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The little girl stood in a corner with her eyes on me. I tried moving toward her, but shackles echoed beside me. I was barred onto a bed, my legs clasped to the end of the frame. The same woman entered with a vile smile.

“I finally got a hold of you, Katerina,” her icy voice said, causing the hairs on my nape to stand. “All it took was six dead, including that mutt father of yours.”

My surroundings began to vanish, each item rising and floating into the abyss that expanded until it was only me and the little girl. We stood in the middle of nothing, her lips parting as if she wanted to speak. Instead, it was my distant voice that did.

“The way to endheris to find the root ofherexistence,” my lips said. “And it’s all buried in your memories.”

ChapterTwenty-Eight

ALEK SEPHTIS

Being with Katerina didn’t feel like a routine. Nor a chore. The anticipation for each meeting grew dire, knitting into my infatuation. A greater impulse that stirred the desire to do more with her. For her. With her.

I longed to explore what made her laugh to replicate the sweet symphony flawlessly, and what made her happy to imprint such striking smiles in my mind, what made her angry and sad to protect her from any harm.

Though, never did I imagine a one-two step inducing her annoyance so rapidly.

Katerina’s lips parted as her feet stepped across the ground, her motions following the set pattern we’d practiced. It was as if her upper body focused on one section of the dance while her bottom half contemplated the opposite.

Her bushy eyebrows met as she glared at her feet.

It was the most marvelous sight I’d ever seen.

“Would you like to rehearse the dance again?”

“I’m fine,” she muttered and shook her head. “It’s just. . . annoying. We’ve practiced so many times together, but I still can’t get it right. I’m good at fighting, but I can’t do a stupid waltz to save my life. How does that make sense?”

I drew closer to her, her fingers settling on my palm. Her fingertips caressed my skin as they found the gaps, intertwining until our hands tightened. The overwhelming flush continued to possess my stubborn cheeks every time.

“Then let’s continue where we left off,” I murmured while my head leveled beside hers, her grin captivating. “If you’d like.”

Although the tenderness in her eyes hadn’t altered, the green hues retained a slight hollowness. Similar to our mother’s.

Her sunken appearance was ingrained in my nightmares, the mother that my brother’s and I had once known slowly diminishing with each episode.

Was her condition like our mother’s? Did it stem from turning or something else? The questions had meandered in the back of my mind ever since the hospital, and while I wished for answers, I wouldn’t seek them. Katerina must share them on her own when —or if— ready.

Yet, an inkling to do what I couldn’t with our mother persisted.

“Or we can relax and not talk about the Ball.” She tugged my arm, pulling me away from such thoughts. “If you’d like.”

Laughter had become second nature to me as the past three days were spent alongside each other. In addition to inevitably accepting her commands. “I’ll follow wherever you lead.”

“Even if it’s to hell and back?”

“Especially if it’s hell and back.”

The craving to meet her lips blossomed, the sensation idle when apart but impending. Kissing her was the key to heaven, the ultimate allurement to a sinner. My body pleaded to be swept into the greedy desire, the thundering hunger that seized my bones. It heightened the crushing ache that I could no longer overlook.

You need to tell her the truth.

I had yet to reveal the intruder’s identity. Partially due to not knowing how to unravel it and partially in hopes we’d be proven wrong. Tristan continued investigating Lorenzo’s activities, nothing of the norm leaping out. We needed evidence to prove his innocence. Yet, nothing steered him that direction.

“Katerina. There’s something I have to tell you.”

“What is it?”

I cleared my throat. “It may all be a suspicion, but I can’t be silent on it.” The tips of my fingers grazed along her skin until a hand cupped her cheek. “All the evidence that Tristan has acquired leads to one possible intruder. It’s not to say that they are, but. . .”