Page 56 of Fate and Fury

“I—” Katerina began, unsure what to say. She had never spoken to him of Maksim or Konstantin. But her Shadow, sworn to protect her, had missed nothing.

Niko rubbed his chest, as if it ached. “I can’t stand the thought of it, whoever you choose. But I want that freedom for you, my Dimi. I would never want you to be trapped as I am. Watching the Kniaz try to claim you—knowing you’d rather incinerate him than go to his bed—would ruin me. If hepressured you or touched you without your consent, I’d kill him, ruler of the realm or no.”

“We could leave now,” she whispered. “Before we’re sent to Rivki.”

“Leave?” he said, his voice cracking. “And go where?”

“Anywhere. We could follow Nadia and Oriel to the Magiya. Find a way to subvert the prophecy—if itisreal,” she said, holding up a hand to keep him from interrupting, “stop the Darkness from encroaching. And if we fail, then we’ll be gone from here. What does it matter, as long as we have each other?”

“You mean desert the village.” He stared at her like he’d never seen her before. “Abandon our obligations.”

Katerina straightened to her full height. When she spoke, her voice was cold. “I’m suggesting the opposite, actually. I want to save Iriska, with you. And we can fight demons wherever we are. They’re unfortunately quite portable, and there’s no shortage of them. Unless you’re referring to another obligation entirely.”

“I promised myself to her,” Niko said. He sounded miserable, but Katerina forced herself to press onward.

“You promised yourself to me as well. First, I might add.”

“I love you.” His voice was hollow. “More than is right. More than I should. But you cannot ask this of me, not as my Dimi or as my heart. You know the choice my father made—and what it cost him. You know I’m the last chance for my bloodline to survive.”

Compassion softened her voice as she thought of the wounded, orphaned boy he’d been. “Your father failed Dimi Sokolova. Abandoned her in battle. You would never do such a thing.”

“I would never desert you in battle, true. But to renounce my duty, to break the covenant between Vila and Shadow…it’s almost as shameful.” He drew a deep, resigned breath. “And I care for Elena as a friend. I wouldn’t humiliate her beforethe village. She’s done nothing wrong, Katerina. She deserves better.”

The truth of his words hit Katerina like blows. Instinctively, she deflected them. “You may love me, but Elena lovesyou. Do you not shame her by taking her as your wife when your heart is given elsewhere?”

His gaze dropped to the floor. “What can I do? I stood before Kalach and promised her faithfulness in heart and body. I can give her neither. But the promise of marriage—I can keep that, if in name only. I can give her the Vila or Shadowchildren duty demands.”

Katerina’s face burned. “And I suppose you’ll hate every minute of it!”

Niko ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I don’t want her. I wantyou. My heart is yours. If there were any other way—any honorable choice left to me—I would seize it. And when one day you take another man to your bed, Kniaz or no, it will destroy me.” His voice was hoarse. “The way I feel about you is the greatest gift I’ve ever been given. And the deepest curse.”

For once, Katerina was speechless.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. “Elena knows nothing about us.” His lips trailed from behind her ear to her collarbone, nudging the material of her shift aside. “If she did, do you think she’d keep it to herself for a second? She’d go running to Baba Petrova and have the Elders on our doorstep a moment after she found out the truth.”

“That does sound like Elena,” Katerina admitted.

“I know.” She felt him smile against her skin. “Can we stop talking about her now, please? And finish what we started?” His fingers traced a path down the front of her shift, loosening the ribbon.

Despite the uneasy feeling that still shifted like mercury low in her belly, Katerina couldn’t help but laugh. “Really? You’re not tired?” she teased.

“There’s tired, Katya,” he said, tugging the ribbon free, “and then there’s dead. And I’d have to be the latter to give up a chance to be with you. That said, if I fall asleep in the middle, feel free to wake me up again.”

She looked down at his dark hair, head bent as he pressed a kiss to the slope of her breast. When she spoke, her voice was soft. “I love you, Niko.” She had never been brave enough to say the words before, though she had thought them often enough.

Niko froze. Then his head came up and his eyes fixed on hers. In their depths she saw all the lifetimes they might have had: A thousand nights spent together, a baby with his black hair and her black heart—for she had long thought that of the two of them, he was kinder and more forgiving, not to mention far more honorable. If he only said the word, Katerina would flee with him in an instant, responsibilities be damned.

“Say that again,” he whispered.

“I love who I am when I’m with you. With you by my side, I believe I can do anything.” A sob wrenched its way from her throat. “I don’t know how to give you up.”

“My Katya.” He ran his thumb beneath her eyes, wiping away her tears. “I love how you burn in battle. How your magic fills me, welling beneath my skin until I can’t tell where you end and I begin. How every time we kiss, you shatter me like ice and you scorch me like a flame and you never let me lie.”

Katerina fisted her hand in his shirt and tugged him toward her. He came, his eyes darkening as he bent to her and she took his mouth with hers. The kiss was greedy, filled with her fear that it might be their last. How many more times would she hold him this way?

His breath caught as she pushed his shirtsleeve up and found his Mark. It came alive under her touch, its pulse echoing through her body.

So many times, he had faced down a horde of demons at her side, wielding his body like the weapon it was. But here, in her arms, he was undone by nothing more than a touch. The power of it—of what they were together—overwhelmed her.

---