Page 77 of Dark Ink

Then a blood-curdling scream breaks the silence, echoing like a banshee’s warning.

To hell with it.

I run forward, following the pained sound. I push the door open and Jenya crashes into my arms, almost tackling me to the floor. I step back to let Ivo and the rest of the crew go in and clear the room.

“We’re here, Jenya. I got you,” I say after I see the panic in her eyes.

She almost passes out in my embrace.

“Let me help,” I hear a familiar female voice behind me.

“Mrs. Rogers? Um?” The Empress is here. In the compound, in a bulletproof vest, her little frail body kitted out in full military gear.

“I wanted to come meet Jenya myself,” she says as she extends her arm.

Jenya takes her hand, staring in what looks like awe. “You’re as old as Koschei,” she mutters and my eyes widen. I open my eyes to explain, but the Empress silences me with the palm of her hand.

“I’m a little bit younger, I think, child.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve never met a woman older than my late mother.” Jenya raises her hand to the Empress’s face and touches her cheek. Surprisingly, the Empress doesn’t seem to mind.

“Go on. We will be fine here,” she says to me.

I don’t have to be told twice. I dash into the room, almost knocking Koschei’s body off the stretcher that Ivo’s team has fashioned out of a tablecloth. Sophie’s team is still clearing the other rooms, so I rush to Tanya’s side when I see her curled up on the bed.

She’s naked from the waist up, covered in blood, and clutching a small switchblade.

“Are you hurt?” I say as I gently touch her wrist, then slide my fingers into her palm, easing the blade out of her grip.

She clutches my hand and trembles without saying anything. I unstrap my bulletproof vest, toss it to the floor, and take off my T-shirt with one hand, making sure I never let go of her.

Then I slide it over her head and guide her arms through the sleeves as if I’m dressing a child.

Her eyes fall on my bare chest, roaming the flames of my massive fire tattoo.

“This is beautiful,” she says.

She lifts her free hand and traces the outline of the flames on my sternum, her touch sending shivers of pleasure down my spine. My nipples harden and I seriously consider inking over them too because somehow, this is embarrassing.

I pull her into me and breathe in the scent of her hair—she smells like soap and blood, and Tanya. I love everything about it.

Chapter 43

I’m shaking, either because of the cold or because of the reality of what just happened. My half-naked body is covered in blood, and I have never felt more like a phoenix than today.

I survived.Again.

It’s over.

Koschei, Greg, is dead. My grandfather will no longer hurt people.

He will no longer torment me and Jenya and will no longer corrupt our bloodline.

I’m free.

My eyes burn with hot tears of relief as I bury my face in Ben’s chest and inhale his scent. His heart is beating fast and his body shivers in resonance with mine. I hold on to him as if my life depends on it because I think it does. This new life, it belongs to him.

The ink of his tattoo is pressed to my cheek—it’s an image of a fire that doesn’t burn but is warm nonetheless. Inside it, I can breathe and recover. I can live.

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