A Shade of Kiev 3(30)

I saw red and lunged at him, flooring him once again. I dealt him one blow after the other until his face was a bloody mess.

“Stop!”

I glanced up to see Helina entering the room, her hands clasped over her mouth. She hurried over and hauled me away from Erik.

Erik staggered to his feet and crumpled to the floor in a corner of the room, breathing heavily.

“What the hell is going on in here?” Helina demanded. She paused, sniffing the air. “And why does this room smell of Julisse’s perfume?” She narrowed her eyes on me and gripped my collar. “Have you been the one sleeping with Erik’s girl?”

“Stop, Helina,” Erik muttered.

I breathed out in frustration, brushing her away. There was no point trying to hide it any more. Erik knew and of course he would tell his sister.

I walked over to the bathroom and pointed to Anna crouched down on the floor.

Helina gasped. “This human… you stole her from the back of that dungeon.” Tears of fear and panic welled in her eyes. “No. No, Kiev. I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all. Please. We need to return her. If we do it now, Isolde might still—”

“No,” I growled, pushing her back.

“There are so many other girls on this island, why do you have to—”

“Shut your mouth and listen for once,” I snarled. I towered over her, glaring from her to my brother. “What’s going to happen now is very simple. You two are going to leave this room and pretend you never saw her.”

“But Kiev—”

“If either of you so much as breathe a word about this human or harm her in any way, I swear—it’s over. I’ll find a way to leave this island and you’ll never see me again.”

That shut my sister up. She chewed on her lower lip.

“I’ve been lenient enough to still talk to you after what you did to Matteo. But this is your last chance. You need to stop trying to judge what’s best for me and just do what I tell you to do. Now, you’re either with me or against me.”

There was a silence, interrupted only by more retching from Anna. It irritated me that I was wasting all this time trying to keep my siblings in check when Anna was in need of me.

“You do realize what will happen if we get caught?” Erik said. His face had almost healed by now.

I grunted. I didn’t know what punishment we would face. But it wouldn’t make a difference.

Helina sank down on the bed. Her eyes glazed over as she stared at the wall.

“So are you with me, or against me?”

I glared down at both of my siblings.

“Of course we’re not against you,” Erik said.

Helina nodded, gulping.

“We’re not against you,” she repeated.

“But are you with me?”

They both nodded.

Truth be told, a part of me had expected them to refuse.

“And I’m sorry, Kiev,” Erik said, still sitting on the floor, now holding his head in his hands. “Julisse has been a sore spot for me recently.”

I stared at Erik. “What do you mean?”

He heaved a sigh, rubbing a palm against his forehead. “She’s started cheating on me. I know it. But I can’t prove it. And, of course, she won’t admit to it.”

I was at a loss for what to say. I’d never had had much conviction about their relationship—Julisse had a way about her that made me distrust her. But I was surprised that she would cheat on my brother. He was certainly one of the best-looking men on the island and also appeared to be several years younger than her.

But with Anna half dying on my bathroom floor, now was not the time for me to be a relationship counsellor to my brother.

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that,” I said curtly.

Erik got up and walked toward me. He held out his hand and shook mine, patting me on the shoulder.

“I’m sorry for accusing you. I guess I didn’t believe you would do something like that to me. I was just venting.”

I nodded.

Helina stood up and gripped my arm.

“I’m sorry too,” she said softly. “And now, I promise, we’re on your side. I don’t know why you want this pregnant woman so much, or what you plan to do with her—to be honest, I’d rather not know. But whatever insane plan you have going through your mind, we’ll not say a word.”

She would have been even more horrified to learn that I had not even an insane plan. I had no plan at all.

They headed for the front door and stepped out into the corridor outside.

“Wait,” I hissed, just before they left. “Helina. Bring me down the rest of your perfume, will you?”





Chapter 25: Mona





I’d thought that I would feel more shaken after murdering the ruler of The Sanctuary and her lover in their sleep. But I just felt numb. Perhaps it was Rhys’ influence on me finally working. I’d done what I had to do. Now that I’d done it, it felt almost no different than any other mundane task he might ask me to do.