Chapter 15
Aspen
“ S o, friends?” I ask against the glass rim of my red wine Nikolai ordered for me.
I would be an idiot if I didn’t acknowledge the fact that Nikolai has been spending all of his time studying me for the past month. This man is so in tune with all of my verbal and nonverbal cues that if looking at him didn’t make me sick, I would be impressed.
Ok. That was a lie.
I blushed when he bought me my own journals to write in. I hid that from him of course. I can’t show him he’s winning brownie points with me. Being cooped up in the compound has inspired me to write a few songs.
Lyrics have just been flooding in my head, and I’ve written them down on anything I could get my hands on at the moment until he bought me those journals.
I’m learning that Nikolai is very perceptive and is an action kind of man.
I hate to say this, and I know I may be insane to think it but it’s what makes him charming.
The scary sadist does have a heart under all that steel he covers up in designer suits and arrogance.
The restaurant is in a small pocket in the city, hidden in downtown Moscow. All the staff are dressed in all black attire, and the room is filled with small chatter and the delicious scent of wealthy people’s cologne and perfume.
It’s entirely nauseating and borderline performative.
The lighting is low, but I can see how his steely silvers pierce mine. They’ve been watching me since we left our suite, all throughout the car ride here and now as the red wine trickles down my throat.
“We’ll be living together until the foreseeable future. Why not?”
He brings his asparagus to his mouth. If the foreseeable future is until he takes me to New York, I can stomach it. Living with him hasn’t been that bad either.
In fact, it’s been really good. I get three meals a day, two which he cooks for me. He fusses over me when I have indigestion . He’s not terrible to live with.
Though, when this is all over, when my year in purgatory is over, I’ll still kill him.
Probably.
My fingers play with the stem of the wine glass. His eyes follow. “And what does friendship look like to you, Nikolai?”
“For one, dinners.” He rests back in his chair and his gun holsters peek through his suit jacket, showcasing two of his guns resting there. “Two. We get to know each other.”
I raise my eyebrows. “And why would you want to get to know me?”
“If we are going to work on conceiving, I need to know who the mother of my children is. Can’t do that without friendship first.”
“We don’t need to be friends to have a baby,” I snort, he frowns.
“I do,” he says, folding his arm across his chest.
“Hating each other— ”
“I don’t hate you,” he says, cutting me off.
“Like I was saying, hating each other does sound exhausting.” I cut into my steak, then place the thin strip in my mouth. Nikolai was right, this place is good.
He adjusts his suit jacket and leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. I quickly lower my eyes before I start gawking at him again. It was hard not to let my eyes roam over him when we got in the car tonight.
I started noticing things I never paid attention to when I was with other men. Like how he gripped the steering wheel when he turned corners. How he shifted gears when we got on the highway. Or how he gripped my seat when he backed into our parking spot.
Most of my dinners with men, the seat of my panties is drier than a dryer sheet. Not tonight though. These panties are soaked through. I can’t stop the memories of our wedding night from playing behind my eyes.
“We’ll create friendship rules,” he reaches forward to grab his glass of vodka and takes a sip. “I’ll start. Honesty.”
I puff out air and he cocks his head to the side.
“Starting when?”
“Now,” he shrugs.
“Ok. We must respect each other’s boundaries. Don’t push for things that makes the other uncomfortable.”
He bobs his head, agreeing. “We must spend time together.”
Fine. I can handle that, we’re already doing most of this anyway.
I push my hand forward towards him. “Friends, then.”
He takes my hand and shakes it. But I don’t miss the fact that his hands are warm, just like his shadows in solid form .
Friends . This could work in my favor. If he thinks we’re friends, his guard will eventually drop. Then I could escape at any moment.
Poof, gone, without a trace.
Well, not exactly.
That damn blood contract.
The rest of our dinner was pleasant. I didn’t have one murderous thought. I’ve learned Nikolai is close to opening a nightclub that’s a few blocks away from the restaurant. He, his cousin Sergei and his partners are finishing the renovations.
Also, he’s into boxing. That explains the physique that I’m totally not noticing. Not even a little bit.
“If you want something sweet, there’s a bakery a few blocks from here.
It has ice cream too.” Nikolai says, using his hands to adjust my heavy fur coat before we continue walking to his car.
