one.

"Epsilon pulls away even when it's him initiating something between us," said Kyle. "What do you think he's going to do if I try?"

"Maybe know for sure you want him back," she said but he shook his head, remembering his disastrous attempt to kiss him earlier. Epsilon knew that he was interested. Kyle hadn't exactly been subtle in his doomed and obsessive infatuation.

"It's not that. Or if it is, it's...more than that. Stars, Indy, if all it would take was letting Epsilon know I was into him, I would have done that years ago!"

"Would you?" she asked bluntly.

Kyle sighed, leaning back in his chair. "There's something else in that immaculate, fucked up head of his, and I just wish I knew what." He gestured with his hands; a vague, clutching movement that somehow summed it all up perfectly, because trying to figure out Master Epsilon was like trying to hold the intangible between your fingers. "I'm chasing starlight."

"Incredibly hot starlight that turns your cock hard and your brain into mush," said Indira, nodding in sympathy. "I can see the problem."

"Can't you see the solution instead ? " Kyle asked. "I feel like that would be a lot more helpful."

She laughed. "You want helpful, go find someone else to talk to. I'm just your cousin."