There are a lot more dangerous allies lurking in the shadows, and everything is held together by a thread.
One spark is all it’ll take to set the whole thing on fire, and I can’t understand why anyone would risk getting caught in the crosshairs.
Mason pulls me into his arms for a rough kiss.
I thread my fingers through his hair, but before I can deepen the kiss, he releases me and steps into the shower. He peels off his clothes and shoots me a heated look. After a brief hesitation, I glance at the gun on the nightstand. Then I hurry in after him, the bathroom already steaming up.
Mason doesn’t waste any time when I slide the curtain behind me and turn to face him.
Sometime later, when he leaves, I perch on the edge of the bed and link my fingers together. I toss glances at the gun and ignore the hammering in my chest. Finally, I pry an empty drawer open and shove it there.
Katia is in her usual spot against the door when I come out, only this time she’s admiring her blade, bright sunlight dancing off the smooth silver. She doesn’t say anything when I step in front of her and clear my throat.
“I want to go check on my dad, and before you say no again, I have a proposition.”
She doesn’t say anything.
“I will try not to make it hard for you to keep me safe at the house and anywhere else I have to go if you let me go.”
Katia snorts. “I don’t care if you make it hard for me.”
My heart jumps into my throat. “You can come with me to see my dad.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“So you can tell Mason that you tried to stop me, and just in case things go sideways.”
Katia stops examining her blade to look at me. “So far, I don’t see how any of this benefits me.”
I throw my hands up. “I’ll put in a good word for you with Mason.”
Katia curls her lips in disgust, and I resist the urge to step back. “Let’s get something clear here, Barbie. I don’t need you to put in a good word for me. I’ve been around a lot longer, and I’ll be around long after this whole thing blows over and you’re either collateral damage or on the run for your life.”
Her words feel like I’ve been stabbed through the heart.
But I know she’s not wrong about my odds of staying, assuming I even survive Mason’s cutthroat world long enough to run for the hills.
Katia is a constant in his life, and I will always wonder if he’ll go back to her out of familiarity when things get too hard and too emotional with me.
Being with Katia doesn’t endanger the empire or put him on the receiving end of his father’s wrath.
What did you think was going to happen? Mason warned you this wasn’t the kind of world you came from, and you stayed anyway.
Every survival instinct I have tells me I can still leave and forge a life for myself away from this, but the thought of leaving Mason doesn’t sit well with me.
It’s unthinkable.
I can’t bear the thought of being away from him, even if it means the path ahead is anything but smooth.
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Maybe you’re right, and maybe you’re not. Either way, agreeing will make your job a little easier. At the very least, you can earn brownie points with Mason when you tell him I’ve snuck out.”
“Fine,” Katia says. “If it’ll get me out of this conversation, let’s go.”
“What, just like that?”
Katia shoots me a withering look. “Do you want me to change my mind? Let’s go.”
With that, she steps to the side and makes a sweeping hand gesture. Together, we descend the stairs and past rows of closed doors, past the kitchen staff, and to a door in the back. She sticks her head out first, then motions to me.
