Page 130 of Beneath the Light of the Moon

Her eyes darkened. “If you shoot me, you risk harming him.” Her fingers carded through Levi’s hair before yanking the man’s head back.

“Get up.”

“I’d like to see you make me.”

Bang!

Mikko sent a shot off into the couch cushion to the left of her. A fluff of feathers and a small hole was the only evidence of his assault. The noise was loud, his ears ringing painfully. Cristiano would have to pay off every single fucking cop who showed up to this scene from the neighbors complaining, but it was worth seeing her flinch.Slightly.

“Oops,” he grinned, his rage boiling up beneath his skin. “I forgothow sensitive this trigger is.”

Anika’s unwavering hate met him head on. And he suddenly had the terrible thought of not having enough bullets to kill her if he needed to. Mikko had seen what spite could do to desperate men—what it’d done for him when he needed it. It could be like taking a bear down with a pellet gun.

“That’s not very teacher-like of you,” Anika pouted. “And here I thought I had a well reviewed shooting instructor a couple weeks ago.”

“What did you give him?” Mikko questioned, stepping closer.

She lifted her hands in surrender, unfazed that an unconscious man was between her legs. “Nothing, he just had too much to drink. An honest mistake if you ask me…something the coroner won’t even question, yeah?”

“Bullshit.” Mikko’s bones grated together, muscles tense at the force of keeping him in place. “Your finger prints are all over his neck.”

“I’m not really worried about it.” She shrugged like it wasn’t attempted murder they were discussing. “You won’t let me go to jail.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh, but I do.” Her grin was playful all while her eyes conveyed malicious intent. “You’ll pay off whoever you need to to keep me free. Just so you can have me all to yourself.”

Mikko scoffed, but said nothing because as much as he hated to admit it, she was right.

She smugly continued. “Fate has always been a tricky little thing. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I don’t believe in fate.”

“Of course, how could I forget.” She tapped the side of her head as if hit with a new thought. “Daddy’s little plaything thinks he can construct the world exactly as he sees fit so he can control how eachpiece is then destroyed.”

“Like you’re playing God?” he countered.

A sinful glint flashed across her eyes before, “If you bow down now, I might spare you.”

“Liar,” he said aloud, but deep down something sinister stirred in his gut.

“Although,” she continued, “I prefer my offerings covered in blood.”

Before Mikko could form a rebuttal, silver flashed in the light as a small knife bit into Levi’s tender skin. Anika wielded it, her intentions clear. A little more pressure to the hollow of his throat would surely produce blood. She’d slipped it free from Levi’s pocket, a smile gleaming on her face.

“Maybe I’llcutmy fingerprints off him,” she said, waiting for Mikko to move.

But once again, he felt out of control. He suddenly felt like his eleven year old self, powerless.

A flick of her wrist; a flash of crimson as a small rivulet streaked down Levi’s neck. It was shallow, not large or deep enough for him to bleed out from, but the sight of it infuriated Mikko.

Mine,he brain shouted,mine to torture and torment and kill.

He was devoid of anything else, of any other thoughts. This had to end. He was prepared to yank her off his worthless employee by her hair, but the sickeningsquelchof her knife slipping into Levi’s soft tissue finally made him lunge.

Mikko’s shoulder collided with Anika’s warmth. Her body gave easily beneath his strength, the softness of her cushioning his own fall. Tumbling to the floor, her knife skittered out of her hand and out of reach as Mikko used the moment to straddle her torso. The shards of glass nearby embedded themselves into Anika’s back and Mikko’s knees. Still, she fought him with everything she had, desperately trying to wrestle herself out from under him all while narrowlymissing the swing of his gun.

Bang!