Chapter 12 #5
“Don’t even think it,” Elif cut her off, pressing the gun harder against her temple, she leaned closer, her dark gaze locked onto Ksenia’s face.
“I truly hope you have nothing to do with Maria’s death,” she murmured as I felt Daria trembling beneath my knife.
“Because if you do, I will kill you but not in the cowardly way you used on her” Elif tilted her head slightly.
“Not from behind. Face to face. You will see me coming, Ksenia, and you won’t be able to run.
You will die, and the last thing you will see will be an Ivanov” her hand tightened around Ksenia’s throat as the woman began to choke.
“So I truly hope you had nothing to do with her death,” Elif repeated slowly, her voice dark and deliberate.
Then she released her, Ksenia collapsed to her knees, clutching her throat, coughing violently.
Elif stepped back, her contemptuous gaze fixed on the woman at her feet, before turning toward me.
I withdrew my knife from Daria’s throat as Elif grabbed her by the jaw.
“Be careful, girl,” she warned her. “The next time you try to attack me, she’ll kill you” her eyes blazed with fury, and I nodded.
“Without hesitation,” I confirmed, twirling my blade in my hand as I tightened my grip in her hair, making her whimper.
My gaze locked onto Vassili’s dark stare. Yes, him too. I would kill him.
Elif finally stepped back, and I followed, releasing Vassili’s daughter.
She collapsed on all fours beside her mother as I moved away without a glance.
The Ivanov brothers closed ranks around us like living walls.
We reached Tarik and Alina a little farther off.
Elif’s son, weapon in hand, looked at his mother with concern, but she shook her head, rubbing his arm reassuringly before climbing into one of the SUVs, pulling Alina along with her.
Sasha opened the door for me again but caught my arm as I was about to get in.
He lifted it in front of his face and tugged at the sleeve of my dress.
He raised an eyebrow when he spotted the sheath strapped to my forearm.
“Do I even want to know how and where you got that?” he asked and I smiled softly.
“Trust me, you really don’t”. I climbed into the vehicle as he watched me, amused.
“Thank you for watching Elif’s back,” he said, while Roman nodded from behind the wheel.
“It had to be done. You are my fa…my sister’s family,” I replied, clearing my throat, “if anything happened to you, she would be devastated”.
I buckled my seatbelt as his gaze lingered on my profile.
My eyes met Roman’s in the rearview mirror, annoyed.
“You’ll see it one day, Sienna,” Sasha said quietly as he stepped back.
“That you’re already home” he sighed, closed the door, and I said nothing, refusing to understand his words.
—
“When do I come get you?” Kenji asked, his voice echoing through my phone on speaker as I pulled on a white tank top and tucked it into my athletic shorts.
“Not for now,” I replied, tying my hair into a ponytail as I was getting ready to go for a run with Roman in the woods surrounding the property as the sun set, giving way to the cool of the evening.
“It’s only been a week since Maria died. I want to stay a little while, until…” I stopped, realizing what I was about to say, until the family recovered.
I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Still nothing about the Mother’s involvement with the Italians?
” I asked, grabbing my phone from the bed as I sat down to pull on my socks.
“No. No evidence linking Katy to Alia,” Kenji answered after a moment of silence.
“Maybe we’re chasing the wrong lead?” he added.
I heard the flick of his lighter opening and closing.
“If it’s not the Mother working with the Italians, then who…
”I stopped abruptly as Ksenia’s and Daria’s hateful expressions flashed through my mind.
They harbored a fierce hatred toward the Ivanovs, toward Elif.
“Tell me,” my Shadow’s voice came through the phone, sensing my silence.
“Have you looked into Vassili?” I asked, pulling one leg up onto the bed and resting my chin on my knee.
“Yes. Nothing there either,” he replied, and my mind began racing, had Ksenia acted alone?
Would she really go so far as to work with the Italians?
If so, my death and my sister’s were nothing more than fuel for Alia’s thirst for revenge, but Ksenia had another objective.
What was it? “I want more information on Ksenia and Daria Kosnetzov,” I said, standing up and slipping on my sneakers, “Vassili’s wife and daughter?
