Page 80 of Darkest Desire

I sigh. “I tried to call you to let you know but I didn’t get the chance. So my plan failed. Like all of our plans. We keep trying to save ourselves and our sisters but we keep failing. Maybe we should just… give up? Give in to the darkness.”

“I will not let you give in to Nico. He will hurt you if he hasn’t already. I mean, he made you kill for god sake. All I’ve wanted is to save you and our sisters. Don’t make me fail now. Let’s go.”

The fight in my sister’s voice revitalizes me, waking me up. I’m getting lost under Nico’s spell and I have to snap out of it.

“Ok, let’s go,” I tell her, taking her hand. We can fight this together.

Natalya drives us away from the café. I leave Nico’s car behind as I don’t need it anymore.

We’re on the road near her house when a car appears behind us. Natalya grips the steering wheel. “Someone is following us.”

When I look in the rearview mirror, I see that it’s Nico in the driver seat. “It’s my husband.”

“How did he find us?”

A weight drops right into my stomach. The car. It had to have been bugged. This was a test to see what I would do and I’ve failed. Once again.

“Stop the car,” I say.

Natalya gives me a wild look. “What? No. We’re almost to my house. You’ll be safe there.”

“Natalya, stop the car. Nico wants me and he will get me. I don’t want you to get hurt in the process.”

“I am not giving you back to him. I promised I would protect you and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to be a big sister you can be proud of.

She revs the gas pedal and speeds off down the street but one glance in the rearview mirror tells me that Nico is right behind us, picking up speed too. Before I know it, he slams into our car, making Natalya slam on her breaks.

Nico gets out of his car and reaches Natalya’s window, pointing a gun at her. “Get out of the car.”

“No,” I gasp. “Don’t hurt my sister.”

“Get out of the car,” he says to Natalya, ignoring me. My sister gives me a long, sad look before stepping out of the car. My hands struggle to unbuckle my seatbelt but the second I get it, I’m running out after her.

“Don’t,” I snap. “Don’t kill her.”

Nico raises his gun to point it at Natalya’s head.

Chapter Fourteen

Sasha

“What are you doing?” I demand. “You’re not going to kill my sister.”

Nico keeps his gun directed at Natalya but he doesn’t pull the trigger. She holds still, not even blinking. “She’s trying to take you away from me.”

“She’s my sister,” I hiss. “If you hurt her, I will never forgive you and you know it. We shared a moment a few days ago. You can’t throw all of that away to hurt Natalya. You can’t.”

“I have been wanting to hurt Mikhail for some time. Natalya is the way to Mikhail’s heart. If I kill her, I hurt him.”

“And you hurt me too,” I remind him. “You said you want me to like you. You want me to give myself in to you. If you hurt my sister, I will never do that and you know it.”

Nico slowly lowers his gun. “You have to stop running, sweetheart.” He walks past Natalya and throws me over his shoulder.

“Let her go,” Natalya says.

“Don’t,” I tell her. “Don’t get hurt. Go home to Mikhail. I’ve got this.”

“I promised I would protect you.”