Page 3 of Ruthless Bonds

My pulse quickened as I took him in. Tall and broad-shouldered, he moved across the room like a predator stalking his prey. I couldn’t take my eyes off him, the room going silent with every step he took. His chiseled jawline could have cut glass, and his perfectly disheveled dark hair framed eyes so blue, they appeared almost black in the dim light.

I knew those eyes.

He grabbed something from the table, never slowing his pace until he stopped directly behind Sergei.

Sergei paled, sweat beading across his forehead as if he could feel the man’s presence behind him. There was no warning as the man raised a gleaming hook, and, in one fluid motion, sliced across Sergei’s throat. Warm blood sprayed across my arms and chest.

My breath came in ragged gasps as I tried to process the scene in front of me. The man stepped over Sergei’s lifeless body without sparing him another glance, closing the distance between us.

I should have been terrified. I should have been fighting against my bonds with desperation.

But I wasn’t.

Against all logic, a wave of relief washed over me.

“Hello,kotic,” he murmured, his voice deep andlaced with dangerous promise as it caressed my skin.

I glanced up at the ropes biting into my wrists, then back into those blue eyes I had thought about so often over the past six years. My voice was a whisper, mixed with emotions I could barely comprehend.

“K…” I held my breath as he pulled out a black handkerchief and stroked it across my cheek, wiping off Sergei’s blood. His eyes burned into mine, a darkness in them that had me shivering. “I think it’s time to call in that favor.”

The words hung in the air between us, heavy with unspoken promises.

I was in way more trouble than I could have ever imagined.

Chapter One

Alora

5 days ago

“You will not die on me. Do you hear me, Angus?”

Death had followed me around my whole life, and I needed a damn break. Have you ever tried to escape something toxic? It clings to you, suffocates you, and dares you to fight back. And just when you think you’ve finally outrun it, it finds you again.

I poked the soil of my pothos plant, scrunching up my nose. “Shit, when was the last time I watered you?” I grabbed the spray bottle and misted Angus, the droplets clinging to his green leaves.

I’d rescued Angus from a dumpster behind the bar I worked at, the Altar, last month. He’d been on the verge of dying, but I’d nursed him back to health.

Or so I had thought.

“Look”—I pinched off a yellow leaf—“we had a deal, remember? I’ll keep you off those mean Brooklyn streets, and you stay alive.”

My phone pinged with a text, and I chuckled at the message from my sister.

Stop talking to that half-dead plant like a weirdo and get over here, it’s about to start!

“Ignore her, Angus, she’s just going through some things right now.”

A leaf unfurled slightly, as if he understood me, and I grinned.

“That’s the spirit. Remember, you’re flourishing; you’re going to grow big and strong…” My phone pinged again, and I tossed the bottle onto the counter with a sigh.

“Did you get the tray?” I yelled over my shoulder as I grabbed a bottle of wine.

Yes, hurry!

I walked down the hall toward the living room, flicking off lights as I went. Dove was curled up on our tattered old couch, balancing my makeshift charcuterie board on her lap. The cheap plastic plate overflowed with snacks I had put together: PB&J with the crusts cut off, carrots and celery sticks, and cheese cubes next to some slightly-past-their-prime salami slices I had rescued from the bar. But my pièce de résistance was a bunch of strawberries I’d cut into flowers, mostly to cover up all the scratches on the plate. While it wasn’t fancy, it was just right for us. I unscrewed the cap to the wine bottle and poured us each a glass, placing the bottle next to some fresh flowers I’d picked last night after taking photos.

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