Page 6 of Malevolent King

Nikolai straightened and tucked a gun into his waistband. He picked up another and pointed it toward me. I jerked away from him and screamed against the gag, pure liquid adrenaline shooting through my veins.

A dark chuckle met my cry.

“Don’t worry, you’re my insurance, remember?” He hauled me to his front. The cold muzzle of the gun pressed into my temple. He leaned his head against mine, and his chest expanded. “But don’t fight me, Sofia. You know it never ends well for you.”

His words scared and pissed me off at the same time. I turned a murderous look on him, twisting to communicate my fury. One of his full lips quirked upward for a moment before he propelled me forward.

Tension made me more alert than ever. Every movement heightened my senses, listening for the slightest sound. If someone could distract Niko, I could use it to my advantage. We reached the door, and he pushed me through first. My eyes burned in the sudden light of the late morning after adapting to the darkness of the garage. I glanced up toward the camera I knew was mounted above the hulking original building, the same feeds that Gino had been checking at the guard post. Gino would see. He would come.

“Let’s go,” Nikolai said when I stumbled over my feet.

My boots weren’t designed for walking well at the best of times, never mind when staggering about at gunpoint.

Besides the garage of the main house, a small alley ran toward the high wall protecting the property. Beyond it were the woods and freedom.Freedom.How odd was it that my captor’s goals aligned with mine? While Nikolai might win his freedom, fighting his way out of the hornet’s nest, I knew I was stuck forever. Locked inside the cage of my father’s ownership until he signed over the responsibility to another man.

I stumbled again over a larger rock, and Niko tutted in my ear. As he hauled me up, I let my weight drop and kicked at his knee.

Nikolai grunted and grabbed my chin in a bruising grip. The gun pressed harder into my temple. “Don’t fuck with me. This isn’t the time for games. You aren’t showing much regard for your life right now. You should work on your sense of self-worth. Maybe try therapy if you make it through this, and stop pissing me off.”

He released my face, and his mocking words brought a bubble of hysteria to my lips. I was being abducted by the Joker, and I was pretty sure no one could stop him. Nikolai Chernov was renowned in our world. He wasn’t a man to fuck with. Despite his relatively young age, his reputation was terrifying.

Hauling me up, he forced me on. I trudged toward the wall as slowly as possible. Maybe I could buy time by being as slow as hell. I focused on the wall and fought an internal scream. There had been a storm a few weeks ago, and it had brought down some trees in the woods. One had landed against the wall, giving someone the perfect footholds to scale it from the other side. Niko was right about one thing: my father was arrogant in some ways with security. Sure, he had my virginity guarded around the clock but only assigned four measly guards to escort a dangerous prisoner. He didn’t even care that there was a way inside the compound from the woods. I supposed he thought that the mighty De Sanctis family could handle whatever threat came at them. My father had always been a victim of his own hubris.

“Stop right there!” a panicked male voice called.

I felt like crying with gratitude.

Nikolai stopped immediately, yanking me to his chest harder than ever. The gun felt like a brand against my temple.

Gino stood in the narrow gap between the houses. He was holding a gun and pointing it right at us. By his pallor and look of utter terror, I realized he could get hurt trying to save me and still fail.

“Don’t move. I’ve caught you,” he called. Puffing up his chest, he jerked the gun slightly to the side. “Let her go.”

Nikolai chuckled, which only increased the tension.

Gino swore, and his hand trembled on the gun. “I’m not joking. Let her go. I’ve caught you!”

“I don’t think you have. In fact, I think you may have just got yourself in trouble. We were going to slip out nice and quiet, and no one had to get hurt,” Nikolai said and then added, “Well, no oneelsehad to get hurt.”

I wondered if he was talking about the dead guards in the garage or my future self.

Gino shook his head bullishly. “I won’t let you take her. Sofia, come here.”

When Nikolai spoke, I could hear his cruel grin.

“I can’t decide if you’re blind or just stupid. Can’t you see my gun? If you take one more step, I’ll put a bullet in Antonio De Sanctis’ daughter’s brain, escape anyway, and leave you alive to explain to your boss why his only daughter died.”

Gino swallowed hard. “As opposed to explaining why I let a psychopath like you take her away, abduct her, to do God knows what to her? No.”

My heart soared at Gino’s resolute tone.

“Brother, God has nothing to do with the things I’m going to do to your little prom queen,” Nikolai growled, his patience seeming to run out. “Drop the gun now, or someone dies. Regardless, I’ll still be leaving here with a fucking spring in my step.”

There was no mistaking his sincerity. He meant it, and both Gino and I knew he was capable of it. In the end, I didn’t want Gino to get killed. I didn’t want to be the reason he was hurt. I locked eyes with him and subtly shook my head.Leave it. Get help. I’ll be okay until then.

He stared at me for a long moment before swearing. With a decisive nod, he raised his gun, pointing it at the sky. “Okay, I get it. Let her go, and I’ll look the other way and not try to stop you.”

Nikolai’s satisfaction radiated from him. “You’ve made a smart decision. What’s your name?”

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