A Lock Of Death by Beena Khan

8

Dimitri had already showered and changed into a new pair of black clothes but Nine still slept. He’d considering tying her up so he could shower, but she looked too blissful in her sleep, so he let it slide. As he put on his shoes, he eyed her again.

The blue sheets covered her hips, and she slept on her stomach. He could still see the side roundness of her tits. They looked even fuller when pressed against the mattress. He remembered how they felt against his chest.

Tying his shoelaces, he remembered her last words when she’d lost unconscious last night. Perhaps, she was high, but they still vibrated through his mind.

Husband. He would probably end up getting a divorce in the first three days. Marriage wasn’t something for him.

Maybe it was another one of her tricks where she was trying to seduce him, but he doubted it. She hadn’t gone any further than just sitting on his lap and her soft hand touching his body.

Often when people were fucked up, they spilled out the truth. She’d dropped her guard last night, and a vulnerable side crept to the surface, revealing a side of her that he hadn’t seen before. A side that was loose and free.

Substance.

Last night, it was as if the universe had conjured her existence in a wave of laughter. Her laughs still echoed in his mind, the same ones that were composed of music.

She was the perfect melody.

Taking the key cards, he slipped downstairs to bring food up. The motel had a twenty-four-hour breakfast and only one entrance. He’d checked after she fell asleep last night. She couldn’t escape without him seeing her through the front door. She could alert someone though, so he had to be quick.

Grabbing a tray, he poured coffee for and cereal. He picked up Cheerios for himself. He liked that. Eyeing the chocolate bars nearby, he grabbed two of those.

Maybe she would like those too. He returned upstairs, but she was still knocked out. He eyed her curiously.

What if she had risen, slipped outside, and informed someone? No. She would be too disoriented to think smart right now. They skipped the morning. It was almost night again, and they needed to get moving. Good thing the sun was down.

Placing the tray on the table, he glanced at her sleepy, dewy face. With her eyes closed, her lashes were long like the wings of a butterfly. She breathed lightly in small puffs with her full pink lips parted. Her long disheveled braid hung on the other side of the bed. Little strands of hair fell over her skin.

She looked like an angel, nothing like the wildcat he’d seen before. He waited for her to wake up. After a minute, he had enough. He cleared his throat, but she remained passed out.

Before he could do it again, his cellphone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, he glanced at the screen.

“Yes, Brother,” Dimitri answered.

His Boss, his leader Alexander spoke.

“Dima, how are you?”

Dimitri still eyed Nine. “Fine.”

“Well, I’m great as well. Thanks for asking.”

“We’ve reached North Carolina. We should reach Mexico in two days,” Dimitri said shortly, ignoring his reply completely. He continued speaking, “I want to ask you something.”

Alexander chuckled. “This better be good then.”

Dimitri grazed a hand through his chin.

“How did you meet Nine?”

Alexander only replied, “Our paths crossed.”

Dimitri’s eyes narrowed. That answer wasn’t good enough, and he needed more information. “By paths crossing, do you mean, your dick just happened to fall into her?”

Alexander whistled. “You’re awfully curious about her.”

Dimitri licked his teeth and a churn of wrath boiled and shimmered in his veins. “So, it’s true?” he continued.

“No,” Alexander replied. “I haven’t touched her.”

He sighed internally. That truth felt good to hear.

“Why?” Dimitri couldn’t resist but ask.

“Because I had different plans for her,” Alexander replied shortly. “Is there something I should be concerned about, Dima?” his voice laced with a sternness, his deep, smooth voice losing the coolness behind it.

Dimitri looked at Nine and replied, “No.”

After a few minutes, they continued the conversation before he hung up. Dimitri sat down on the edge of the bed, picking up the Cheerios for himself. Glancing every now and then at her as he ate, he expected Nine to rise. Holding in a sigh, he finished eating and took a sip of his black coffee.

While still holding his coffee, he grabbed the edge of her bedsheets and pulled them off her.

She whined when the cold breeze hit her skin. He stared at the goosebumps erupting on her flesh.

Fascinating.

She had four little freckles on her shoulders. Eyeing her, he reached out a finger to graze them, but she didn’t stir at all.

She was soft all over.

Withdrawing his hand, he looked at her face again, and her eyes snapped open.

They widened before she scrambled back.

She fell on the carpet behind the bed with a thump.

Well, that would be something she would never forget.

The face of Wrath.

