Page 114 of Little Blue

I’m to meet Popov with Ruby, alone, tomorrow, in a location of his choosing.

If I’m accompanied by my army, she will die.

If I don’t have Ruby, she will die.

If I don’t come, she will be made a whore.

My jaw tightens. The way I’m going to kill Ivan for those words alone.

The way I’m going to torture Boris for his involvement in her capture. For his betrayal.

“Tonight will be a good surprise, then.” Misha doesn’t grin. But there is a maniacal glint in his eyes that would make any man quiver.

“A surprise,” I repeat. I look again at the photo of Irelynn, the dark blue bloom across her beautiful face. The wide set of eyes so filled with terror, I feel sick. That’s not how she looked at me when I first took her. “Tonight, will be a bloodbath.”

Misha stands back to assess me. “What about Ruby?”

“Ruby’s fate is in Kirill’s hands now. If she knows mercy, it will be from him. If she joins her father in death, again, it will be his choice.”

“Kirill won’t kill a woman,” Misha scoffs.

“I said it would be his choice. Not that it would be done at his hands.” Placing Ruby with Kirill had been a mistake. My brother is too publicly known to have his hands dirtied with a kidnapping. If I hadn’t had Irelynn, I would have brought the girl here to spend some time in my dungeon.

What a fucking mess.

“You would kill the girl?”

I meet Misha’s eyes. “She knows too much. If Kirill can’t tame her, if he doesn’t want to tame her, then she will join the father she loves so dearly.”

Misha nods. He knows I don’t kill the innocent easily. But there is nothing innocent about the blood that rages inside her veins. She’s the daughter of a true monster. A man who breaks apart families and sells bodies, flesh, and souls.

Does she know who her sire is?

“We will do what must be done.” He slides another blade into his belt, affixed just below the tactical vest that will take any bullet that might aim for his chest. “Right now, saving Irelynn and killing Popov is what is important.”

I pull the black toque down over my head. “Are the men ready?”

Forty-Seven

Irelynn

My head snaps up from where it lolls on my shoulder. Drool I can’t reach with my bound hands clings to the corner of my mouth, the tickle as it slides slowly toward my chin is an itch I can’t scratch. Desperately, I do my best to wipe it with my shoulder as the door opens, and a new man enters.

I’ve seen Ivan and Boris a few times now. Every time since the first, Ivan has tried to question me about Ilya. Why did he take me? Who am I really to him? To the man they call The Void. What is it about me that strikes his interest?

I have no answers to give. They’re all questions I’ve asked myself countless times over the last two months.

For my ignorance, I’ve received a few more blows to the face. The last had my jaw clapping so viciously, I’d feared a broken tooth.

Thankfully, a thorough tongue inspection proved only intact teeth.

“Hello,” the new man says slowly, his dark eyes appraising me leisurely in a way that makes me feel as though I am wearing nothing at all. “I’ve heard that you are a rare beauty.” His lips curl in a smile that doesn’t feel genuine, but wholly terrifying. “It appears, I heard right.”

“Who…” My throat burns. I’m so thirsty, and I’ve cried so much.

He takes the chair, two perfectly arched brows arching. “Who am I?”

I nod.

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