Page 120 of Fall into Savagery

I didn’t feel anything.

Anger, perhaps, that he had been able to even get one step ahead of me, or regret that Catalina was now suffering because of all that had happened.

Nikolay was sleeping on my bed, holding her close when I came out of the bathroom.

He rarely ever spent any time in his room anymore.

I knew why.

That was the place they took her, where they cut her.

Her blood had stained the room, and he had done whatever he could to ensure she never stepped foot inside.

She had been mostly sleeping in my room to “keep” watch over me in case my injuries were worse than I let on.

But I was feeling better.

Aside from my broken thumb, the one I dislocated getting out of the cuffs, I was feeling better.

And even the thumb wasn’t bothering me as much as I thought it would.

Catalina shifted on the bed. Her sleep was anything but peaceful.

I took them in.

I wasn’t sleepy yet, and I was content to see my family under my roof, under my protection.

Nikolay’s green eyes glinted in the light from the bedside lamp, his head cock to the side as if asking if I would join them in bed.

I shook my head and pointed behind me.

He rolled his eyes as if to say, ‘Your loss’before snuggling closer to her, holding her tight.

She calmed some when she felt him.

I closed the door behind them and walked out to the hallway. The light in Mikhail’s room was on.

The three of us wouldn’t be sleeping any time soon.

It was the adrenaline.

And Nikolay was leaving with Gabriel to Mexico the following day.

I came to Catalina’s old room and pushed the door open. The light in the hallway let in enough that I could make out the small sleeping forms on the large bed.

Ever since Catalina said she couldn’t have children, I didn’t know how I felt.

I had always felt protective of children, sure, but I always thought it had more to do with what I went through as a kid than anything else.

I never thought about having kids of my own.

Even if Catalina had been able to get pregnant, having kids would still seem … distant to me.

I didn’t mind that she was infertile.

The only thing I could leave my kids was a legacy filled with bloodshed. An empire of savagery.

That was no life.

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