He forgot he was too close to her. Sitting upright again, his lip twitched, but he didn’t rise to help her. Simply sipping his coffee quietly, he heard her grunt and shriek.

“Why am I naked?” she demanded.

“Topless,” he corrected in a murmur.

He glanced over his shoulder at Nine, and she stared at him open-mouthed, clutching the bedsheets to her tits. She remained on the floor. His gaze dropped to her tits, and her skin flushed. Averting his eyes, he turned to face straight ahead again.

“What did you do last night?” she demanded behind him, her breaths coming out rough.

He arched an eyebrow even though she couldn’t see.

“What about what you did to me?” he countered, his lips halted on the coffee.

“W-What?” she stuttered.

He turned back to look at her, pleased that her eyes looked like they were ready to burst out of her sockets. She chewed on her lip, and he wanted her to stop. It drew his attention to them too much, and he didn’t like that.

“You attacked me like a wildcat,” he lied.

Well, she hadn’t, but he wanted to fuck with her.

Silence fell over her and her mouth looked ready to hit the floor. He had an urge to reach out and close it. Her cheeks flamed pink, and he eyed her neck, noticing the redness trailing her skin. He didn’t know whores could blush.

“L-Lies!” she accused under her breath.

For the first time in his life, he wanted to smile. It was all too amusing to drive her wild just like how she’d tried to run him insane last night, tempting him. Revenge was sweet.

“Don’t make me show you the scratches,” he continued.

He was all too pleased when her eyes immediately went to his neck and chest. Frowning, her erratic eyes peered at her nails, inspecting them. He caught the little sparkle on them. She was radiant as the sun but glowed like the moonlight at night.

She inspected her body for marks, but she wouldn’t find any. Her frown deepened, and her questioning eyes met his. Her eyes narrowed, tilting her head as if she realized his game.

“You are messing with me, aren’t you?” she demanded, wagging a finger. He took another sip of his coffee, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed it down. When he didn’t reply, she spoke again. “Right... Blue?”

Blue. That nickname again.

It was different than being called a monster, criminal, evil, fucked up, and so on. The list was endless.

Her hopeful eyes burned into his very being, ruining all the fun in the game. He’d seen eyes like those on women who he had fucked and who had expected a relationship.

It was a look that displeased him too much.

“Last night, you took off your clothes. I didn’t touch you.”

He did remember pushing her away and the palm of his hand had brushed against her hardened nipple.

Nine sighed in relief and stood up, still holding the bedsheet to her body.

“If I had, you wouldn’t be able to stand on your feet.”

With that, he turned around and rose.

Her choked gasp filled the air.

Ignoring her, he dropped his empty coffee into the dustbin. Picking up the tray, he placed it on the bed for her and faced forward again. A few moments later, Nine sat on the bed. Looking at her with the side of his eye, he noticed she wore her cotton shirt.

She ate her cereal, and he looked away, texting his brother that they were on the move soon. When she finished, she moved and took out a gold sparkly dress from her bag.

He stared at it. She would always dress like a disco ball. Too bright and sparkly for his liking. Sighing, she rubbed her forehead. Must be the aftermath of the ecstasy.

Nine headed toward the restroom, and a minute later, the shower water ran. He sat there, texting and replying to the messages he’d received when she emerged from the restroom.

His gaze fell on her sequin short-sleeve gold dress ending at her knees. Trailing his gaze up, he watched as she combed out her mane. He’d never seen locks that long before. So unique and distinct. He wanted to reach out his itchy fingers and brush through them. Wet, thick, and even lengthier than a stormy sea. They reached past her knees when soaked. Boris was correct. She did resemble a creature from a storybook fairytale.

A princess.

She was like a visual poetry.

Nine was the poetry.

In a trance, he caught the golden hues in her rich hair when the artificial light hit her. He wondered if she ever got tired of brushing them. It took her almost a good minute to run the comb through some strands. She was fresh-faced, and it made her look younger than she was. He was three years older than her.

“Time to go,” he said.

Nine paused in combing before giving a puzzled look.

“I didn’t get a chance to braid my hair yet,” she protested.

“No time,” he replied. “You can do it in the car.”

She gave a curt nod. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffed up. He would have to stop by a convenience store for eye drops.

Picking up his bag, he tossed it over his shoulder, and she clutched her pink bag in her hands. Leaving the tray on the bed, his eyes motioned to the door.

Narrowing her eyes, she followed and stepped ahead of him so he could keep a watch on her.

