Page 39 of Lethal Alliance

“Oh, come on now, Nikolai. Tell her the rest.” Vilnus is still grinning.

Nikolai casts him a resentful glance. “Roman’s father built a vault here, years ago. For Darya’s—Lucia’s, that is—father. Vilnus wants to open it, but he needs Roman and Darya to do it. That’s why he took you, to blackmail Roman.” He looks at Vilnus. “That’s right, isn’t it?”

“Among other things.” Vilnus’s smile fades, the mean eyes settling on me. “I need your father to come here, Ofelia. The Petrovsky slut, too. Then, with my tame dog here”—he nods at Alexei—“they can open the vault, and I will finally get what I’m owed. But for that to happen, I need everyone to play their parts just right. And that means that our friend Borovsky needs to understand what will happen if he tries anything.” His eyes flicker coldly to Inger. “And your mother needs to understand that she’s only alive as long as I get what I want—and so are her daughters.”

He nods at Alexei. In a sudden, lethal rush, I’m on my back, Alexei looming over me.

“No!” Inger screams.

“Spread her legs,” Vilnus orders, and the sudden excitement in his voice makes me want to vomit. “Show me if she likes the knife as much as Darya did.”

There’s a sickening tear, and my dress falls open from groin to floor. The tip of Alexei’s knife, cold and dangerous, slides beneath the thin fabric of my underwear, slicing it away at the hip. His boot hooks under my knee and pushes it slowly outward, then the other knee, exposing me to the whole room.

I want to close my eyes in shame. I don’t want to see Vilnus and his guards staring eagerly between my legs, any more than I want to see the way Uncle Nicky’s eyes slide sideways then back again, as if he just can’t help but take a look, or Mama’s pale face, staring accusingly at Vilnus.

“Look at me.”Alexei’s voice is barely a whisper, a breath pushed through his lips, inaudible to anyone but me. I glance sideways. Masha is watching me, her face frozen in terror.

Alexei moves subtly, his body hiding my face from the group at the door. I hold Masha’s eyes with my own and force myself to smile.

Pretend,I mouth.

Masha’s eyes dart to Alexei. He gives her the tiniest of nods, and to my relief, the acute fear fades from her face. Suddenly she bursts into a fit of hiccuping tears, drawing the attention of all the watchers at the door.

If I hadn’t seen her pull the same trick with at least a dozen nannies, even I would buy it.

“Don’t move,” Alexei breathes under the cover of her tears.

I look up at him.

His eye hasn’t gone dull, like it normally does when Vilnus makes him take a knife to me. Instead it blazes a furious, intense blue, boring fiercely into my own. Strangely, the intensity isn’t frightening. It’s strengthening, like being injected with some vital force that makes my blood thrum through my body. His hand slides up my thigh, higher and higher, so close to the most intimate part of me that I can barely breathe, then halts. I feel the chill touch of the blade, right at the juncture of my thigh.

“Trust me,”he breathes.

The flat of the blade presses against my outer folds, a strange, cold pressure that makes me suck in my breath. His eye holds my own, and I bite my lip as the point pricks my skin.

“Scream.”

I do, a high-pitched shriek that fills the room and somehow manages to override the pain as Alexei’s knife slices the join of my thigh in a lightning flash of pain.

It’s only when he steps away that I feel the sudden rush of blood down my thigh and see the sickening fascination on the faces of the watching men.

I shrink back against the wall, wincing as I fold my legs, trying to tuck the remains of my dress around them. Masha runs to me, and we clutch each other close.

“That’s enough.” Inger’s voice is shrill.

“Oh, no, it isn’t,” says Vilnus silkily. “Nikolai is here to send a message, remember? Let’s give him something to take back to Roman. A little memento, something to prove that we mean what we say.”

Nikolai struggles against the arms holding him. “Don’t you dare cut her again—”

“As you wish, Nikolai.” Vilnus nods at the guard holding Inger, smiling unpleasantly. “Her, then.”

The guard pushes Inger into the room, covering her mouth with his hand. Alexei moves forward, wiping my blood from the blade with a cloth.

“A finger is all we need, I think, Alexei.” Vilnus’s eyes flash with excitement. “Given Inger’s history of infidelity, let’s make it the wedding ring finger, shall we?” He kicks a chair toward the guard, who forces Inger down so her hand is splayed on it.

Alexei moves over to the chair, positioning himself so she’s blocked from Masha’s and my view.

“Leave her alone!” Nikolai roars. “Inger!”

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