Page 87 of No One’s Daughter

​Instead, his hands came to my hips in a possessive grip.

​I leaned in to his touch. It was so easy, like this is what we should have been doing all along. The way in which he looked at me now was in such stark contrast to how he usually did. There was so much desire and desperation in his gaze.

​“Davien,” a male voice called, cutting through like a blade and we broke apart instantly.

​Nikolai stood at the end of the corridor, breath uneven—not from exertion, but urgency. There was something uncharacteristically frantic in his expression.

​“They’re here,” he said. “I’m sorry—I can’t—” He shook his head, already stepping back. “I can’t get caught.”

​Something cold slid into my stomach.

​“No—” I started, but he was already moving. Then he was gone.

​“Shit,” I breathed.

​Davien grabbed my wrist, pulling me after him as we tore towards the back entrance. But where Nikolai had made it out only seconds before, we were too late. Wood splintered inward from the door being forced open. Black figures flooded the space, too many to count at a glance, weapons raised, eyes scanning. I looked over my shoulder in a desperate plea for escape, only to find them coming at us from that direction too.

​We were surrounded.

​It had to be the Ninth.

​They’d found us.

​How?

​I didn’t have time to think about that now.

​The sound of a crack split through the air.

​So loud it felt deafening and Davien’s body jerked beside me. He staggered and for that split second everything slowed.

​My heart slammed hard against my ribs as I turned, eyes dropping to where his hand had already gone to his side, dark staining through his vest.

​“Davien—”

​“I’m fine,” he bit out, though his jaw had tightened, tension pulling through his entire frame.

​Behind us, footsteps were closing in.

​We weren’t going to be able to run from this.

​But that didn’t mean we were giving up.

​Our eyes met, and no words were needed. The decision passed between us in a single look.

​We were fighting.

​“Alright,” I breathed, straightening. “Let’s do this.”

​His mouth curved—not quite a smile, but close enough. He moved before I even registered it, his body a blur as he closed the distance, disarming the first attacker with brutal efficiency, twisting the weapon from his grip and turning it back on him in one seamless motion.

​I didn’t hesitate.

​Didn’t think.

​I just followed his lead.

​Where he went, I went.