Page 140 of The Harbinger

Her head shot up, and our eyes collided. “Your mother.”

A wave of coldness washed over me as I swiped the side of my fist over my lips. Dmitri cleared his throat, his head swiveling as he checked traffic.

It was only a matter of time before she found Ina. Her curiosity and propensity towards rebellious behavior predicted as much.

“What of her?”

Mia’s eyes watered as she sputtered to speak.

“Spit it out, Mia. What did she say?”

The woman may be on her way out, but it didn’t stop her from spewing ridiculous predictions from her decaying lips. Although she didn’t speak English, so what could she have said to Mia that would have her running through the forest as though her life depended on it?

“She’s dead… I didn’t—”

My ears roared with my pulse rushing to my brain, my heart stammering like her broken sentences. It helped to drown out her explanation of events. Not that I wanted to hear them.

“Pull over,” I commanded, and the vehicle lurched to a stop on the side of the country road.

“Sacha, please. If I would’ve known…” Her chin trembled as she pulled her wet knees to her chest to protect her from whatever she envisioned me doing to her.

I stepped out of the car and paced, my other security detail flanking us.

Gone.

She was gone, no longer around to rule from her deathbed…

Chapter 33

Mia

MythroattightenedasI fought to hold back the tears, my hand shaking as I wiped them from my cheeks. I longed to curl up in the fetal position, to disappear into the shadows and escape.

Sacha leaned against the vehicle parked behind us on the side of the road. Cars zipped by, but he stared blankly ahead, looking through the car as if lost in thought. His eyes were vacant, and his expression remained stolid and unmoving.

It was impossible to read his mind from his body language, leaving me with unease that tightened my chest like a vice. Each breath was like a stab of needles, and I struggled to inhale.

I turned to Dmitri, who drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “What is he doing?”

“Looks like he’s thinking.”

I pulled on the door handle, but the locks clicked into place before I could open it.

“You’re staying put.”

“I want to go to him.” I unlocked the door and tugged, but it didn’t budge. He’d engaged the child lock? “Let me out.”

“If he wanted to be around you, he’d be in here.”

My heart cracked in two, my belly twisted as I dipped my head, my hair covering my face from his judgmental gaze.

“He just found out his mother died. I want to be there for him.” The irony burned on my tongue as the words slipped from my mouth. I hadn’t wanted to be there because he’d blame me like Ivan said, but now that Ivan hadn’t told him I’d killed her, my desire to hold him was like a caustic itch across my skin. “So let me out.”

“I don’t follow your orders. Now sit and be quiet.”

I turned back to stare at the man standing as still as stone with a huff, then turned forward, drew my knees closer to my chest, and wrapped my arms around them.

Nausea tumbled in my belly as time ticked, my heart rate amping into an uncontrollable rhythm.

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