Page 109 of Hidden Empire

“Don’t apologize,” I rasp, trying my hardest to quell my rage. The last thing I want to do is direct any of it to her, even accidentally. “Don’t ever apologize, Krasotka.”

Like she can’t help it, she shoots forward, thrusting her body against mine and hiding her face in the crook of my neck. She whimpers, trembling arms locking around my shoulders. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m s?—”

“Shhh,” I coax, holding the back of her head. “Don’t, Jade.”

“I’m sorry,” she persists. “What if they target you too? I’m s-scared.”

“Jade, listen to me, baby,” I say, keeping my voice firm. “I hope they come for me. I want them to try and take me out because they’ll expose themselves if they do. If I knew where they were, I’d already be leaving the Island to fucking crucify them.”

“Don’t be scared,” Ivan adds. “They may want you dead, but you aren’t an easy kill anymore, Jade. With the Morettis and the Morozovs, you’re untouchable.”

“I don’t feel untouchable,” she mumbles sadly, sniffing.

You will once they’re all dead.

With the low hours of the morning coming in fast, I know she has to go back to her room, but not until she’s had a couple of hours of sleep.

I carry her to bed, muttering soft words of encouragement.

You’re safe.

I’ve got you.

Just rest.

Without saying a word, Ivan climbs under the covers with us, laying down on Jade’s other side. Their hands intertwine, and eventually, she soundlessly drifts off.

Ivan closes his eyes, but I know he isn’t fully asleep. I can’t even bring myself to shut mine, knowing that if I do, I’ll have a waking nightmare. Jade’s story is playing in my head on a loop, and all I can see is her broken spirit and her terrified face.

I won’t sleep for a singular second today, but it’s fine. As long as she gets to, I can handle this. As long as she can endure the memories, I’ll endure the knowledge of them.

Until I can do something about it.

Jade is much happier when she wakes up. In fact, she seems a bit embarrassed by her emotional state from the night before. Thankfully, she doesn’t apologize again.

With Ivan’s help, we get her back into her room before the early risers start to roam around campus, running for training or getting up to eat before the crowd.

If we didn’t need to be on our guards, we’d be on our way to the fighting ring to beat the hell out of each other and shake this edge off. That’s not an option, so I need to hear something to make me feel marginally better, and I know just where I need to go for that. Ivan will hang around, keeping an eye on Jade while I disappear into the forest.

Half a mile walk later, I find the measly little waterfall flowing, and just who I’m looking for sitting in front of it.

“I should have never told you I come here,” he mutters, not looking up from his book. “What are you here to bother me about this time?”

“Jade,” I answer honestly.

Nico looks up from his book, blinking at me like he must have heard me wrong.

“That’s funny,” he snarls without a hint of humor. “I thought you just said my sister’s name, but that can’t be right, can it?”

“She’s friends with Ivan,” I reveal, knowing it isn’t the time to show all of my cards.

With one hand, he closes the book, snapping the pages together. “Since when, exactly? This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

“They have knives together.” I shrug, trying to lighten the news.

He arches a challenging brow. “Is there a reason that Ivan is taking a knives class? Did he hit his head and forget that he’s been using them since childhood?”

“Ivan takes courses that don’t piss him off, like someone else I know,” I say, waving him off. If Nico can relate to Ivan on anything, it’s his disdain for dull Empire Academy classes. My brother is here for me, and now he’s here for Jade.

---