Page 26 of The Wraith & Her Killer

He stands stock still, completely unmoving, his expression dead and unreadable. Almost as if he’s bored and this entire exchange isn’t the manifestation of my worst nightmares.

Boris chuckles and the sound injects pure horror and dread directly into my veins. My trembling causes him to tighten his grip on me and I whimper, my eyes stinging with the onslaught of unshed tears. Adris’ eyes flicker to me for a fraction of a second before they lock on his father again. “Obviously the plan went to shit when Ferrero decided to keep you as his little pet instead of putting a bullet between your pretty eyes, but your being alive actually works better to my advantage.”

“You’re talking in circles,” Adris points out, crossing his arms. “Care to get to the point?” My eyes track the move, because his seemingly disinterested posture would seem natural for his current persona, but I notice the way his middle finger repeatedly taps against the dagger strapped to his bicep. It’s a gesture that would suggest that his patience is wearing thin—which it just may be—but he’s speaking tomewithout words.

You’re not defenseless, Wraith.

I can practically hear his silent message echoing in my mind as if he said it aloud.

I swallow thickly and jerk against his father’s hold, knowing Iwont get anywhere, but I wanted to have a reason to remove my hands from his arm without drawing suspicion. I’m not a trained killer, and I’m terrified I’ll fuck something up, but I have to trysomething.I’m the furthest thing from being a heroine but I’ve never felt more fear than I have at seeing a gun trained on the man who owns me; body, heart, and soul.

Are these affections between me and the unhinged man before me toxic? Yes. But what other kind of love do I have to compare it to?

“Mypoint,sSon, is that in your vigilante quest for revenge, you delivered her to me on a silver fucking platter.” He sniffs, adjusting his grip on his gun and I let my hands slip slower until they rest atop the OTF knives tucked into the belt around my waist. “I’m assuming you’ve fucked her already, no?”

Adris doesn’t react to his father baiting him, but my breath hitches and my body stiffens against my will, immediately giving him the answer he needs. He chuckles again.

“You’re just like me, then.”

“In your dreams, you fucking cunt.” Adris scoffs, tapping two fingers now. “Both of us know that when it comes to who the better man is, you don’t have a gods-damnedlegto stand on.” His eyes dart to me when he says “leg”and I understand what he wants me to do.

“You’re a cocky fucker. Ever since you decided to finally open that mouth of yours and talk.” His father tuts. “But let me clue you in since you seem to be missing the point.”

He shifts the gun until the barrel is pressed to my temple again and my hands freeze on the knives, my breaths pushing past my lips in short staccato bursts. “She’s soiled goods now. Mikhail will never be able to marry her off to any man, knowing she won’t bleed for her husband that first time he fucks her on their wedding night. But lucky for you, Odessa,” he croons against my ear, “I’m nothing if not a man of honor, and after mourning the loss of my darling wife for so long, I offer to marry you. Then I’ll secure my place as Pakhan and you’ll go back to being what Santino and my son have bred you for. My little fuck doll?—”

“Like fuck,” I grit, taking advantage of his head being so close to mine and rearing back, I head butt him so hard my skull starts to throb as Adris’ father howls in pain. In that same moment, I pop each knife from my belt, flipping them around in my palm so they’re facing down. While he’s distracted with holding his face, I swing both arms down, my thumbs deploying the button that releases the blade just before they each sink into each of his thighs.

A deafening roar fills the room but I barely register the sound over the pounding in my skull and blood whooshing in my ears.

Adris is quick to move, grabbing me and giving me a rapid once-over before shoving me behind him. Santino is still unconscious on the floor behind us, and his father is now on his knees before us, groaning over the blades currently lodged in the thick flesh of his thighs, blood rapidly seeping through the fabric of his black slacks.

A sinister laugh bubbles up from the confines of Adris’ chest and the macabre sound does nothing to quell the pounding of my tired heart.

He shakes his head, looking at his father, who is still struggling on the ground.

“Bested by aWraith,”he taunts, plucking a dagger from the strap around his upper arm. His arm whips out, the knife soaring it at his father, who ducks, but it still lodges deep in his shoulder. He throws another and it hits his father’s abdomen.

Boris wavers, swaying on his knees before coughing up blood and landing on his ass, a dazed look glazing over his eyes.

A tattooed hand wraps around my wrist, and suddenly I’m being pulled from the room faster than my feet can keep up with.

“We’re close!”

“Get to the closest exit point!”

Calix and Rune’s commands and panicked voices invade our ears and Adris presses his hand against his device. “Northern exit. Get Odessa out of here.”

His command is borderline manic as we rush down the stairs.

“Adris, your signal is weak. Repeat. Where the fuck are you?”Rune barks, but Adris isn’t listening to him.

I trip over a dead body and lose my grip on his hand, landing hard in a puddle of blood; pain radiates through my knees and palms.

“Adris!” I shout, panicked, trying to get his attention and turn my wild eyes to him, but he’s already lifting me in his arms and sprinting for the busted door we entered through.

Holding me closer to his chest, I can feel his heart beating wildly as we grow closer.

“Almost there, baby, hang on.”

---