“I thought you’d want to know.”
“Bullshit.”
“Pardon?”
“This is a test. You wanted to see if I’d switch sides based on learning I’m a Leviathan legacy.”
“That’s not true.”
“It’s at least partially true.” His gunmetal eyes drift back down from the stars and drop to my hand anchored to my hip an inch above my gun. “You think I’d turn my back on you from a single sliver of archaic history as if it means more than you ever did?”
A pregnant silence passes as my brain struggles to catch up. “I…”
“This endless mistrust continuously stems from the biggest mistake of my fucking life.” Nik drags an agitated hand over the jagged scar stretching like a lightning bolt from the back of his scalp to his left eyebrow. “What I did to you was wrong, Poppy, and I know that. I did it because we never would’ve worked. You’re a Morgenstern; I’m a Volkov. I’d been acting on instinct and made a split second decision that will haunt me forever.”
I stare at him, dumbfounded. “I don’t understand. What is this? A confession?”
“It’s the explanation I never gave you. I’m giving it to you now in the hopes you stop fucking insulting me by questioning my loyalty.”
The puzzle pieces finally begin snapping into place. “You did what you did to me because youwantedme to hate you? Because of somestupid war between our families that hung over our heads our entire lives before mine beat yours? Do you hear how childish that sounds?”
“Don’t get pissy. You should be thankful we weren’t another shit retelling ofRomeo and Juliet.What you have now is a far better fit.”
A broken shard with his name on it still lodged in my heart dives deeper. Before I realize I’m moving, my blade is at his throat.
“This isn’t an explanation,” I spit, unbidden tears blurring my vision. “This is a pathetic excuse for a pathetic man who’s running from his demons rather than facing them. Face me, Nik. Hear me now and hear me true: You didn’t just hurt me when you locked me in the dark. Youshatteredme.”
There,a flicker of anguish. “I know.”
“No, you don’t. You don’t understand that Ilovedyou, Nikolai Ivanovich Volkov. I loved you with everything I had to give, and you tossed me into a fucking closet like I was nothing but a broken toy you didn’t want anymore.”
I never told him I loved him. But I did.
Though, I’ve stopped counting the time that’s passed since the moment I met a certain coroner who cauterized that old wound shut.
Shame drags Nik’s chin down. “I know,printsessa.I’m sorry.”
It’s the first time he’s ever apologized for what he did.
I flatten my blade beneath his jaw, forcing his somber stare to mine. “I forgive you, Nik. But next time someone offers their heart on a gilded platter, let yourself be loved. No matter who they are. You deserve it as much as the rest of us.” He nods, and I withdraw my blade. “You have my apology for doubting your devotion to me and mine. Get inside, get wasted, and make bad decisions. That’s an order.”
Nik chuckles, slow and slightly sadistic, but it’s benign. Harmless. As he’s been to me all this time. To think I almost killed him out of pure rage when I gave him that scar.
Guilt, heavy and destructive, crashes through my cranium as he walks away. Deafening white noise rises like a wave, numbing my senses. My vision darkens. My limbs lock. I sag against the building.
Then I see a demonic mask before my knife rips from my fist and spears into my stomach.
ABYSS
Poppy
By the time I register I’m on the ground, my gun is in my grip as I absorb what I’m seeing.
A woman with blood—myblood—on her gloved hands staggers backward. She’s in strange robes, almost like a nun's but tighter, her hood pulled up. Her Leviathan mask hides her features, but I don’t give a fuck who she is as I train my gun on her head with a violently shaking hand.
POP!
The shot echoes through the night, missing her forehead byinches.It grazes her hood instead, carving a bloody line through her ear. She yelps and bolts, fleeing down the street, her silhouette outlined in the blinding headlights of oncoming traffic.