At checkout, the teenager gave him a bright smile. He didn’t understand the point of smiles… but he remembered Nine’s smiles and her laughter, which were melodic like her voice.

Brushing off his thoughts, he handed the key cards to the boy. His face was trained to the boy, but with the corner of his eye, he noticed Nine staring too intently at the boy.

Narrowing his gaze, he took out his phone from his pocket.

“I have to make a call.”

With his back turned to her, he placed his bag onto the floor, and moved to an area further away, a few feet down.

A feminine whisper filtrated through the air.

Nine. She spoke to the boy.

Either she was brave or extremely stupid.

He continued moving, pretending he hadn’t heard anything. Lowering his shoulders, he relaxed his posture as he held the phone to his ear and talked even though he hadn’t dialed a number yet. “Hello…” he continued speaking with his back toward Nine and the boy.

He let a few seconds pass before he glanced over his shoulder. Both of them weren’t looking at him.

The young boy though reached for his phone as he continued talking to Nine. Was he calling the police?

Dimitri pocketed his phone in his pants and turned around to stare at the two cunning creatures.

His eyes narrowed on the boy’s fingertips, and the boy glanced in his direction as if he could feel his gaze on him.

Sheer terror reeked from the boy’s eyes.

Both of his hands rushed to dial the numbers.

Dimitri cocked his head and pulled out his gun from his back pocket. Lifting it, he unlocked the safety. At the clicking sound, Nine’s wild eyes met his, and she dropped her bag on the floor. He stared into her shocked eyes when he aimed the gun at the boy’s temple and pressed the trigger.

Pop.

The boy dropped his phone, and it scattered a few feet away. His body collapsed onto the floor. Nine screamed in the background, but Dimitri didn’t pay any attention.

He’d given her a bait, and she ate it up.

Big mistake.

She sniveled and her footsteps turned around to run. He caught the movement and fired next to her feet in a warning.

Her body stilled and slowly, she turned around. She raised her hands in surrender, and she glanced at the floor where the boy’s head popped out behind the table.

A hysterical cry left Nine’s lips before she smacked a hand across her mouth, her eyes staring at Dimitri in disbelief.

He aimed the gun at her now, and she shook her head madly at him and lowered her hand.

“Blue…” she whispered.

If he was a normal man with a moral compass, he would’ve ached at the desperation in her voice. The way she said that nickname tugged something in him last night, but now, he felt absolutely nothing. The helplessness in her voice was all manipulation. She was trying to make him feel empathy.

Adrenaline rushed through his veins like rocket fuel as he tilted his head. He wasn’t surprised that she’d tried to seek out help after all.

Maybe she needs to be taught another lesson.

His ears perked up at the sounds of, Hello, Hello?

He glanced down and realized the phone was still on.

The ID said 911. Still holding the gun in her direction, he picked up the phone and put it next to his phone.

“Hello,” he spoke in his deep, low voice.

Nine’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. Her caramel eyes dimmed, and her cheeks were pinked from the tears. He didn’t care at all. She could cry a whole river. Tears meant nothing to him, perhaps, because he’d never cried in his entire life.

Still holding the phone to his ear, he stepped away from the receptionist and headed in Nine’s direction. He was on the hunt now, for her, to punish her in every possible way she deserved.

She disobeyed.

He’d warned her.

Her eyes turned startled before she backed up. He moved forward and she only stepped back. Soon, she had nowhere to go, and she was caged against the wall. He pressed the gun to her temple, and her tear-filled eyes blinked at him. She bit down on her lip and shook her head, pleading at him.

“Yes, this is dispatcher Julian. How could I help you today?” the dispatcher on the other line said.

“I’m sorry, Sir,” he faked the apology. “It appears it was a false alarm. I thought I saw someone doing something they shouldn’t have.” He stared Nine dead in the eye as he spoke.

Her lips parted as he pressed the nuzzle of the gun harder into her temple. He wanted to press the trigger and fire every single bullet in her head.

She closed her eyes as if she accepted her fate.

Oh… no, you don’t. You won’t die that easily.

“Is everything okay? What happened?” the dispatcher asked.

“I thought I saw two people conspiring against me. Everything is under control now.”

“Do you still need me to send someone down to you?” the dispatcher asked.

“I can handle it,” he murmured, “I’m safe.”

He tilted his head at Nine.

She still had her eyes closed.

But you’re not.

“Alright. Have a good night then,” the dispatcher replied.

“You too.”