The city did a great job keeping the streets and sidewalks cleared of snow, but the chilly night air still has a bite to it.
Since the restaurant is secluded, hidden away in a small pocket, there aren’t that many folks around and there’s only a few cars in the parking lot.
“Cake would be—”
Boom!
The sound is deafening, leaving my ears ringing. There’s a blinding light before I’m covered in darkness. The concrete is cold against my face and there’s something heavy on my back.
Nikolai.
His breath is hot against my ear, his breathing quick and hard. It matches the rhythm of my heart .
“Get up when I say one,” he says and I let out a deep breath, centering myself, my training snapping in place. “One.”
He pulls me to my feet and I swing around, facing him.
Nikolai cuffs my face, assessing me for injuries and his eyes turn inky black.
I’ve never come across a face that made me shudder in fear until now.
My mom is the deadliest person alive and even seeing her obliterate and decimate people has never shaken me.
Nikolai’s eyes are empty. Void of life. Of light. I can’t even see my own reflection within them. The domestic man I’ve been living with is no longer here, instead there’s something more sinister occupying his body.
“Nikolai?” There’s a slight tremble in my voice as his name leaves my lips.
His shadows shoots out from him, and I flinch, no longer able to see the light coming from the streetlight across from us.
My fight or flight instinct kicks in and I quickly snatch one of his guns from the holster inside his jacket, releasing the safety.
Spreading my feet apart, I ready myself for all possible threats.
Including him.
Wasting no time I shoot the two blurring figures behind Nikolai. Four seconds later, their bodies explode. The way they move is too fast for them to be humans or werewolves.
Vampires.
I can’t rest in my shock because Nikolai’s shadows form a wall to one side of my body, seconds later I hear bullets thud against them. Judging by where those bullets landed, it would’ve been headshots. Shit. If my hearing is correct, there are at least thirty ground shooters and two snipers .
Nikolai continues to stare blankly at me, and his shadows continue to expand from us, covering our surroundings in total darkness.
Taking these few seconds to breathe and collect myself, determining that Nikolai is not a threat to me, I rip my dress to my mid-thigh, chucking off my coat.
In order to do what needs to be done, I need mobility. I can’t afford to be restricted.
“What are you doing?” Nikolai’s shadows turn into a ripple of spikes and hoarse screams start to echo off the buildings around us. There are even sounds of bone cracking or splitting and the scent of copper quickly fills the streets.
Cracking my neck side to side, I let out a short breath before I sprint away from his shield. I shoot at anything that moves before ducking between cars. The side mirror of the car I’m hiding against shatters.
Gotcha.
I shoot in the direction of their shot. The sound of my bullet hitting their flesh is music to my ears.
A body lands on top of the car. Four seconds later, it too explodes.
What kind of bullets are in Nikolai’s gun?
One more sniper to go. Judging by the horrific screams in the background, I know Nikolai is handling all of the foot soldiers.
“Aspen?!” Nikolai shouts. More shots ring out around us. “Aspen, fucking answer me.”
I don’t reply. It would be too dangerous to do so.
I pull down the magazine. One bullet left. Shit. This last bullet has to be for the last sniper. Reaching down in my bra, I pull out my lipstick. Keeping it at the ready.
Roman’s voice plays in my head, never go anywhere unarmed . Which is why I grab this from my nightstand before leaving tonight .
Moving between more cars, I hope the sniper will bite. Bullet casings clink on the pavement where I just was.
There you are.
One shot. Another body explodes short moments later.
Nikolai is still calling my name with more desperation than before.
My katana unfurls from its lipstick state.
I drag it against the pavement behind me as I slowly walk in the direction of Nikolai’s voice.
It brings the attention I’ve been aiming for.
The last thing the vampires see is the glint of my blade before their heads are severed and tumbling down the street.
Bullets whizz towards me but I cut them down before they can touch me. Breathing in the metallic scented air, I revel in it. Their blood sticking to my skin empowers me to inflict pain on the rest of them. They have the audacity to think they could kill us so quickly and easily?
They don’t know who the fuck I am. I am Aspen Saint-Claire, daughter of water and blood. The daughter of two feared legends.
Tonight, I’ll show them what that truly means.