Page 185 of The Harbinger

I kneeled beside her. “And what was it that you wanted? I thought this was all for me and the betterment of the church.”

“She doesn’t deserve you, my boy.” She lifted her hand, and it fell before it could reach my cheek. “Katya belongs at your side.”

And there was the meat of the matter, her heart’s truest desires. “You’re right.” I hung my head, and Mia’s captivating gray eyes filtered through the muck, her lustrous smile warming my chest. “She deserves more. But Katya will never be anything to me.”

“Will you protect Katya when I’m gone?”

My heart thrummed at her request. “Let’s see if she’s worthy.” I snapped my fingers, bringing Dmitri’s attention to me. “Find Katya.”

A twig snapped in the silence of the night, the forest calm otherwise. I scanned the trees and fixated on the faint figure in green running towards the house. “Get her and bring Katya to me.”

My defiant temptress pressed her boundaries at every turn.

“What will you do with her,” she asked with weakness.

“Whatever my heart desires.”

Chapter 47

Mia

Iranonmytiptoes, my feet moving over sticks, pine needles, leaves, and muck.

Snap.

A twig broke beneath my feet, and I hunched in on myself, glancing over my shoulder, my stomach revolting, my heart rate at max.

Sacha kneeled beside Catherine while Dmitri broke through the trees, coming in my direction.

Katya was next.

I flung open the back door, slid inside, my feet dirty, and screamed, “Katya!”

Please don’t be here.

“Katya!” I repeated her name up and down the hall until her head poked out of a room on the second floor.

“Mia? What is it?”

“You need to leave.” I took two steps at a time until I hit the second floor and shoved her back into the room.

It was empty, save for a few cleaning supplies.

My breaths rode my lungs hard, a hitch in my side lanced through my ribcage. I held on to it, my head throbbing.

“You’re bleeding. What happened?”

Her hand came to my shoulder, where my blood spilled down my back. “Don’t worry about me. Sacha is searching for you. He’s come after your mother for trying to kill me.”

She reared back, shocked emblazoned on her brows. “My mama?”

I grabbed her upper arms and gave her a slight shake. “Dmitri is searching for you to bring you to him. Leave now—”

The door flew open and banged against the wall with a reverberating crash. Dmitri stood in the doorway, his fists clenched at his sides, his words Russian.

Katya lowered her head and walked toward him without hesitation, but I quickly pulled her back. “Did you not hear what I just said? You can’t go out there.”

“My elder has called for me. I must obey.”

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