Page 26 of Vendetta Crown

My own words from that night ring with startling clarity. Back then, they were just criticism of a script. I had no idea then that they'd become the blueprint for my own life.

I'm not a damsel in distress. Not anymore.

Not after I met Ruslan.

"Do you remember that night when we played truth or dare?" I ask him. "When I confessed that I still wanted to stand on stage under the spotlight?"

"Yes," he says without hesitation. "And I told you that when you are ready to do so again, you need only ask and I can make it happen."

I press my palm against his chest, feeling his heartbeat under my fingers. Strong and steady, just like him.

"I'm ready now," I tell him, my voice gaining strength with each word. "I'm ready to tell the world my story. To let them see what that monster did."

"And I'll be there every step of the way," Ruslan promises as he pulls me close. "Whatever you need."

I rest my head against his chest. His heartbeat drums steadily beneath my ear as a reminder that we're both alive despite everything that's happened.

I close my eyes and let myself feel the truth washing over me. A familiar refrain enters my head.

Jamie Fields is dead.

And it's the truth.

For so long, I've carried her like a ghost. Her fears, her memories, her nightmares. But I never truly believed in it. Somehow, somewhere, I've always thought that one day, she might come back to life.

But standing here, in Ruslan's arms, I finally understand. Jamie Fields truly is gone. The terrified girl who ran from her family's murder scene doesn't exist anymore.

She really did die on that road in the Eastern Sierras seven years ago.

In her place is Aurora.

Not Aurora Castellanos who hid in the shadows, who flinched at cameras, and who lived with one eye constantly looking over her shoulder.

AuroraDragunov.

Wife of a pakhan. A woman with the resources to fight back. A woman who negotiated with the lord of Las Vegas andwon.

A woman who rescued herself from monsters because her husband imbued her with power through his name.

For the first time in seven years, I feel hope blooming inside me. Gone is the quiet hope of making it through another day undetected. In its place is a fierce, burning determination of someone who's ready tolive.

So yes, Jamie Fields is dead.

But Aurora Dragunov is alive.

And Aurora Dragunov doesn't run.

She'll fight.

And she'll win.

7

RUSLAN

The helicopter bladesslow their whirring as we touch down on the landing pad. Pain shoots through my shoulder again like an old friend.

I glance at Aurora beside me. The bruise on her cheek has darkened since yesterday, and knowing Kristofer put it there makes my blood boil.

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