Page 100 of Ballistic

“You did, the night you took my family.” Gray thunderstorm eyes met mine, and he pushed to his feet. “And then you hurt the only thing I’ve come to care about since then.”

“The whore?” Tesarik chuckled, and I would’ve stabbed him with my blade, had I not just watched his hand burn away into a pile of liquid on the floor. “Did she tell you of our games? How she loved them?” The moon’s light glinting off his eyes gave them a soulless shine, like staring into black onyx.

I ground my teeth at the memory of those depraved games in his bedroom, the pain in my cheek flaring with my repulsion.

“You called my wife a whore, as well.” Jaw clenched, Dmitry kicked him in the face, while the guard still held Tesarik’s arm steady beneath his boot.

A flicker of distant headlights snapped my attention toward the window, and the rumble of an old engine outside twisted my stomach.

Dax. Early, as I’d expected. Probably wanted to case the place before meeting up.

I pushed off the edge of the stage and strode across the room, taking a stand beside Dmitry. “He’s here. I can’t stay.”

“You’ve done well, Nicoleta.” He dragged a scarred finger down my cheek and pressed his lips to my forehead. “I’m proud of you.”

“Dmitry … promise me …. Promise me you won’t kill him.”

“This man is the one who came for you?”

“He is.”

“And you’ve developed feelings for him.” It wasn’t a question, and I bowed my head to keep from having to look him in the eyes.

Dmitry had always considered love a weakness. A liability. And perhaps he was right, as I felt more vulnerable in that moment than I’d ever felt before.

“Please, Dmitry.” I spoke the words and mustered the courage to look at him. “Promise me you won’t hurt him.”

“You have my word.”

With a nod, I shuffled quickly out of the room and into the dark corridor of the boat house. The hard thunk of the front door shuddered through my muscles, and I padded toward the staircase beside me, ascending the stairs up to total darkness with careful steps.

Below me, Dax appeared, the barrel of his gun leading the way as he slinked along the wall toward the ballroom. His eyes scanned the place, but failed to lift high enough to see me.

My pulse quickened at the sight of him, and I took in what little I could see in the light that reached the threshold of the room, where he stood looking within. I hoped he wouldn’t shoot first and make the mistake of attacking Dmitry, whose guards would shoot him without the slightest hesitation.

For his sake, I knew he’d want to see Tesarik. He’d want to look him in the eye as he lay dying, to know that it was over. I knew he needed that closure, because I had once needed it, too. I’d left Dax with so little, so few answers, and I owed it to him. For all he’d done. All he’d risked. I owed him the satisfaction of knowing it was over.

He disappeared into the room, and I snuck back down the staircase, taking light steps toward the ballroom entrance. From the shadows, I watched him approach Tesarik with slow and easy steps, his back to me all the while.

Dmitry and his guards were nowhere in sight.

Tesarik had taken a sitting position, cradling his arm, and his laughter bounced around the room. When he lifted that disfigured chunk of meat up into the air, I had to slap a hand over my mouth to keep the nausea that slammed against the back of my throat from spilling onto the floor. Nothing but a mutilated stump of bone stuck out from his elbow, the skin hanging like draped fabric. “Perhaps now, we both regret … touching her.” More laughter echoed in the room.

Darkness stretched from the corner where I sat hidden, as Dmitry stalked toward Dax and held a gun to the back of his head.

Branches of horror coiled around my spine, watching Dax’s shoulders roll back, his weaponless hand balled into a tight fist at his side, as though ready to fight.

Anger ripped through me, tearing into my muscles.

“Do you?” Dmitry asked, his hand steady on the gun.

Tears welled in my eyes as I waited for Dax’s response, and when he answered, “No,” I blinked and they skated down my cheeks. My whole body trembled, anticipating Dmitry’s next move, knowing if I rushed in to stop him, there’d be no going back.

Dax would never let me go again. That much I knew for certain.

Dmitry lowered the gun, and I blew out a shaky breath, a wave of dizziness sweeping over me, and I clutched the doorjamb for balance.

“Dmitry?” Dax asked, kicking his head to the side as Dmitry circled around him.