Page 26 of The Devils' Darling

I suspect it’s the kind of language Stepanov understands best.

My injuries are screaming at me today, and I can’t be distracted. I discreetly pop a couple of pills. I tell myself it’s different this time. I’ll only take the Oxy until we’ve got our Duchess back. Then I’ll stop. I just need to be on my A-game. I can’t let her down, and if that means using the crutch of the pain meds just for a few days, so be it.

This isn’t like before. I’m not using them to deal with emotional shit. This is purely pain relief, and I’m in control this time, not the pills.

“I’ll talk to him and call you back in five.” Dom hangs up.

When my phone buzzes, I pick up right away. “Yes?”

“He says come to the back entrance, the staff one Kirill left from. Drive into the parking lot on the other side of the stables. His men will greet you.”

“Of course.”

I could get bent out of shape about being made to use the staff entrance, the way I’m sure my father would in these circumstances, and start demanding my due respect, but this is about our Duchess, not about me. I wave Leon and Diego over.

“We need to take the Land Rovers in the back way. Nataniele, the dean, is going to have his men come and meet us there. They’ll want to inspect the vehicles, so let them. This isn’t about a dick swinging contest. This is about getting Mackenzie back alive. We need to work with Nataniele on this. I’ll go ahead in my car, and you guys follow me.”

“You’re the boss,” Leon says.

Those words make me feel the weight of the situation. This isn’t a game and, if I fuck up, I could get Duchess or Kirill killed.

I’m sure Dom is feeling the same way.

We need to bring our friend home, and our Duchess, too. Then we need to go scorched earth. None of her enemies can be left alive, presenting a threat to her.

As the men get into the Land Rovers and I slide into the driver’s seat of my car, I think about the future. In one way, the compound in Buenos Aires would be a safe place for our Duchess because she’d be surrounded by guards. In another, not so much, because there are always rival groups willing to risk everything to take it over.

Would anywhere be safe?

The college, maybe, but Dom isn’t going to want to spend his life on campus with his dad breathing down his neck. And everyone would see we’re a foursome at some point, and that would cause so much shit. Hell, if Dom’s dad marries Lucia, we would have to leave, because no way would anyone accept him and Kenzie together.

Shit. This is all such a fucking mess.

I jiggle my leg and feel for the pill bottle in my pocket.

The reassurance of the smooth plastic calms me.

I can do this.

We can do this.

Chapter 10

Mackenzie

The reason Kirill is acting so strangely hits me.

It’s the dark. Kirill is afraid of the dark.

The moment the lights went out, something changed. I thought things were already bad enough, but it’s as though he’s no longer himself.

He’s panting like he’s running a marathon, and he’s on his feet, pacing. I wish I could see him, but the dark is like peering into black soup. I can sense his movement, though, the vibration of his steps through the metal floor, and the stirring of the air around us.

I can’t reach him properly because of this fucking collar connecting me to the bars, but that doesn’t stop me trying. I reach back, my shoulder straining, just trying to make contact with him. My heart is racing. I’m afraid of what he’s going to do. It’s like being caged with a wild animal, and when wild animals are trapped and afraid, they lash out.

“Fuck,” he growls.

He smashes into something, and then he must have hold of the cage because it starts to shake violently as he rattles the bars.

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