Page 9 of The Wraith & Her Killer
“Answers,” is all I say. I need to know the truth of what the fuck is going on.
“We’ll get them, A.”Rune pauses, quiet for a moment before he asks, “How are you?”
“On the edge,” I answer honestly. “It’s bad.”
“We’ve got you. However you need us,” I hear Calix say in the background. I know they do. That’s how they are. Especially Calix. Unlike me, all he does isfeel.
“Be there in ten.” I hang up, pulling up to a red light.
I prop my bike between my legs and wait. Odessa shifts behind me, her thighs sliding down a fraction, fitting herself a little tighter against me. It’s hard enough to ignore her heat that’s wrapped around me, but with the way her body is gripping mine, it may as well be a siren in my ear tempting me to touch. To take.
I’m about to scold her when she does it again, but luckily the light turns green, so I tap her hands to hang on tight before I take off again. She doesn’t, so I jolt forward, intentionally scaring her and forcing her to actually cling to me. I’m sure every part of her justwants to let go and eat the pavement, but luckily her fight or flight response still leans toward theI want to liveside of things.
This littleWraithhas some bite, though, because when she grabs me, it’s right where my shirt has ridden up in the wind. She sinks her claws right into the skin there and digs hard enough into my abs to draw blood.
I bite back a groan of pleasure at the feel of her marking me, but my dick is now awake and thoroughly paying attention, hoping to feel more of her brand of pain. I can feel the sticky wetness of the blood cooling against my skin as I wind down the backroad, nearly to Rune’s house that he shares with Calix.
The gate to their home comes into view as I pull up, and we wait for it to swing open. The moment it does, I’m through and winding my way up the long drive. The house is settled at the back of the property by the creek, out of sight.
When you work for the bratva as a hitman, you learn to appreciate the security and privacy of the woods.
Pulling up, I lower the kickstand and remove my helmet, but keep the cowl pulled up over my mouth and nose.
I saw the recognition in her eyes earlier, but I won’t give her the satisfaction of confirming her suspicions so easily.Sheran fromme.She will have to earn the answer to every question she has about me, who I am, and what I’ve become. Whatshemade me.
I turn around to see her struggling with the strap beneath her chin. There’s a frustrated set to her brow. It’s almost entertaining, but then I remember the bruises and possible broken nose and how the helmet must be squeezing against the wounds.
“Come here,” I command, crooking my fingers at her.
“I’ve got it,” she snaps, her fingers still fumbling.
I roll my eyes and grab her by the chin of her helmet, yanking her toward me with a quick jerk of my wrist. She loses her balance and stumbles into me, her small, curvy body pressing into mine and her hands gripping at the belt loops by my hips. Her breath leaves her in awhooshand her big, dark eyes meet mine behind the lifted visor.
For a fractured moment, when I finally free the strap and remove her helmet, the look in her eyes sends me back in time. Like we’re teenagers again and I’ve just snuck into her room to slay her demons, and she’s looking at me like I’m both her salvation as well as her damnation.
Her body shifts against mine, and before I can process what she’s doing, I hear the distinctsnickof my knife before I’m met with white-hot pain in my side, just below my ribs. Looking down, I see blood blooming through the puncture wound in my shirt. It takes me off guard, but I turn impressed eyes to the womanbefore me. She stands on shaky legs with a trembling arm out to me, knife in hand, and wide, terrified eyes.
I narrow mine and fight the way a maniacal grin wants to tug at my lips. “A cut? Are you flirting with me,Wraith?”
Her mouth pops open in surprise, but it takes a second for any words to spill out. “I’m sorry, I—You… You were going to… so I-I thought I—” She gulps and takes in a few shaky breaths before squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin at me. Her false bravado is positively adorable. “I won’t become another slave. Another victim. Not to you, orhim,or any other man on this planet.”
She turns the knife around, the blade poised just above her navel. I take a step toward her on instinct, but her shouted “No!”almost gives me pause. I’m not going to feed into her dramatics.
“I don’t fucking think so.” I lunge for her, grabbing her wrist and twisting just hard enough for a shocked yelp to escape her lips. She drops the knife. I catch it with ease in my free hand and yank her closer. I use the blade to brush a sweaty peach strand from her sticky forehead, reveling in the way she trembles against me. Bending down into her personal space, I murmur through the mask, “What’s the matter? Is theWraith thatdesperate to become a specter?” I drag the back of the knife down her face, over her neck, and down her chest until I pause directly over her heart—over the marks I made ten years ago. “Ty moy, malen'koye privideniye.”
Her dark eyes flare in recognition for a splitsecond before terror becomes her. In a move I honestly wasn’t expecting, she grips my shoulders and sends her knee harshly into my lower abdomen. It doesn’t hurt, but it does startle me enough to release her. Before I can right myself, she takes off at a sprint, her peach hair slowly disappearing through the tree line on Rune and Calix’s property.
Thunder rumbles in the distance, and I stand to my full height, tipping my head up at the sky with my eyes closed, releasing a satisfied breath that warms the cowl covering my mouth. I can’t wipe the grin from my lips as I take the first step toward the forest before me. Odessa may have always been mine, but she sealed her fate when she chose to run from me a second time. When I catch her, I’ll show her just how close to death I can bring her. Only then will she finally know what it’s like to truly feel alive.
I love a good hunt, and I can’t wait to claim my prize.
6
I’m going to die tonight.
My bare feet pound the forest floor beneath me, and for the first time in what seems like a lifetime, I’m not so sure that’s what I want.
My life had been stolen from me so long ago that I thought I’d never be reunited with my family again. Reunited withhimagain. The boy whose name I never learned, but a face so devastating that I hoped I would never forget.
