Page 34 of Malevolent King

Nikolai’s chuckle set my nerves on edge. “I think you need to be buzzed in during the small hours for safety and all that,” he called to me, his voice warm.

I spun around, finally seeing the man I was starting to think I’d never be able to escape.

He sauntered over to the desk and peered down at Larry as I turned back to the doors, looking for something to throw at them.

While Nikolai was distracted with Larry, I spied a black SUV pulling into the lot. There was something vaguely familiar about it. When it stopped, four men in suits got out. Headpieces connected them, and they were all carrying.

An old man jumped out beside them, and I recognized him as the trucker who had given us a ride on the highway. My father’s men had arrived. They’d gotten my tip, met with the trucker, and had him bring them to the place where he’d left us. Panic flooded me. Nikolai was about to get caught again, and he’d also find out what I’d done.

The De Sanctis men outside were looking around. Nikolai started toward me, his eyes following my gaze outside. He froze for a moment, his intelligent eyes quickly assessing the situation.

The men in suits started toward the motel. There were only moments before they saw us.

I needed Nikolai to run and leave me behind out of necessity.

“They’re coming. You need to go.” My voice was surprisingly calm, given how panic was spreading like wildfire inside me. A beat passed between us as I backed toward the staircase.

“If you leave out the back now, you’ll get away.” My voice sounded calmer than I felt. “Just go. Leave me here,” I said, taking in the way Niko’s body strained toward mine. It was like we were two magnets desperate to snap together but never allowed to.

His hands curled into hard fists.“Prom queen, this is not how this story ends,” he ground out.

I knew if I waited one more moment, drawn into his spell, we’d both be caught. Frantically aware of the approaching men, I spun toward the stairs and sprinted up them.

Nikolai couldn’t afford to waste his chance to slip out the back chasing me around the motel. He’d have to give up. I felt sick with anxiety as I ran up the stairs, my breath rasping in harsh pants from my chest. I pounded upwards, away from the commotion in the lobby. There was a noise behind me.

No, it couldn’t be. I risked a glance back and stifled a cry of pure frustration.

Nikolai charged like a bull up the stairs behind me.

He wasn’t escaping. He was chasing me. My heart fell and flew at the same time.

Clearing one level, I raced toward another short stair and fire exit sign in the darkness at the top. I put my head down and ran with all my might. I might not be super strong, but I was fast.

I burst through the door and into the cool morning air.

The failings of my plan became immediately clear. It wasn’t a roof like I’d thought. It was a rickety metal fire escape, and my momentum took me barreling over the edge.

A piercing scream left me as my hands scrabbled to hold on to the cold metal, the weight of my body pulling me down. I was going to fall. It wasn’t high enough to kill me unless I was unlucky, but there’d be broken bones. A lot of them.

My hand that gripped the metal rail overhead was slipping, my wrist burning where it was twisted. I tried to find something for my feet to perch on, to take the pressure off my wrists. Another scream left me as I slipped a good five inches. Metal paint and rust flakes embedded in my hand as I held on for dear life. Below me, the screams had brought the De Sanctis men running, but there wasn’t an easy way up, seeing as the bottom of the fire escape was completely blocked by a dumpster.

They wouldn’t reach me in time. I pictured banging my body off the dumpster edge and landing on the broken glass shining inside it.

Then strong fingers closed around my wrist.

“Hold on,” Nikolai said through gritted teeth as he wrapped a reassuring hand around my wrist and held on to me. “Give me your other hand. I’ll pull you up.”

I stared at him, my fear a living thing on my face. I was fucking terrified of falling.

Nikolai’s gray eyes stared steadily into mine, seeing into my very soul. “Sofia, trust me. Hold on to my hand and let me pull you up.”

I swallowed my scream as the entire fire escape shook. The combined weight of Nikolai leaning over the rickety structure and my dangling body was going to pull the whole thing off the wall. I swung my arm toward him and missed, nearly wrenching my shoulder out of the socket. Biting back tears, I swung again. This time, Nikolai lunged down, somehow keeping his feet on the ground, and grabbed my other hand. The pain in my arms lessened as my weight was balanced between both arms.

“I’ve got you. I won’t let you go,” Nikolai said calmly, as if we didn’t both know that De Sanctis men were rushing up the stairs at this very moment.

The truth sat between us, unspoken but undeniable.

If he let me go, he could probably still get away, but I’d fall.

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