Page 97 of City of Salvation

CHAPTER 41

NIKKI

DEATH BEFORE BETRAYAL

The delicious achebetween my thighs and in the back of my throat wasn’t enough to eclipse the nerves coursing through me as I moved up the steps of the converted cathedral.

The irony wasn’t lost on me that I’d come full circle and was back in a church, standing in front of the crucifixion with full intentions of being an accomplice to murder.

I’d like to think that even god hated Yuri and would be okay with it.

I’d awoken to a message from Andrei asking me to meet him here this morning. He wanted to go over the plan with me. I would’ve taken Dex with me, but I’d rolled over to find the bed empty, his side of the sheets already cold to the touch.

Dex had text me too, it read that he had something to take care of with the others.

A tinge of disappointment shot through me when I woke up alone, but it was quickly snuffed out by the reality that I had up and left him without a single word as to where I was going. So I could suck it up and be a big girl if he was goingto go off and do shit. This was essentially a taste of my own medicine, and I needed to own it.

My heart hummed with happiness. He loved me, and damn, did I love him. There was no way I was going to give up my life a second time because of Yuri—whatever it took, he was going down.

I was done living in the shadows of my past.

Footfalls echoed off the stone, reminding me that I was not in the safety of the apartment. Candlelight flickered, the only source of light other than the sun streaming through the stained-glass windows that adorned the top portion of the walls. Noise filtered through two giant arched wooden doors in front of me, but I couldn’t make out what was being said, or who was in there.

Andrei’s text had been vague.

Unease crept into my bones, but I moved forward, pushing open the doors and stepping into the sanctuary. It was beautiful, bathed in amber lighting from giant candelabra chandeliers. Where the pulpit would have been was a giant stage where I could see a row of ballet dancers all performing an arabesque.

“Again,” snapped a familiar voice that sent a flurry of emotions running wild through my body.

“Are you going to continue to stand back there, girl?” Katya asked, not bothering to look behind her.

I hadn’t even realized I’d stopped walking. My back went rigid, my shoulders pressing back, chin steady. Even after all these years, her bark had my body responding. I wanted to laugh at the automatic response, but that would probably earn me a hit to the back of the head.

Katya didn’t care for words, she wanted action, so I didn’t bother responding. I just made my way toward where she sat in the front pew.

I didn’t think I could ever quite classify Katya as amotherfigure, but she’d made an impact on my life. She’d been the one who’d encouraged me to seek out the Ruska Roma. At the time, I hadn’t even realized she worked for them, a plant embedded into the Bratva for years. An ear close to the enemy.

She’d risked everything to help me.

I paused at the edge of the pew, waiting for her instruction. It was so familiar that I smiled despite my nerves. Her silver hair was tied back in a severe bun at the nape of her neck. Blue eyes cut over to me for a brief moment before focusing on what was happening in front of us.

“Not one of you had acceptable back legs. Again,” she yelled, folding her hands into her lap. “Why did you come back, Natasha? You were free.” She turned her head, finally looking at me.

My heart seized in my chest, and I had the strangest urge to hug the rigid older woman.

There was a slight shake in my voice when I answered. “We both know that’s not true, Katya. I will never be free, so long as Yuri is alive.”

She searched over me with her eyes, for what exactly I wasn’t sure, but when she was satisfied, she gave a single nod toward the space beside her and faced forward once more. I slid in next to her, mimicking her posture.

“You think you will be able to do it this time, girl?” she asked, no judgment in her tone.

When Andrei first suggested I try and kill the Bratva leader again, I thought it was stupid. Then I realized there was no freedom for me unless Yuri was gone. And I refused to sink back into hiding, merely existing rather than living.

Rather than loving.

“I should have done it the first time, Katya. There’s no way I will let him live a second time.”

“You might never have gotten the Roma branding, but you are a part of us. You have our protection. You know that, right?” she asked, turning toward me. The look in her eyes caused my skin to erupt in bumps. “No one faulted you for not killing Yuri that day. It was ridiculous that they even asked that of a young, barely trained girl who was facing the worst betrayal a woman could experience. To be given away by the one who was supposed to protect you.” She let out a sound of disgust, her poised demeanor slipping. “The fact that you killed your father is a feat that we were all proud of you for.”

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