Blood of My Monster (Monster Trilogy #1 ) by Rina Kent

“Kirill!” Karina says excitedly and jumps up, nearly spilling the contents of the bowl. “Look, I’m outside! I came through the garden and only had one panic attack and…”

She trails off, realizing that she’s talking to me when she swore she’d hate me for eternity. Then she flops back to Konstantin’s side, hugging the bowl.

“Am I dreaming, or are you here to visit?” my brother asks with a hint of annoying gloating.

“Definitely dreaming. I’m here to inspect the situation, not visit.” My attention slides to Sasha, who seems to find the top of Karina’s head interesting.

“Would it kill you to be a decent human being for once?” A tinge of venom spills in his tone.

“Very rich coming from you, Konstantin, considering how you wanted to get rid of me the moment I returned. Who’s the subhuman between us, I wonder?”

“You fucking—” He starts to lunge forward but pauses, then winces and breaks into a fit of coughs.

Karina goes still, her eyes turning shifty. She was never good with stressful situations or anything sensory in nature.

It’s Sasha who delicately rests him back in place. “You’re still recovering. Don’t push yourself.”

My jaw tightens, and I resist the urge to haul her up by the waist or throw her over my shoulder. I don’t, though. For the simple reason that I don’t want Konstantin in my business. If he gets wind of how infuriatingly Sasha affects me, he’ll use it to his advantage. No doubt about it.

“Don’t get involved in this,” Konstantin warns me, still speaking with difficulty. “I’ll find out who did this to me and make them pay. This is my fight, stay away from it.”

“No can do. You and I both know this hit was directed at me, not you. So just stay put and sleep on your mama’s lap like the golden child you are.”

“Kirill, I swear to fuck—”

“Stop it,” Karina whispers, her voice trembling and barely audible. “Just stop this, please, both of you. It’s been years since we were willingly in the same room, so let’s not fight. Please?”

My brother glares at me, but he keeps his mouth shut. I meet his eyes that are a carbon copy of Yulia’s.

He got her looks. I had her character.

Once upon a time, I tried to protect him from whatever internal wars our parents had. I shielded him from the ugliness of our family and took his punishments.

I tried to mentally prepare him for Roman’s inhuman tests and treated him like my best friend. My only friend.

But then a wall grew between us, and that wall is called Yulia fucking Morozova.

The day she helped him off that island, and he chose to ditch me and Karina was the day I lost any affection I had for him.

That incident completely fucked Karina up, and he knows it. He could’ve stopped it or pleaded with his mother to actually save her other children, but he didn’t.

I will never forgive him for that. He’ll never forgive me for enlisting in Russia after he begged me not to.

Now, we’re just enemies. It’s as simple as that.

“We’re leaving, Sasha,” I announce and turn toward the door.

“I’ll join you after I take Miss Karina back to her room,” the little shit says as if I didn’t just give a direct order.

But since it’s about Karina, it’s fine.

Just this once, though.

I find Viktor waiting in front of the clinic, arms crossed, and brows raised.

“Don’t,” I say as he falls in step beside me.

“I wasn’t going to say anything.” I’m almost sure I catch a smile on his stoic face, but he does keep quiet and tells me about the plans for the day. He finishes with, “Damien called me. He said you’re not answering his calls and that you still owe him a fight.”

“Ignore him.”

“He might show up like he did the last time.”

“Continue to ignore him.”

Damien is no different than a rabid dog. He has this fixation on fighting anyone he deems worthy enough, and since I managed to punch him that time, that someone has become me. He won’t stop until I get into some form of a primal bout with him.

After Viktor finishes his daily report, we head to the car. He rides with Yuri in the front, and I get in the back, but I order them to wait.

And we do for over fifteen minutes until Sasha finally jogs toward us, her face red.

She slides in next to me, panting, but she doesn’t look at me. “Sorry I’m late. Miss Karina wanted me to remain by her side until she calmed down.”

“Go, Yuri,” I order, then I click on the button that rolls down the black isolating screen. “I have files to review, so none of you speak to me for the entire ride.”

Viktor and Yuri nod as the screen closes.

I can feel Sasha stiffening before I see it as the car leaves the driveway. When I do look at her, I’m struck by the unnatural paleness of her skin. Her face is soft and so fucking beautiful. Even her now longer hair gives her a certain glow. Maybe it’s that or the fact that I know how beautiful she actually looks beneath that unflattering suit, but she appears so feminine right now.

She stares at her linked hands in her lap as if that will miraculously make me lose interest.

“Now that you have nowhere to run to, care to explain why you disappeared this morning?”