Page 3 of Runaway Queen

Round and round the mulberry bush… pop goes the weasel.

I spoke from the doorway as I lounged against the wall. “I’m afraid your streak of bad luck is set to continue. Do you know who I am?”

Gerald blinked at me, paling further. He licked his thick lips. “Yes, you’re thePalach. The executioner.”

“Wow, Niko, you’re famous,” Bran laughed.

“I’m flattered, but in this case, flattery will get you nowhere, Gerald.” I crossed the room toward him, pulling the stuffy from my pocket. The sad-looking rabbit was missing an eye.

“Here, you forgot something in your cell,” I murmured, passing it to him as I crouched to his level.

He took the rabbit and held it close, huddling in a horrifying parody of his victims.

“Since you’re new here, let me be the one to explain to you how this place works. You’re in here with hardened criminals, violent psychopaths… and that’s just the guards. In here, there’s no one small and meek who you can victimize. In here, you’re the prey.”

Gerald whimpered.

“Do you know what most criminals have in common, Gerry boy?” Bran chipped in. His grin chilled even my blood. “They have families, kids, little innocent nieces and nephews, godchildren. Even thePalachhas them.”

Gerald turned his terrified face back to me.

I smiled at him, unsettling him even more. “That’s right. Two, actually. I’ve never met them, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t kill for them, in their honor. A man who likes to hurt little kids needs to learn to play with boys his own size. What do you say, Gerald? Do you want to play with me?”

Gerald wet his lips, his gaze darting fearfully around the place, at the men watching us silently. My loyal devotees.

“What kind of game?”

Bran laughed, and I smiled.

“What kind of game would you like to play? How about… hide-and-seek? Or tag? Truth or dare?”

Gerald wet his lips. “Hide-and-seek.”

“Ding-ding-ding, we’ve got a contender here.” I stood and stepped back.

I nodded to one of my men by the door, and the lights went out suddenly, plunging us into unrelenting darkness. My natural habitat.

“Hide, Gerald. I’ll give you until the count of ten before I look for you.”

His stumbling steps made him easy to find in the dark.

“One, two, three,” I trailed off, moving easily toward Gerald’s lumbering shape. I was used to the darkness. I’d lived inside for seven years. Seven years of darkness and horror. Seven years to forget the starry skies of my childhood.

Seven years to forgether.

I’d found that I could forget a lot of things in seven years, but I hadn’t forgotten her. Every single second we’d spent together was tattooed on my memory, etched in blood. As permanent to me by now as the madness that plagued my mind.

I closed in on Gerald from behind. He opened his mouth to scream, and I shoved the rabbit inside it, enjoying every second of his fear.

“Ten.”

Then I pulled Ramirez’s shiv. It fit my hand like an old friend.

Now, came the fun bit.

2

NIKOLAI

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