Epilogue
Sage
One day doesn't come.
Nicholas has been gone for six months now. Time allows me the luxury of being able to get out of bed. Being able to shower. I function. But I'm going through the motions. The black hole of grief holds my heart over my head and smothers me.
The word has spread that Victor is dead, but no word of what happens to his empire. At the very least, the attacks have stopped. I'm free and I'm safe. Apparently ripping out a guy's eye makes you a badass because the men give me a wide berth.
I stare out the window as I ride in the back of Anton's limo, watching the greenery of the countryside pass by me. Next to me, Anton scrolls through his phone, a ping here and there sounding important business.
"Another dinner tonight?" I ask.
Anton answers without looking up. "Yes, family dinner tonight. Don't be late." He smiles at me then. But I don't mind the family dinners so much now. I just wish everyone was there to attend them.
Anton was wrong about one thing. I don't smile.
From what I once was, I'm a hard shell. There isn't a room I walk into now that I don't get a tentative stare. They know I'm a threat and now I never get overlooked. The Sage DeMarco that used to be is dead and buried right next to Nic.
We pull up to the cemetery, driving through the open winding roads until we stop underneath the shade of a tree, close enough to Nic's grave to see it but far enough away for privacy.
Anton and I both step out of the car. A cool breeze brushes past me, sending the smell of freshly cut grass through the air.
For a moment, I pause, memories flashing through my mind.
"Want me to come with?" Anton asks. I snap away from the memories, finding Anton has moved in front of me. I shake my head. "No. I'll be okay." I pat his shoulder and approach Nic's grave, climbing a slight hill to get there.
I look back, and Anton gives me an encouraging nod as I stand in front of the headstone. Taking a deep breath, I place my roses down onto the plot, and close my eyes while I talk to him in my head.
Just like I do every week at this time.
Sometimes I feel a breeze fly past me, or get a sharp feeling in my gut and it feels like he's talking to me. Like he's answering the unspoken questions I send out into the universe.
Sometimes it feels like a hum. In a language only the two of us know.
What I don't do, however, is cry. Once I decided to be harder. Better. More than I was before... I haven't shed a tear since. Freddie and Anton worry that I'm building my walls too high. I believe I'd always built them too low.
The wind ruffles again, blowing the hair back from my face and carrying a familiar scent on its breeze.
Spirits and geranium.
I frown. Where do I know that smell?
"Back the fuck up..." At Anton's careful warning I snap my eyes open.
What I see nearly chills my blood.
Nearly.
Truth is, I've been waiting for this moment. If they thought me setting a trap for Victor Rushkoff was something, then they haven't seen nothing yet.
I signal a hand for Anton to remain where he is.
Standing a few paces away is the devil with the God-like face and the stormy gray eyes. Alexei Rushkoff stalks towards me with a scowl. He's dressed for a funeral, a long dark coat stopping at his ankles, hands in his suit pocket and nothing but hatred in his eyes when he meets mine.
I can feel Anton's trepidation from where I stand, but I don't look back at him. There's a knife at my waist and a gun at my hip that I'm well equipped to use if I need to. But something tells me I won't need to.
Something tells me Alexei is here for the same reason that I am.
He comes to a stop next to me, stepping shoulder to shoulder with me as his eyes rove over Nic's headstone.
"Long time no see," I say.
His lips lift at the corners. "Trust me," he says. "I wouldn't come anywhere near you unless I absolutely had to."
I give him a smirk in return. "They said you'd be here begging for my forgiveness for what you've done," I say. "I knew better than that."
Alexei tilts his head to regard me and narrows his eyes. "I'm not in the business of asking for forgiveness, princess." He throws his head back, taking a deep breath through his nose before puncturing me again with his gaze. "I am, however, in the business of seeking retribution."
I purse my lips knowingly as I nod, disregarding his stare to instead admire the greenery of the cemetery once again. "We're on the same page," I say.
We stand in silence for a moment, not looking at one another. I, for one, relish in this moment of peace. There won't be a moments peace after this. After this encounter ends, I'm going to hunt him to the ends of the earth. I expect the same of him.
"We done with the posturing?" he says, breaking me from the silence.
"Oh, I'm ready," I say. We turn to face each other almost as if we'd synchronized the moment.
"Good," he says. He licks his lip and his eyes go hard, showcasing that psychotic streak he's always kept just below the surface for moments like this. "You killed my brother."
"And you killed the love of my life."
Alexei smirks, like he's pleased with that fact, and I suppress the urge to strangle him here and now. "May the best man win," he says.
I raise my brow but still, I take the black rose from within my coat pocket, one I've been carrying around for six months in anticipation of this moment. I place it gently on the top of Nicholas's grave without missing a second of eye contact with Alexei.
"Sage, no!" Anton gasps. Still, I don't make a move away from Alexei.
The horror in my uncle's voice is clear.
But I don't care. A death promise was the only way this was going to end between me and Alexei.
I killed his brother, and he killed Nic.
Now there's no one in the world I want dead more than Alexei Rushkoff.
I have never in my life felt the blind squeeze of hatred the way I feel it for this motherfucker.
Clearly the feeling is mutual.
Alexei smirks in Anton's direction and pulls a black rose from his coat as well, placing it over mine. He smiles at me before he holds out his hand.
I shake Alexei's hand and with that we seal our death promise. As we stare into each other's eyes, baring our teeth, a bolt of lightning strikes. Neither ones of us moves. It feels poetic. That the lightning would strike now to symbolize this moment.
The next time I get my hands on Alexei Rushkoff, I'll be tearing him to shreds, just like I did his brother.
I smile as I seal my fate. "I can't fucking wait to kill you, Alexei Rushkoff."
"You'll be dead before you ever get the chance, princess."
TO BE CONTINUED
Sage and Alexei's story continues in 'Dangerous Promises'.