Page 188 of Only for Him

Back then it was Anastasia.

And now, he means to take Giselle, too.

No.

That’s where this ends.

The darkness inside me howls.

The fire catches.

And all it screams is:kill him.

But the moment twists away from me. I shift my stance, too slow. Pain lances through my side, dragging me down.

He senses it and moves in.

His blade finds home.

It sinks deep through flesh and muscle with a sick wet sound.

The breath empties from my lungs, and I stumble backward, landing hard on my spine. Pain spreads like poison through my nerves.

No.

No.

NO.

“Stay with me, Roman!” Her voice is a beacon breaking through the black.

I claw my way back from the edge, just long enough to see her rushing toward me. Gun raised. Fire in her eyes. The kind of fire people die for.

My little viper.

I think of everything I’ve wanted to give her, the love I tried to deny and couldn’t even admit aloud ready to pour out along with my blood.

If I have to die, I want to die looking at her.

Because I can’t stay forever, and Pavel’s knife at my throat feels more real than anything else.

“If you loved her, you would have never brought her here.” Pavel bends down, bloodied knife poised to finish me off. “From this moment on, she’ll never feel anything but pain.”

He means it.

He’s going to hurt her after he kills me.

I scream inside my skull.Get up. GET UP. Slit his throat. Tear his fucking heart out. Anything to keep her safe.

But I can’t. I’m slipping.

My vision smears at the edges, a tide of black creeping in. My arms won’t lift. My legs won’t listen. My body is a coffin I’m trapped inside.

Giselle storms forward, gun aimed, hands steady, eyes locked on Pavel.

A fucking force of nature.

“Drop the knife,” she commands, sharp as the blades in our hands.