Page 187 of Silenced

Boris, reading between the lines, punches Rundel until he’s moaning, head rocking dully against the ground, then he pinches his nostrils to force the bastard’s mouth open.

Dropping the pills inside, I wait for him to swallow then snag a handkerchief from my pocket and shove it between his teeth. That’s when Boris passes me a roll of duct tape.

As we tape Rundel’s mouth closed, I grab my knife from my holster and I slice two Xs in his cheeks.

As his blood pours free and he pleads with eyes that showed my woman no mercy, I rumble, “Your foolishness is my gain, Rundel. You treated her like an animal, and I’ll treat her like a queen.” It’s unlike me to make big speeches, not when each word feels like it slips from vocal cords wrapped in barbed wire, but this is a special occasion so I dig in the metaphorical knife. “You can die knowing that she’ll live on and find happiness with another man. I’m sure that’ll hurt but not as much as what’s about to happen to you.”

As he struggles, screaming against his gag, Boris hauls the chair toward the gates which open up behind him.

“Any alligators in the enclosure?”

“None at the moment.”

I grunt.

The smell of blood will bring them quickly enough.

Boris drags Rundel out onto the shores of the swamp. Quickly, he rushes back into the enclosure, and the gates close behind him.

Cassiopeia hasn’t moved since I left her side.

Gingerly, feeling every fucking ache in my body as if it’s an echo, I return to her.

She nestles into me, hiding her face in my chest, whispering, “I loved him once.”

I think about those red pills—the debt he incurred to get them because they’re not cheap, what he intended on doing with them…

But I keep her in the dark.

She’s been tainted by Rundel enough.

“Then he’s the idiot for being given that gift and for throwing it away.” It’s getting easier to talk to her, but I still sound like I’ve been chewing glass. As I smooth my good hand down her spine, I rasp slowly, “I hope you know I’ll never be that stupid.”

She blows out a breath that spreads warmth over my chest. I’m sure she’s thinking about the things that Harvey undoubtedly promised her in the past, promises he ultimately broke, but she makes no mention of that, merely nuzzles her face into my shirt and whispers, almost so low that I don’t hear her, “I believe you.”

It’s only because she loves me, because she has faith in me, because shetrustsme, that she can believe me, and that means more than a declaration of love—it means everything.

“Vasily will eat well tonight,” I promise, knowing that I’m only able to speak those words because of her.

Before she came into my life, broken fingers or not, silence would have kept me in its cage.

She stiffens a touch then whispers, “I should meet him. I could tell Dmitri judged me when I said I hadn’t.”

Though inside, I tense at his name, I rumble, “Only because Vasily is special.”

In my arms, she squirms. “Why?”

“He is Zub’s son. Her first hatchling.”

Cassiopeia sucks in a breath. “Oh.”

I nuzzle my nose over her temple where her scent is sweetest. “You can meet him another time.”

When he isn’t busy with a Harvey Rundel-shaped appetizer, entrée, and dessert.

48

NIKOLAI

---