” he asked, confused. “Yes,” I confirmed, “I have a feeling this whole thing is far bigger than simple revenge, Kenji.”
The way Vassili had lost control at the funeral, his shock at his wife’s behavior, no…
even if Ksenia was involved, her husband knew nothing.
A move the Master hadn’t calculated. A move I could turn to my advantage, if I played my piece at the right time, in the right place.
“Any news about the missing Stars? And Valentina?” I asked, setting my phone on the dresser while I grabbed my sports jacket and tied it around my waist. “Anita is seeing Igor tomorrow night,” he informed me after greeting some people.
“Let’s hope the bottle of vodka is enough to make him talk,” he sighed.
“Otherwise, we’ll have to use force”. He failed to hide the satisfaction in his voice.
Igor had been a nightmare for our generation, torturing Shadows under the guise of training, assaulting young girls as so-called punishment.
Yes, Igor’s name was high on our list of people to kill for our vengeance.
Suddenly, there was a knock on my door and it opened just as Kenji resumed speaking.
“About Valentin…” I lunged for my phone, taking it off speaker as Sasha walked into the room.
“I’ll call you later, Kenji,” I cut in, turning my back on the magnificent intruder who closed the door behind him.
“Alright. I’ll contact you as soon as I have news,” Kenji said, understanding I was no longer alone.
“Be careful,” I added before hanging up.
I closed my eyes, mentally bracing myself for the next battle with my eternal rival.
“I don’t remember saying the word ‘come in,’” I muttered as I turned toward him.
He was leaning against the door, arms crossed over his chest and I froze when I noticed what he was wearing.
Athletic shorts. A simple white T-shirt.
His elegant shoes replaced with sneakers. A rare look on him.
“I’m sorry, I thought I heard you, but it seems it was Kenji,” he muttered, shoving his fists into the pockets of his shorts as he crossed his ankles.
“Who’s Valentin?” he asked darkly and I didn’t react.
I sat down on the edge of the window ledge, folding my arms before lifting an eyebrow.
“And why would that concern you… exactly?” I asked, he laughed, but not an amused laugh.
Far from it, it was nervous, brittle. He started walking toward me slowly, every step making my body tremble, yet I didn’t move.
I lifted my chin and met his gaze without blinking, “everything that concerns you concerns me, Sienna,” he replied, leaning down toward me as his hands came to rest on either side of the window frame behind my back.
I was trapped. In every possible ways. I swallowed softly, and his eyes followed the movement, sliding to my throat, while mine lingered on his lips.
“Well, it shouldn’t,” I murmured, trying to cling to my confidence and my will, things that vanished whenever he invaded my personal space the way he was doing now.
He lifted his gaze back to mine. Blue. Peace.
But dark with desire, “I’m afraid you don’t get a say in that,” he shot back as a shiver ran through me when I felt his fingers brush the back of my neck.
When had he…my lips parted, but no words came out, only my uneven breath. Sasha Ivanov and his damn effect.
“Fine,” he sighed suddenly, stepping back and turning his back on me, I straightened, releasing a quiet breath as my hand rubbed my neck.
“Let’s go before it’s too late,” he said, opening the door and I froze, staring at him, confused.
“Go where?” I asked, lost. “Running,” he replied as if it were obvious when it absolutely fucking wasn’t.
“Uh-uh” I shook my head, stepping closer, “I’m going running with Roman, not…
” “Roman can’t anymore. Grigori sent him somewhere, and you’re not going anywhere alone,” he said with a smug smile as I blinked, struggling to process his words. I wasn’t going anywhere alone?
What was I ? A child? A prisoner? “I beg your pardon?” I snapped, stepping toward him, lifting my face now burning with anger.
“There’s nothing to beg for, moya malen’kaya gadyuka,yet” he replied smoothly.
“Just obey me, and everything will be fine”.
He flashed a self-satisfied smile and walked out of the room.
I stood there staring after him, mouth hanging open, offended, furious.
I was going to bury him in that damn forest.