Girlfriend.
A rush of heat swept through River, and she bit back a smile. Gods, she supposed that was true. Putting a label on things seemed like something most couples would talk about, but she and Nikhail were doing everything unconventionally. First, they’d slept together. Then, they’d gone on their first date. Now, this.
“Hi.” River reached across the table and shook the elf’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Lukas Rune,” he said by way of introduction. “Pleasure to meet you, as well.”
Nikhail pulled out the chair beside Lukas. “What did you find, Corporal?”
Nikhail’s voice was all business, without a trace of the warmth that River was used to hearing. A reminder that this was Nikhail’s workplace, and River was a guest.
The corporal pointed at the screen. “I was working on removing the encryptions when I found this.” Lukas’s fingers flew over the keys with the speed of someone who spent much of their time in front of a computer. “I wasn’t sure what this was, but I thought you’d want to take a look.”
Nikhail hummed. “I see what you mean. Can you pull up this report?” He tapped the screen. “Okay. Then maybe…”
The air fae kept speaking, his confident voice a low rumble as River fished her wireless headphones from her coat pocket. Sheplaced them in her ears, her phone automatically playing music from her favorite playlist. Unbuttoning her coat, she sank into a chair in the corner of the room.
River opened her phone, but she’d be lying if she said she did anything except observe Nikhail for several minutes. It was clear he was in his element as he spoke with the corporal, and his body language spoke to his confidence and control of the situation.
After, River pulled her attention away from Nikhail and scrolled through her phone. She replied to a text from Brynleigh, who was checking on her after Ryker’s visit. Then she texted Ember. Her best friend wanted to know all the dirty details of her date—Ember’s words, not River’s—and they spent nearly half an hour messaging back and forth before the fire fae had to go back to work.
River was in the midst of catching up on social media—which mostly consisted of doom scrolling and feeling increasingly worse about herself and the state of the world—when the sound of papers being shuffled caught her attention. When she looked away from her phone, she discovered that Lukas was packing up.
This is why social media is garbage,she thought, scowling and clicking out of all her apps. She’d gotten so caught up in perusing socials that she didn’t even know how much time had passed.
Pulling out her earbud, River caught the tail end of Lukas and Nikhail’s conversation.
“I’ll be back in the morning if you need anything, sir,” Lukas said.
“No problem,” was Nikhail’s reply. “I’ll take care of this from here.”
The elf dipped his chin in River’s direction before heading out the door and down the stairs. His footsteps retreated, and then Nikhail crossed the room.
He braced his hands on either side of her chair, gazing down at her adoringly. As if being in her mere presence made him happy.
“How are you holding up?” he asked.
“I’m good.” She put her earbuds back into her pocket. “Is everything okay? I wasn’t paying attention.”
“It will be. I’m dealing with it.”
It didn’t escape River’s attention that the air fae didn’t directly answer her question. “I see.”
“I’ll take care of everything, River. I promise.” Nikhail kissed her softly. “I need to make a call, then we should be able to leave. Thank you for your patience, little storm.”
“Of course.”
Nikhail pressed his phone against his ear and leaned against the table. “Sorry to call so late, Chancellor,” he said in a low voice after a moment. He paused, then added, “Yes, it’s important.”
A beat of silence, then he said, “We have the rebel leader’s name, ma’am.”
River’s chest tightened. Knowing that the rebels were still a threat was one thing, but being reminded of their presence was another thing entirely.
“Tell me.” Chancellor Rose’s command was so loud, it rang through the phone, as though the imposing woman was standing in the room with them.
“His name is Gale Harringdale,” Nikhail rumbled. “I’ve already run a preliminary background check, ma’am. He’s a bear shifter, and his last registered address is in the Southern Region. I can get a team there?—”
“No,” the Chancellor said sharply.