CHAPTER 188: CHAPTER 188: CLEVER LITTLE MORTAL

"So... you two don’t like each other? Isn’t he the creator?" Elias asked, trying his best to keep his mind from combusting and himself from yelling at the two, not men, in the room.

Victor’s hold tightened a fraction, his thumb pressing more firmly at Elias’s nape as if to keep him anchored. "’Like’ isn’t the word," he muttered, eyes never leaving Uno.

Uno’s grin curved sharper. "Creator, yes. Liked? Rarely. I gave him purpose; he calls it chains. I gave him eternity; he calls it servitude." His blue eyes flicked toward Elias, glinting like glass catching flame. "Executioner and creator, it’s always been an old married couple’s quarrel."

"Don’t," Victor bit out, the word a low growl in his chest. "Don’t drag him into your metaphors."

Elias pinched the bridge of his nose, still very much cradled in Victor’s arms like a wayward cat. "Right. So, just to clarify for the room: my alpha is pissy because the actual god of everything can’t act normal for five minutes, and the god of everything is calling it a domestic spat." He lowered his hand, glaring faintly at both of them. "Do either of you hear how insane this sounds?"

Connor, halfway between the door and the nearest counter, muttered, "Yes." Ruo only made a strangled sound that might have been laughter. Ashwin looked like he wanted to sink through the floor.

Uno chuckled, low and pleased. "He’s sharp. I like him."

Victor’s crimson wards flared again, enough that the lights overhead dimmed for a beat. "You don’t get to like him," he said, voice velvet and lethal in the same breath.

Elias closed his eyes briefly, inhaled, then exhaled. "Gods help me. I’m literally watching two ancient beings posture like teenagers over who gets to sit at my lunch table."

Uno’s blue eyes danced. "Oh no, Elias. You’re the table."

Victor snarled low in his throat, the sound vibrating against Elias’s back, and Elias groaned. "Great. Just what I needed. Existential objectification. Now, if you don’t mind, again...why are you here?"

He shifted in Victor’s grip, trying to wriggle free, but it was like wrestling steel wrapped in heat. After a moment he gave up with a frown, arms folding across his chest. "We’re not exactly used to seeing our fucking CREATOR stroll into a lab."

Uno’s mouth quirked, infuriatingly mild. "I’m not your creator."

"Don’t start," Victor cut in, arms closing harder around Elias as if to make a point. "Don’t be enigmatic, Uno. You are the creator, but only of the beginning. The first push and first spark. The rest has always been a matter of fate, and even you can’t really fuck with that."

Uno tilted his head, blue eyes glinting in the sterile lab light. "I never said I wanted to." His gaze slid back to Elias, a spark of mischief threading through it. "But I do enjoy watching what happens when fate and my Executioner collide with someone stubborn enough to stand between them."

Elias blinked, then muttered, "So I’m a spectator sport now."

"More like a variable," Uno said cheerfully, as if that was better.

Victor’s jaw flexed, crimson eyes darkening. "Say what you came to say, Uno. Then leave. He doesn’t need your riddles."

Uno didn’t even glance at Victor. "You’re snarling like I came here to dismantle the walls," he said, his tone maddeningly casual. "I didn’t. I’m bored." His blue eyes flicked around the lab, lingering on the sparks still sputtering from a fried light fixture. "And in fairness, that’s true. Eternity doesn’t come with a lot of hobbies."

Victor’s arms tightened around Elias, crimson gaze narrowing to knives. "You came here because you’re bored?"

"And because I wanted to see my friend," Uno added smoothly, eyes cutting back to Victor with a grin that showed a shade too much teeth. "You’ve been sulking in your company and manor for months now, all wrapped up in him..." his chin tipped toward Elias, "and I thought it was time we had a chat."

"Chat?" Victor’s voice dropped to a dangerous rumble. "You call almost frying my mate a chat?"

Uno ignored him again, leaning his elbows back against the table like this was a cocktail party instead of a lab, still shivering from the backlash. His bright eyes fixed on Elias this time, curious, almost too sharp. "And because of you. I wanted to see you. I’m curious what happens when a man who was supposed to stay recessive starts tugging at threads that aren’t his."

Elias stared at him, caught between confusion and irritation. "You’re curious about me?"

"About a great many things," Uno said lightly. He tilted his head, as if listening to something only he could hear. "For example... your sister. The child she’s carrying. It’s dead. And alive. And shouldn’t be either." His mouth curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile. "No fate strings. No tether. A knot that was cut before it was tied, and yet... it lingers."

Elias went still, heat forgotten, a cold prickle crawling up his spine. "...What?"

"Exactly," Uno said, pleased by the reaction. "It shouldn’t exist. But it does. A mystery. And I do so love mysteries."

Victor’s snarl split the air, low and dangerous. "Don’t."

Uno’s grin only widened, his blue eyes glinting with mischief. "What? I’m not touching him. I’m just watching."

Elias sighed, long and loud, dragging a hand down his face. "Victor, level with me for once."

Crimson eyes cut down to him. "I’m always honest with you."

"Mm." Elias tilted his head, gaze flicking from Uno’s lazy, irreverent grin to the steel band of Victor’s arms around him. "See, that’s the thing. Uno doesn’t sound like the guy who writes commandments and carves rules into stone. He sounds like the guy who ignores them for fun." His eyes narrowed a fraction, studying Victor’s jaw. "That sounds a lot more like you."

For a heartbeat there was silence. Then Victor’s mouth split into a wide, toothy grin, all sharp pride and shameless delight. His crimson eyes glinted as he bent a little closer, the rumble in his chest closer to a purr than a growl.

Uno’s laugh rang through the room, bright and unbothered. "Clever little mortal," he drawled, clapping his hands once in mock applause. "Finally someone says it. You might be my new favorite."

Victor’s grin only widened, arms tightening around Elias as though staking a claim. "Mine first," he said smoothly, the pride in his voice thick enough to make the air hum.