He smashed the phone against the floor, and it splintered into a million pieces.

Nine’s eyes snapped open, and she let out a yelp. She pressed her hand against her mouth, muffling the sounds.

He lowered his gun from her temple to the sides of her forehead, trailing her pretty features.

Her breathing grew heavier, her little frantic breaths hitting his face as he edged closer.

It would take just one click to end her life.

Her life was completely at his mercy.

“Malen'kaya lgunishka.”

Little Liar.

Her eyes fluttered open and golden hues met him. She stilled when the nuzzle of the gun descended to her cheeks to her jawline before it landed underneath her chin.

Holding the gun there, he lifted her jaw, forcing her to meet his eyes. His eyes blazed down on her, and she tried not to cower beneath his deadly gaze.

She would feel every second of his wrath today. She thought that boy’s death was enough? He hadn’t even started yet.

That was just a start.

Still aiming his gun at her, he motioned at her pink bag. Startled, she leaned down and picked it up with trembling hands. He reached for his bag too and flung it over his shoulder. Jerking his head toward the door, his jaw ticked with every second she delayed in listening.

With hesitant footsteps, she moved forward, and he walked behind her like a lethal predator. His eyes remained glued to the back of her head as they headed outside into the cool night.

Water dripped from her locks, clinging to her golden dress, wetting it. Her shoulders sagged as she walked in timid footsteps. When they reached his car, he grabbed her bag and threw it in the backseat with his.

He still hadn’t said one word to her at all. Digging for the handcuffs in his bag, he pulled them out.

Returning to Nine, he opened the car door and jerked his head at the driver’s seat.

Puzzled, she stammered, “Y-You want me to drive? I don’t have a… license.” She didn’t make any sense.

Grinding his teeth, he pointed the gun at her again and she slammed her mouth shut.

With a ragged exhale, she stepped inside. Once seated, her questioning gaze returned to him. Locking the safety of the gun again, he tucked it behind his waist. Nine let a sigh of relief. Too bad, it was short-lived because he grabbed onto her hands and pressed them against the steering wheel.

“What are you doing?” she choked out.

He didn’t answer at all. Not one word.

Gripping her wrists together, he uncuffed the handcuffs and bound her wrists to the steering wheel.

She hissed under her breath, “Blue, what’s going on?” When he didn’t reply, she continued asking, “Why am I being cuffed? Are you planning on leaving me here in the middle of the night until the sun comes up?”

Dead silence greeted her.

“Blue…” her voice cracked.

Pity and remorse were missing from his heart and soul. It also made his job easier. He didn’t have to think about it all. His heartbeat didn’t race like it had yesterday every time she’d spoken that nickname from her cupid little lips. Now, she was just a cunning, manipulative person just like him.

He left the door open and stepped to the back of the car.

This was his world, and she would pay the price for trying to cross him. The rule of law and logic were a part of another world. In his web, in his underworld, only the rules of criminality existed.

She will pay, and I will take joy in her precious little tears.

“Wait!” I yelled hoarsely through the open door.

Blue only ignored me like he’d been doing for the past twenty minutes. He rummaged through the trunk doing God knows what. I pissed him off, and I would suffer for it.

What did he think that I was going to go along for the ride and jump at his every demand? I owed him nothing.

I thought maybe I could try calling the police with the help of that boy. My heart cracked all over again as tears rolled down my cheek. I hated crying, and I didn’t like making a habit of it, but I’d seen that boy being shot down in front of me.

My soul thrashed that he hadn’t deserved it. That he died because of me. He had his whole life ahead of him, and now his corpse laid back in the building where Blue had left him. I hoped someone would come out soon and alert the authorities.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I fought against the cuffs around my wrists. The metal only dug deeper into my sensitive skin. I grunted when it sliced against my sore wrists, bruising it until trickles of the foundation of red droplets poured down my arms. The bright scarlet quickly darkened, taking a burgundy hue. Time itself became irrelevant, the seconds could have passed like mere seconds or minutes.

In that suspended moment, I became lost in Blue’s storm.

Fuck. Fuck. How do I get out of these?

I hoped he wouldn’t leave me here alone. As much as the sun was beautiful, it wasn’t pretty against my skin.

I looked around for someone, anyone, but we were in the middle of a parking lot, in a deserted highway with no other cars around us. I glanced at the building, and my heart filled with hope. I could scream. Someone could hear me then. I opened my mouth but I paused.

Blue passed me as he brought out two large cans.

