Page 47 of His Hold

She’s right. And that pisses me off more than anything.

My lips twitch. “Not the worst way to go.”

I crouch beside the man on the floor. With a yank, I pull off his mask, my eyes locking onto his face. A stranger.

But Katya’s already gasping like someone’s cut the air from her lungs.

“Oh my god,” she whispers. Her voice is ragged with something like horror.

Whoever he is, she knows him.

“Who is he?” I press, my words edged with urgency.

Katya swallows hard, her eyes locked on the dead man’s face. “He’s... the bartender who told me about the place.”

Chapter 15

Katya

My head is ringing, but it is not from a headache. It feels like someone is stomping their feet inside it, and I can’t tell why. What I do know for certain is that I’ve just saved Nikolai. I’m freaked out, in a way, by this mostly because, before this cabin, I’d have been the happiest and most relieved to watch someone take him out. But seeing it happen in front of me now felt vastly wrong.

And Nikolai is staring really hard right now. “The bartender?”

I swallow hard, my eyes falling on the bartender’s lifeless form. The same man who’d warned me about this place when I was tailing Nikolai. “Yeah. Him.”

“Who is he?”

“He was on duty, a small pub on Fifth. After I heard your conversation on the phone. I went there while following you. He told me about this cabin. About how bad things happen here and to stay away if I had any sense.”

Nikolai’s stare narrows. “So why the hell would he come after you?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. He warned me. Told me to stay away. So why show up here? Why warn me at all? What’s the point of pretending to be helpful just to come here and—”

“Kill you?” Nikolai finishes the sentence. “Maybe he was trying to push you here. Herd you into a trap. Or maybe he was just another piece on someone else’s chessboard. Disposable.”

“That’s... possible.” My mind races, trying to piece it together. “He must’ve known I was following you. Maybe he was supposed to keep an eye on me. Gain my trust, then...”

“Then lead you right into this. But he didn’t know I was coming here. How could he?” Nikolai’s eyes glint with something dark and calculating. “You talk to anyone? Other than him?”

“No. Just him.”

“Then he followed you. Simple as that. And he didn’t come alone because he was probably briefed to bring backup.”

“An accomplice,” I whisper, glancing at the other body sprawled across the floor. “That’s who the other guy was.”

Nikolai nods. “Someone’s got eyes on you. And if they’re willing to send men to take you out, they’re not going to stop until they succeed.”

“So, what do we do?” I ask, my voice quivering despite my effort to keep it steady.

“Someone is playing us. I’m going to find out who. Don’t you worry.”

I nod, and I’m about to say something when he asks again. “Are you alright, though? Did they hurt you?”

I shake my head, still unable to form the actual words on the tip of my tongue. Around us, the lifeless bodies of the men we killed lay around, bleeding. He hasn’t closed the distance between us. He just keeps staring, which I suspect is his own way of trying to give whatever he’s feeling right now, space.

But fuck it. I’m done pretending. I walk towards him, my fingers trembling as I clutch Nikolai’s shirt, pulling him closer. Blood seeps through the tear in his sleeve, staining his skin dark red. I barely see it.

Just the idea of him crumpling to the ground, lifeless, his eyes dull and empty. That’s all I can see.

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