Liam seemed to understand exactly where Arik’s thoughts had gone, because his expression became far too innocent.
"Bend a little. Come on, I barely reach your chest with the top of my head now; help me here," he said, giving the lapel of Arik’s coat a soft tug.
The final word caught Arik’s attention.
Before crossing the Gate, their difference in height had never required negotiation. Liam had only needed to lift his face for Arik to kiss him, but the Gate had added more than ten inches to Arik’s body and broadened his frame until even the Nurian attendants had measured him twice before daring to prepare his clothes. Doors appeared lower, furniture felt smaller, and Liam now barely reached the middle of his chest.
Arik was still adjusting to the transformation. By adjusting, it meant that Arik was mostly ignoring the issue until he was under less pressure from the world around them.
He was not, however, opposed to the way Liam was forced to look up at him.
"You seem to be managing," he said.
"I am standing on my toes."
"That sounds inefficient."
"It is. Bend."
Severin turned toward the windows with suspicious discretion, while Rubis discovered something intensely fascinating in the blank wall beside the doorway.
Arik should have refused. Liam was recovering, had already ignored medical advice to cross half the palace, and was now attempting to acquire the very object Arik had intended to destroy before he ever saw it.
Unfortunately, Liam’s crimson eyes were bright with curiosity rather than dulled by fatigue, and Arik loved him too much to remain sensible when faced with that expression.
He bent.
Even then, Liam had to rise slightly and brace one hand against Arik’s newly broadened chest before pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.
The suite’s wards warmed in immediate approval.
Arik closed his eyes.
"That was manipulation."
"Yes," Liam admitted without shame. "May I study the collar?"
"No."
The answer came automatically, but most of its conviction had disappeared.
Liam remained close, his fingers still caught in the lapel. "May I study it and keep it?"
Arik straightened at once. "Absolutely not."
Liam stared up at him, genuinely puzzled by the refusal, and began dismantling Arik’s argument with the calm precision he usually reserved for machinery.
Felix had never known the collar existed. He had never touched it, worn it, or seen its design. Goliath had already begun reconsidering their relationship and had never created the bond stone that would have completed it. The object had been commissioned for a mate, but it had never truly become Felix’s.
"I am your mate now," Liam concluded. "Therefore, it is mine."
"That is not how ownership works."
"It is how unfinished mate gifts should work."
Behind them, Severin’s shoulders moved once.
Arik pointed toward him without looking. "Do not encourage this."
"I am only admiring the legal structure Lord Ravenwood built around something he wants."
Rubis murmured that it was surprisingly coherent, then bowed his head when Arik looked toward him.
Liam caught Arik’s sleeve before easier targets could distract him.
"I also want it because I am jealous."
That silenced Arik far more effectively than the kiss had.
Liam did not appear embarrassed by the admission. He spoke with the same thoughtful honesty he used when identifying a flaw in a design.
Arik was possessive of him. He hated every mark Felix had left on Liam’s life, every poison, threat, and obligation the man had used to claim him. Liam understood that instinct because he felt a version of it too.
"I dislike that something created by your ether was once intended for him," Liam said. "Even if it was Goliath who commissioned it, Goliath is part of you now. I want to study it because it is extraordinary technology, but I also want it because I am your mate and Felix never became anything that deserved you."
The words were gentle enough to make resistance impossible.
Arik looked down at Liam, who seemed smaller than ever against the body the Gate had given him, yet still possessed the alarming ability to dismantle every useful part of his judgment with one kiss and a quiet confession.
He could have lifted Liam with one arm and carried him back to the guest wing.
The truth was that he could also give him the collar.
Arik would give Liam almost anything he asked for: the object, the rooms, every possession Goliath had left behind, perhaps even an empire if Liam looked at him with the right expression.
"Fine," he said with a soft sigh.
Liam’s face brightened immediately.
Arik felt the first warning of regret.
"You may have it on one condition. You return to the guest rooms with me now, allow the physicians to examine you, and follow their instructions. If they tell you to rest, you rest. If they forbid work, the case remains closed until they clear you."
Liam’s gaze slid toward the cabinet, lingering on the black lacquered case with visible longing.
"And after that?"
"You may do whatever you want with it."
The room went very still.
Severin turned back from the windows. Rubis lifted his head. Liam’s eyes widened with an enthusiasm Arik should have found alarming before he finished speaking.
"Anything?"
Arik should have narrowed the offer immediately.
Instead, Liam smiled.
"Yes," Arik said, surrendering what remained of his caution. "Open it, study the wards, map the internal structure, test its response to my ether, take it apart, modify it, or keep it. Whatever you want, as long as you obey the physicians first."
Liam tugged his lapel again.
This time Arik bent without being asked twice.
The kiss landed near the corner of his mouth, warm and pleased.
"Agreed."
Arik removed the case from the cabinet and carried it to him. Old gold shifted over the lacquer beneath his bandaged hands, then spread across Liam’s fingers when he accepted it. The wards hesitated only briefly before settling, recognizing Arik’s permission through the bond.
Liam held the case against his chest with quiet satisfaction.
"My collar."
"Your unfinished imperial artifact."
"My collar," Liam repeated.
Arik did not argue. The happiness in Liam’s face made the concession feel worthwhile.
Then Liam looked down at the latch.
His expression changed.
The smile remained, but behind it appeared the intense, calculating focus that had preceded several questionable decisions in Lab V.
Arik slowly turned toward Severin.
The commander was watching him with open amusement.
"What?"
"Nothing, Your Highness. I was merely wondering whether the Gate increased your size by reducing your judgment in equal measure."
Liam tightened his hold on the case.
Arik looked from his mate’s dangerously interested expression to the artifact he had just granted him permission to dismantle, modify, and keep.
The Gate had made him taller, broader, and strong enough to carry Liam without effort.
It had done nothing to improve his ability to refuse him.