Kerosene.

A tremble ran through me, and my body shuddered from the inside and out. He was so lethal that he carried those with him.

I stared open-mouthed as he moved toward the building carrying those cans, his stride confident like a horseman of Death. He wasn’t just Wrath…

When Wrath brought down hell, he became Death.

My eyes glared daggers into his black fading back.

The building…

I shook my head like a lunatic, refusing to believe this was the kind of man he was.

No… Not Blue.

He was the sky, the ocean, he was the world itself.

Why did I forget that he was a criminal too?

A lethal killer of the Bratva.

A monster of the Underworld.

Oh my God…

Realization hit me, and adrenaline ran through my body. I thrashed against the cuffs, screaming at the top of my lungs. I knew he could hear me, but it didn’t stop him.

“Blue… what are you doing? Have you lost your mind?” I yelled, my voice filled with disbelief.

He ignored me.

“Don’t hurt them!” I screamed.

He still gave me his back and didn’t even once turn around. I knew he could hear me. He wasn’t that far away from me. I didn’t care about my pride anymore. I only cared about those innocents who would suffer because of me… again.

“I won’t do it again. I’m…” I paused. I never apologized before. “I’m sorry!” I finished. “I’ll do whatever you want.” I was beyond begging. Fuck my pride now. “I won’t try to ask for help ever again. I’ll be fucking good! Don’t hurt them! Please, just let them go!” My eyes blurred, and my vision turned bleary.

I shook my head wildly, banging my handcuffed hands to the steering wheel.

He’d clipped my hands to the wheel and left me to watch.

He’d bound me all over again like a songbird in a gilded cage I once was in the skyscraper. There, I was high on top of the world in the sky, but I wasn’t safe down below, on earth either.

Freedom was nonexistent for me.

I shook my head again. The more I trashed, the more the metal slashed into my skin. I bit down on my lip, wincing as bitter blood pooled in my mouth.

Fuck. I was a bloody mess.

A fucking Bloody Mary.

Red liquid gushed down my wrists and rolled to my elbows, drenching me. I hoped it would hit a vein and I would die.

Would I bleed out?

My mind swirled as I stared at the violent jets of red almost resembling jars of paint. I was too morbid for my own good. Blood trickled from my wrists, spilling down the steering wheel and onto the black seat, in the car of a ruthless monster. The red was the devil’s ink, ever spinning behind his eyes.

Bloodshed ran deep in his veins.

An electric storm ran through my mind, almost circuiting until I only blinked in a trance staring at my blood. My soul and heart bled with it. Acid burned in my stomach, threatening to travel up my trachea and all over the steering wheel. My stomach demanded to be empty of the earlier meal I had eaten.

Blood whooshed in my eardrums as my heart worked overtime to keep me breathing and sane. It was like I wasn’t here anymore. I was just an organism shattering. A hysterical scream left my lips again and again. I didn’t recognize myself anymore.

Uneven exhales escaped my lips as I continued yelling and water swam in my eyes again. I just wanted him to stop. I wanted to take back the last twenty minutes.

I honked the steering wheel a few times to stop him, but it did nothing at all. I kept honking for the people inside to hear and alert the authorities, escape, run, fucking anything.

“Blue…” my hoarse voice trailed off, but his back disappeared into that building.

I tried to scream again, but no voice came out.

It came out rough and hoarse.

My shoulders sagged and I slumped against the steering wheel, still honking. I bit the back of my knuckle, drawing blood.

My heart filled with hope when someone inside the building pulled up their window. My eyes brightened, and I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I tried again, but my voice came out in a croak.

My voice was gone.

He stole it.

Blue stepped out of the building, still holding the two cans. He lowered one to the ground trailing a line of kerosene directly from the building and stopping mid-way away from our car. The person by the window yelled, but I didn’t pay any attention. All of my focus was on this mobster.

He dropped the two cans on the ground, and he tilted his body and glanced over at me.

I’d never seen his blue eyes like that before.

My body stilled as I met them.

Murderous, blazing, and seething out wrath.

Death was on his mind and by destruction, he would rule.

Blue pulled out a match from his back pocket before he lighted it. He still held my eyes the entire time. I stared open-mouthed that he was making me watch.

He enjoyed brutality with his hands.

A desperation that could only be relieved by stopping someone’s heartbeat.

A desire that could only be quenched with bloodied hands.

It ignited a compulsion like no other.

