Page 208 of The Harbinger

“F-Fuego…”

“So you do remember?”

Where was Sacha?

“Do you also remember your promise to me?”

I gave my head another firm shake, but his grip on my wrists tightened like a vice. “Revenge, Mia,” he hissed. “You’re my courier of death, the omen before the fall, the harbinger of absolute destruction.”

“I… I don’t know who you think—”

I twisted my shoulders desperately trying to break free, but his unyielding grasp showed no mercy.

“I know exactly who you are and what you will do for me to ensure Ruslan falls where he stands.”

“I think I should...”

“You weren’t always so bashful,” he interrupted, a sly grin creeping across his face. “There was a time when you had a fire in your belly, a lion’s roar in your soul.”

I jerked my gaze up his way, my stomach threatening to revolt on his shoes in the middle of the floor. The people danced around us with jubilation, their demented beliefs my ultimate nightmare.

“I’m proud to say we did well.”

We?

His voice, shifting and changing like a creature from another world, sent shudders down my spine as his punishing grip held me in place. Fuego...no, Nikolai was there in the basement with me, whispering cruel words into my ear. He taunted me, saying there was still too much fight left in me, too much of the person I used to be. He had tortured me, leaving me to rot in the damp darkness for days, with nothing to sustain me but the filthy water he had purposely contaminated. The only other life in that forsaken place were the rats scurrying around and feasting on the crumbs of my shattered spirit.

“You tortured me,” I said, my voice trembling.

“That’s a stretch.” His grip tightened on my arm as he spun us around the ballroom.

I searched again for any sign of Sacha, but he wasn’t there.

“I saved you,” he continued, his voice low and menacing. “I allowed you to liberate your mind from the shackles of negativity and despair, and you jumped at the opportunity. You should be thanking me.”

“I would’ve never agreed...” I protested, but he cut me off with a sharp movement of his head.

“Oh, but you did.” His grip on my arm tightened even more. “Our time is up. Good luck.”

Sacha appeared out of nowhere, struggling to push through the throngs of people.

“Close your eyes, Mia,” he commanded, his voice urgent. “Listen to the sound.”

A haunting familiar hum filled the air, coiling around us like a deadly serpent. It pierced through the chaos and confusion of the ballroom, consuming my mind and sending me spiraling into a void of darkness.

The tune continued to play, drowning out all other sounds, until the world around me ceased to exist.

Chapter 55

Sacha

Nikolaisweptheraroundthe dance floor, his grip on her arm vice-like, her face contorted with fear as her feet stumbled over his polished shoes.

The moment Mia’s expression turned ashen, I abandoned Marina and forced my way through the throngs of people, their drunken laughter and meaningless conversations a maddening din in my ears. They pulled at me, urging me to stop and converse, but my thoughts were fixated on one person and one person alone.

What had Nikolai said to her?

As I drew closer, Mia’s shoulders slumped, the tension draining from her body as Nikolai whispered something in her ear. Her expression turned blank before she turned and walked off the dance floor with a strange, hypnotic gait as though an unseen force had called her.

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