Page 133 of 10 Days to Surrender

“I said let him fucking run.” I’m already moving toward Ariel. “My wife needs me.”

But before I can reach her, something catches my eye. Jasmine, who’s been silent since reading Kosti’s letter, suddenly stands. Her face is a mask of cold fury I’ve never seen before.

Feliks doesn’t see it coming. None of us do. One moment, Jasmine’s a statue, carved from marble and old scars. The next?—

She lunges forward and snatches the gun from his hand, along with the burner phone. Growling, he lunges right back at her—but he freezes when she levels the gun at his chest.

Everyone goes deathly still. “Jasm?—”

“Not another fucking word, Sasha.” Her voice doesn’t shake. It’s the steady hum of high-tension wires carrying too much load.

Behind me, Ariel’s scream crests and breaks against the storm. I don’t turn. Can’t. Every muscle coils, ready to intervene—but the gun’s safety switches off with a click that drowns out thunder.

Feliks leans toward her, hand outstretched. “Jasmine, if you just give me the?—”

“Try it,” she dares. “See what happens.”

He takes a half-step forward. “Jasmine, goddammit, put that down before?—”

The gun swings his way. “Back. The. Fuck. Up.”

Rain soaks through my shirt, my skin, my bones. I taste iron. Everything’s rusted through.

“Jasmine,” I say carefully, “you don’t want to do this.”

“Really?” Her laugh is bitter, sharp-edged. “You think you know what I want? You’ve always thought that, haven’t you? That you know best. That we should all dance to your song.”

“Jas—”

“Fifteen years,” she whispers. “For fifteen years, I’ve been grateful to you. Thanked you in my prayers. Called you mysavior.” She spits the last word like it tastes foul. “But you weren’t saving me at all, were you? You were just… trading up. A better deal. A fresher pawn.”

“It wasn’t like that,” I say. The same thing I told Ariel. But the words sound hollow even to my own ears the second time around.

“Oh, yes, it was.” She sighs. “But as much as I might want to, I won’t kill you. Not because my sister loved you, though the devil knows you don’t deserve a drop of her goodness. I’m only letting you live because of those children. You won’t ever see them, if I have my way. You’ll never lay a fucking finger on them. But theywill know that somewhere out in the world, you exist. That’s forthem.Not for you.”

Jasmine’s eyes—hereyes, Ariel’s eyes, Makris eyes—glint in the lightning. “Now, answer me this: Is he with Dragan?”

“You should?—”

She jabs the gun into my chest. “Where is Kosti going?” The gun doesn’t waver. “Tell me the truth. You think he’s with Dragan, don’t you?”

I hesitate. Behind me, thunder crashes.

The safety clicks off.

“Don’t lie to me,” Jasmine snarls. “Not again. Never again. Where. Is. He. Going?”

I close my eyes briefly. “Yes. The coordinates on that phone—my best guess is that they lead to Dragan.”

“Good.” She starts backing away, the gun still trained on my heart. “That’s where I’m going, then.”

“Ti mou,” Belle cries, “please?—”

“Don’t follow me.” Jasmine’s voice lashes out. “Any of you. I mean it. I’m done being pushed around. Done being someone’s piece. From now on, I move myself.”

“You’ll die,” I tell her roughly.

Her smile is terrible to behold. “Maybe. But at least it will be my choice. My move. For once in my life, I get to decide what happens to Jasmine Makris.”

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