Page 72 of Shattered Empire (Shattered World)

Lifting my chin, I eyed my birth father. “He is right,” I admitted honestly. “I was thirteen, living in the shadow of the Bolsheokhtinsky bridge, when Antony attacked me in the dead of night. I defended myself. It wasn’t until his last breath that I realized who he was. When he asked me to forgive him and called me brother.”

Andrei’s darkened gaze turned to his brother. “You told me Antony was killed by the Fedorovs.” Kirill audibly swallowed, the fat of his neck tightening, his pulse thumping, his pupils pinpoints as his fight-or-flight instinct took over. He was sweating, his eyes wild as he took all three of us in.

“Why don’t you tell him what really happened, Kirill?” The utter disdain I had for this man rolled off me in waves. This would be his last stand. He wouldn’t escape this room. Not alive. “Tell him how you are the one who stole our mother. Forced her to be your whore after you got her addicted to drugs. And then, when Andrei called you up to take part in his regime, you overdosed her with those very drugs. Kicked me out on the streets.

“Tell the brother who trusted you how you sent Antony to kill me. Whispering in his ear that I was the bad guy. That he needed to prove himself by killing me. How you set Ivan up so that his own father would lose faith in him. Why don’t you tell him the truth for once? That all you wanted was the power the Tkachenko name gave you so you could move your human cargo without worry. That you are nothing more than an ugly, fat traitor to your blood. You are nothing more than dirt beneath his shoes. A coward. A loser. A—”

“Enough!” Kirill roared, standing, silver cross cane gripped tightly in one hand. His knuckles were turning white, his face the color of dark beet juice. This was the man I knew growing up. The one who easily lost control, and when he lost control, he made mistakes. Just like he was now. “You know nothing, boy,” he spat. “Nothing about being the outcast. The bastard child. I worked just as hard as Andrei and was given nothing for it. Nothing. While Andrei got everything. So, I made my little side business and built my army.”

“I treated you like a true brother.” Andrei shook his head, disappointed. “Never once did I treat you as anything less than pure blood.”

Kirill sneered. “Please.” He rolled his eyes. “Father was right. You are weak. Allowing yourself to draw lines and enforce values. You were so drowned by your grief after the loss of that whore and her child. You made our father look weak when you married her. She was nothing. Her children are nothing.”

“I should have seen this sooner.” Andrei sighed deeply. There was a flash of anger behind his stormy eyes, but he was the picture of calm as his brother ripped him apart with his words. “His influence over you was greater than I imagined. I thought…” He shook his head lightly, never taking his eyes off Kirill. You never give the enemy a chance to catch you unaware, and Kirill was now his enemy. “I was a fool to believe you were a better man than him.”

Kirill scoffed. “You only saw what I wanted you to see.” He jabbed, his dark smile triumphant. “And now.” He lifted the gold embossed lighter from his desk and flicked the spark wheel. The flint ignited, and I surged forward, ready to sacrifice myself for the father I’d never had a chance to know. We tumbled to the floor, my body shielding his.

Nothing came.

No pain.

No blood.

Chest heaving, I drew up, eyes scanning and alert.

Kirill growled and ignited the lighter again and again, but nothing happened.

“Fucking—” Glass shattered, raining down around me. I swept my arm up to protect my face, the rest of my body still shielding the man beneath me.

“Boss? Are you okay?” Dima’s voice was panicked in my ear. “Boss?”

Growling, I stood up, offering Andrei my hand. He took it, and I helped him to his feet.

“We’re good, Dima,” I told him. “Looks like we’ve got a guardian angel out there.”

“Well.” A soft voice filtered in from the doorway. I turned to see Kenzi leaning lazily against the frame, her brown hair in a tight bun, clad in black from head to toe. “I wouldn’t say I’m an angel.” She shrugged. “But I definitely feel guardian-like right now.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Ivan spat as he drew his gun. Kenzi eyed it wearily, a perfectly stenciled eyebrow raised at the man.

“Really?” She scoffed. “I’m pretty sure I just blew my cover for your ass.” Before Ivan could utter another word, Kenzi shifted. Her moves were swift and precise as she shot forward, wrenching the gun from my brother’s hand, and disassembling it within a matter of seconds. “A thank you would be appreciated.”

Andrei barked a laugh from behind me.

“Leave it to Kirill to hire an assassin.” He shook his head. “Man can’t even get his hands dirty to kill his own brother.” He spat at Kirill’s body. It laid slumped against the bookcases; head lolled to the side with a giant bullet hole straight between his eyebrows. “Could have merely injured him, though. Would have been useful to interrogate him.”

Kenzi groaned. “Everyone’s a critic,” she muttered. “You’re fucking welcome.”

Andrei smirked. “Thank you,malen’kiy ubiytsa.” Little assassin. It was fitting.

“I hope that wasn’t an insult.” She winked at him. “Because it sounds sexy.”

Andrei laughed, full and deep.

“He is right, though,” I sighed. “Whoever is running the Chameleon Agency, maybe even the Dollhouse, he knew who she was.”

“She?” Kenzi tipped her head to the side. “That’s disgusting. A woman trafficking and using other women? Definitely gonna need to revoke her chick card.”

Ivan snorted. “We’ll help you revoke her life card, if that helps.”

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