Captive Mate BL-Chapter 499: + - +

"Did you get around to checking if there’s a tunnel?" Angelo kept talking, pushing himself to his feet.

The explosions above them were getting harder to ignore, dust and little stones starting to fall from the ceiling.

Nikolai rose to his feet as well, enamored even more by the assassin. He had gotten up from the explosion with barely any surface injuries.

"Yeah, let’s leave."

It was less of a suggestion and more of a necessity, there was an occasional tremble rocking through the underground space every now and then.

Angelo had been temporarily knocked out by the blast from the door, but it was long enough for Nikolai to deal with the people in the small room.

He only saw one person dead on the ground. The ground and most of the room was made from packed clay, and was quite dilapidated but the entrance to the tunnel was well-kept and properly reinforced.

Angelo didn’t bother asking about the second person that was supposed to be in the room, more interested in the two of them getting out before the roof caved in.

He went right to the cave and got on his hands and knees, it wasn’t too cramped but it wasn’t like he could walk upright through the tunnel.

He crawled in and then turned around, "It’s small and dark in here, will you be fine?" He asked Nikolai who still stood in front on the tunnel.

Nikolai didn’t respond, but he slowly lowered himself and climbed into the mouth of the tunnel. The rumbling got even worse now but that didn’t alarm him as much as the restrictive space he had to be in.

Angelo took his silence as a positive response, they were still too close to the explosions and the potential hazard of the warehouse caving into the underground bunker below.

Without wasting any time, he hurried ahead, realizing for the first time that he had no idea where the tunnel led. But despite how reckless Nikolai seemed, the Mafia King had trustworthy Intel.

He already knew the layout of the underground bunker before they came down here, and was aware of an alternate escape route. The only reason he had tried to go back up the stairs was simply because he didn’t do well in cramped spaces.

Angelo shook himself out of his thoughts and tried to listen to Nikolai who was still following closely behind him. He had to say, in almost a decade of being an assassin, he had never had to crawl through an underground tunnel to prevent himself from being buried underground by explosives and rubble.

There wasn’t a dull moment with Mafia King Nikolai, was there?

Fortunately there were no turns or Angelo wouldn’t be so confident. It was just a straight tunnel, one that led them further and further away from the explosions.

When the rumbling became distant Angelo relaxed slightly, he wanted to check up on Nikolai but he didn’t want to ruin the Mafia King’s focus.

The tunnel seemed endless, he didn’t want to risk a panic attack now when they were so deep in the tunnel, so he didn’t slow down.

After a while he noticed that he couldn’t hear Nikolai behind him, it made him stop and look behind him. The lighting in the tunnel was terrible and it got worse the further in they went.

So he could barely see the outline of Nikolai slumped partly against the side of the tunnel. Without hesitating, he turned around and crawled to the Mafia King’s side, relieved that the tunnel was big enough for that.

"Nikolai?" He called out quietly, worry bleeding into his voice.

Nikolai had stayed quiet although it must have been really hard on him crawling through the tunnel.

The Mafia King still didn’t say a word but Angelo could feel those cold eyes staring right at him. Nikolai’s breaths sounded harsh in the hollow space like he was running out of oxygen.

"Will we be out soon?" Angelo asked honestly instead of telling him a feel-good lie that they would be out soon.

If Nikolai knew about the tunnel, then there was a high chance that he also knew how long it was and where it led.

"Come here," Nikolai said instead, his voice subdued.

Angelo was already right next to him, any closer and he would be right on him, but it wasn’t like he could carry Nikolai out of the tunnel so he gingerly leaned closer.

Nikolai reaching out to pull him even closer was surprising, it caught him completely off-guard, making him fall right into the Mafia King’s arms.

A hand burying itself in his hair was the least surprising of Angelo’s new position but he didn’t protest. His face was against Nikolai’s chest so he could hear his concerning rapid heartbeat.

It was too dark in the tunnel to see anything so Angelo closed his eyes. He had spent the entire day with Nikolai so the Mafia King’s signature cigar hadn’t made a single appearance, it meant that all he could smell was his soothing, pleasant scent.

Angelo was supposed to be the one doing the comforting but it felt more like the other way around. They probably shouldn’t hang around in the tunnel for too long but he didn’t want to move.

He could just go to sleep like this, and even if the tunnel caved in, he would be content.

Nikolai’s hand moved in his hair, finger-combing the explosion-tangled locks, his other arm firmly around his waist.

Angelo could hear his heartbeat slow down in real time, his breathing quieting.

"I can stretch out my legs here, and I can see your face," Nikolai spoke, his voice was still very quiet, and it seemed more like he was speaking to himself.

"We should be getting close to the exit," Nikolai went on, sounding more like himself but making no move to let go of him.

"That’s good," Angelo murmured, staying put. Now he had more than enough time to revisit Nikolai’s words.

Nikolai said that he had spent most of his childhood in a metal box, that was years of being forced into a box he had to crouch in. Thinking about it made Angelo grind his teeth, exacerbating the dull pain in his head.

"Let’s leave," Nikolai reluctantly repeated himself.

Angelo pulled away with as much reluctance, his heart rate spiking when he crouched face to face with Nikolai in such a cramped space.

"If you need to take another break, just say it." He offered lightly, taking the lead again.

"Another break?" Nikolai kept up the conversation this time, a faint tremble in his voice. "What do you think about spending the night in a tunnel?"

Angelo made a face, he couldn’t be more disinterested, it was cold and damp down here. It was also nearly pitch black, he didn’t want to think about what creatures lurked down here.

"Nevermind," He retracted his offer of another break, and after crawling for a few more minutes, it got somewhat brighter.

The tunnel led to the most unexpected place, soot staining Angelo hands and pants as he got out. It led to what looked like a prayer room in a church, one that was charred black. It had clearly been in a terrible fire and had been abandoned.

Nikolai got out of the tunnel as well and immediately beelined for him, a hand reflexively seeking out his tousled hair.

"Don’t touch my hair, there’s ash on your hands." Angelo complained but made no move to pull away.

He never thought he could provide any comfort but if clinging to him made Nikolai deal with his past trauma a little better, then it was a fair trade to him.

"Where’s this?" Angelo asked curiously when it seemed that Nikolai had no intention of moving yet.

"An abandoned church," A new voice joined the conversation.

Angelo immediately went on high alert, placing a hand on the handle of a knife at his waist.

This action didn’t go unnoticed by Jael, he had just been wandering around when he heard movements and then voices.

Thinking it was some gang members or some homeless folks, he had come to check it out. Bumping into Mafia King Nikolai was a surprise to say the least.

"Who are you?" Angelo asked cautiously, Nikolai still hugged him from behind, his face tucked against the side of his neck so they painted quite the picture.

He couldn’t tell if Nikolai was still out of it or if he didn’t regard the newcomer as a threat. Angelo couldn’t relax however, the Beta that seemed to appear out of thin air was clearly dangerous.

Jael lifted his hands in a friendly show of surrender, "Just a passerby. Did you drug Nikolai?" He had to ask, seeing the Mafia King so docile was even more startling than their sudden appearance.

Angelo couldn’t help but relax slightly at his words, it was clear he didn’t mean any harm and with how casually and fearlessly he regarded Nikolai, getting into a fight with him would be troublesome.