I exhaled slowly. Something in my ribcage shifted, settling into place.
I looked down at Eva, at the steady rise and fall of her breath and the soft curve of her mouth, even in sleep. She looked untouched by the chaos she’d endured, like the world hadn’t nearly swallowed her whole.
Then, I turned back to Julian, my gaze hard, silently accepting the responsibility. Because Julian Vallen wasn’t just handing me his permission.
He was handing meher.
Julian’s face contorted as he muttered under his breath, “Don’t make me regret this, Drakov.”
“I can’t promise that.” Mainly because Julian was probablyalreadyregretting this.
But it was too late to change his mind. Eva was mine. He couldn’t take her back from me.
Both of us looked over at the girl lying in the bed. The girl who had somehow managed to bring two enemies together for the first time in twenty-three years.
Eva.
March 8th
Nikolai
So… Do I still have a living cousin?
Aleksandr
Yes.
Nikolai
YAY!
Does this mean we can play Xbox later?
Aleksandr
No, Niko.
Nikolai
Reuniting with little Eva, huh?
Aleksandr
Shut the fuck up.
When I came backto reality, my whole body was sore. It wasn’t an unbearable pain like after I’d gotten surgery on my shoulder, but I was aware of every little movement I made and the way it sent aches throughout my body. Every time I took a breath, every time my shoulders rose and fell, my torso lit up with pain.
I groaned, stretching out my sore muscles and coughing once. That was agonizing, and it took me several deep breaths to finally inhale without feeling like my lungs were on fire, coated in ash.
The fire. Right.
I shoved aside all my memories of that event, not wanting to relive it. Even the thought of those flames trying to get me made me want to hide under the hospital bedsheet.
You’re okay,I reminded myself.Alek got you out. He saved you just like a Prince Charming.
Yes, Alek was my Prince Charming. And he was my villain, too.
But most of all, he was mine.
