CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
428 Words
EVANGELINE
we drove through the night again.
except this time, it wasn’t to run.
it was to hunt.
i sat beside him, my thigh against his, our hands resting together between gear shifts and silence. the city blurred past us, neon and cold and ruthless.
he’d given me a gun.
“just in case,” he said.
i wasn’t scared to use it.
i was scared of what i’d become after.
“you sure you’re ready?” he asked me.
i looked at him. “i’m not the girl you met at that ballroom.”
his jaw ticked. “no. you’re not.”
he sounded proud.
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NIKOLAI
we tracked one of Vasin’s lieutenants to a strip club on Black Ice Boulevard. fitting name — the street where deals slid out of control, and loyalties cracked like frost under pressure.
we waited in the back. she wore a black hoodie. her hair tied up. no lipstick. no perfume. hunter-mode.
he came out around midnight.
laughing.
drunk.
sloppy.
we followed him to the back alley.
when he lit a cigarette, i grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall.
“hi, Viktor,” i growled.
he pissed himself.
“w-we didn’t know she was your girl,” he said.
i pressed the gun to his ribs. “but you knew she was Moretti’s.”
his mouth trembled.
Evie stepped out of the shadows.
he blinked at her.
“holy sh—”
she punched him straight in the nose.
blood sprayed.
i was so proud.
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EVANGELINE
we didn’t kill him.
we used him.
he gave us what we needed — where Vasin was hiding. where the tapes were stored. who was dirty in my father’s inner circle.
i wasn’t surprised by the names.
i was surprised by how numb i felt.
later, back at the hotel, Nikolai touched my face softly.
“you okay?”
i nodded.
“you changed tonight,” he whispered.
“i had to.”
he leaned closer.
“i still see you. the girl who wore silk and perfume and told me to shut up.”
i smiled.
“you liked her, huh?”
he kissed my shoulder.
“i loved her. but this version?” he said, slipping his hands under my hoodie. “this one owns me.”
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ELSEWHERE- VASIN
Vasin stared at the cracked phone screen.
“they found Viktor?” his second asked.
Vasin smiled, sharp and cruel.
“good. let them come.”
he lit a cigar.
“i’ve got a surprise waiting.”
- Writer