His hands were free of blood, but the physical appearance of clean hands couldn’t hide the number of souls he’d consumed. He let his darkest desires rest in him until they surfaced to the skin, demolishing every human being in its path.

He surrendered to his inner evil wolf.

My eyes fell on the flame in his hands.

The very flame that held all those people’s lives in his very hands. A small spark of flame that ignited a fire so deadly, it would leave no trail of dead bodies in its wake.

His cold exterior matched his molten insides.

I looked for any guilt in his eyes, but they were vacant.

His eyes weren’t blue like the vast sky nor were they like the ocean that hid a million secrets.

They were like a blue flame, channeling the heat of the earth.

Hotter than any red, yellow, or white flame to exist.

A complete combustion.

He wasn’t my Blue at all. Blue was someone I had made up in my mind, an alternate persona I made to humanize him… but this man wasn’t human anymore.

He was Dimitri Nikolaev.

The brother of the most dangerous man in New York.

The Second in Command of a dangerous crime organization.

Handsome, wicked, and cold as ice.

He wasn’t prince charming or a broken knight.

He wasn’t a victim, he was the villain.

He wasn’t a warrior, he was the wrecker.

He wasn’t wrath, he was the war himself.

His eyes dared me to challenge him, but he was too far gone to be stopped.

Yet… I still tried.

I shook my head slowly.

No… I pleaded with my eyes.

His eyes never changed at all, and he dropped the flame onto the ground.

All the air left my lungs as my helpless eyes stared at the fire following the trail toward the building, igniting it forever.

Those fates were forever sealed.

Dead.

Each second passed like a hammer on my soul. I closed my eyes when an explosion burst. My eardrums rang at the sudden clatter. My heart tore and broke for those people. It sank so deep in my chest, I didn’t know it would surface again.

I prayed for those lives lost because of me. I was just trying to survive… I prayed for those souls’ forgiveness.

My thoughts tumbled into the abyss, into a dark prison that burned me from the inside and out. I curled up in a sane place where it was dark and warm. A bright smile filled my mind, and a soft laugh filled my mind. The tension in my shoulders sagged. I recognized that smile, one so similar to my own.

My father’s.

My cortisol levels came down, and it calmed me for a few seconds, and I jolted from my morbid thoughts. My pounding heart returned to its slow and steady rhythm.

I opened my eyes, but Dimitri no longer stood in front of me.

The trunk of the door had opened. He must be there.

I didn’t turn to glance at him. I looked at the burning building in front of me. The same one I’d slept in yesterday. The fire turned into a golden ball, marking and claiming everything it touched. The yellow and orange colors like a burning sun.

The same sun that I’d longed to see chilled me to the bone.

It resembled the sun, but it was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen. I hated it. I hated it so much. It wrecked all my daydreams of the beautiful sky I’d imagine.

This was nothing like my paintings.

The fire ignited the sky, outshining the stars that rested above us. The heat and the light shone so brightly into the night.

Screams erupted from the building and my devasted soul shattered. It fractured into a million fragments. Those helpless shouts I would remember for the rest of my life. They would haunt me in my nightmares. My sense of peace was gone forever.

The smell of smoke and flames engulfed my nostrils, and I turned my face, wanting to avoid that scent, but it still followed me everywhere. There was nowhere I could hide from it.

The golden glow was on every portion of that building. The light illuminated the scorched ground, and the burning lingered in the air.

A hand gripped the driver’s door, and I knew it was him.

His crispy smell gave him away, but now another scent clung to him.

Ash. I blinked, staring straight ahead, my mind still replaying those anguish screams in my mind. The souls that I would never forget. I had stopped crying, and little whimpers left my lips. My body fought to breathe, but I only heaved dry air. Salty water still clung to my wet lashes.

I inhaled. Exhaling, I released it.

“There must have been so many men, women, and children inside…” I croaked out, fighting to speak. I didn’t recognize my own voice. It sounded so lost like I was dead along with those people inside the building. “This is inhumane.”

“I’m not human,” his low voice thundered.

A treacherous tear slipped out and rolled down my cheek.

He was right.

He was the human predator instead.

Erratic. Impulsive. Unpredictable.

A violent monster from my worst nightmare.

He was ruthlessly manipulative.

He could do anything at all.

“I warned you yesterday, Nine,” Dimitri murmured, his voice vibrating through my very being.

“I told you what would happen if you disobeyed. You will remember these lives for the rest of your life because you’re responsible for their deaths. I keep my word.”

I would never forget it after today.