Page 103 of Dance with Death

Nikolai presses the blade and a single drop of blood pools, rolling down Vigo’s throat. “Tell me the code.”

“Nikolai.Nikolai.” Vigo clicks his tongue. “I’m so sad for you right now. You’ve let your slaves slither their way into your mind and rot your senses. What kind of threat is this?” His eyes flick down to the blade. “Are you going to kill me? What do you think the board will have to say about that, hmm?”

Nikolai holds steady in his ruthlessness. “Tell me the code.”

“No.”

“Tell. Me. The. Code.”

A muffled scream comes from beyond the door that we can’t open, and I swear to God it sounds like my name. We all turn to look and Vigo takes advantage of our distraction.

Just as I return my attention to Vigo, his hand slips inside his jacket. It all happens in a flash. Nikolai returns his gaze to Vigo, Vigo whips out his gun, cocks it, and presses it to the side of Nikolai’s head.

Vigo’s smirk turns into a sneer. “Ask me again to tell you the code. I dare you.”

The sound of her voice and the adrenaline pumping through me steers me away from reason and into pure, base instinct. I see an opportunity in their stance, in the way Vigo holds the gun at an awkward angle.

I attack.

I barrel into them, knocking them both to the ground sideways, and the gun goes flying. I’m lucky Vigo doesn’t accidentally pull the trigger, luckier when it lands a yard away and doesn’t go off, but I’m also fucking lucky that it worked. Vigo is disarmed.

Trying to get to it first, I clamber over them, but Vigo rises up, knocking me sideways over Nikolai. Vigo gets onto his knees and crawls toward it, reaches for it. Kostya leaps, snatching away the gun just in the nick of time. Stepping forward, he aims it at Vigo.

“Open the door,” Kostya says.

We all look up at him and I’m surprised to see the worry in his eyes.

“What, are you going to kill me?” Vigo says, raising his palms like a trapped prisoner. “What then? If I’m dead, I can’t give you the code.”

Nikolai twists his body, reaching out. He stabs Vigo with a brutal thrust to the outside of his thigh.

Vigo screams, falling on his side as Nikolai leans over him. His hand is still on the knife that’s jammed inside Vigo. He twists the blade and Vigo shouts even louder. Thankfully, there’s enough noise from the guests downstairs to drown out the screaming, but Nikolai slaps his hand over Vigo’s mouth all the same.

“Tell me the code or I will take your life, consequences be damned.” Nikolai bends, leaning in close, their noses nearly touching. “Do you see how serious I am now, Vigo? Your life meansnothingto me. But hers? I want her life back.” He chuckles. “I’m willing to bet ten million sounds like a pretty good offer now, doesn’t it?” He rotates the blade inside him again, eliciting another sound from Vigo that resembles a dying animal. “Too bad that’s off the table now. But I’ll give you this...If she’s still alive and you ensure that we make it back to Mikhailov Manor unharmed, I’ll refund what you paid for her in full. Good faith.”

“The board,” Vigo practically spits with fury. “The board will have your head for this.”

Nikolai rips out the knife, pulling out a stream of blood that spurts across the hallway, splashing across my clothes. “The board can do whatever the fuck they wantafterI’ve taken her home.”

Nikolai stands, holding the blade at his side, blood coating his hand and jacket sleeve. His hair has fallen from its perfectly styled, slicked back look into pieces, matted in places from blood spatter.

“The code,” Nikolai says, and he truly looks like the devil himself.

I’m horrified by the sight of him.

Vigo groans, covering the wound with his hand. Contemplation wavers in his eyes, but then he swallows…a decision made. He proves his cowardice, conceding, showing in fact that he is but a lowly demon under Nikolai’s devil reign.

“7-4-2-5.”

With lightning quickness, I type in the code and nearly die from relief when it opens. Instantly, I forget about it all.

I forget about Vigo lying bloody in the hallway.

I forget about Nikolai hovering above him with a devilish glare in his eyes.

I forget about Kostya holding the gun.

I push the door open and run inside to save my blue-eyed girl.

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