Page 266 of The Devil's Thorn

He stepped closer to the door. Too close. I slammed my foot on the gas. The tires caught, and the car jerked forward just as the gate finished opening wide enough for me to slide through. I clipped the edge—hard—metal scraping against the side of the car with a guttural scream of steel on steel.

I didn’t care. I didn’t even look back.

The rearview mirror showed Yuri shrinking behind me, his mouth moving, hand already on his phone. Good. Let him call him. Let Rafaelfollow. Because I was done sitting still. Done waiting for them to decide what I deserved to know.

The streets blurred past in streaks of light and shadow as I pressed harder on the gas, the speed matching the rush in my chest.

I didn’t have a destination. I didn’t need one. I just needed to run far enough, fast enough, loud enough—until Rafael had no choice but to come after me.

Let him find me. Let himexplain. If he could. Because right now? I didn’t know if I’d shoot him before I even let him talk.

The city disappeared behind me. Streetlights blurred. Horns faded. The roads grew quieter, narrower—cutting through trees and stone like veins made of asphalt. The deeper I drove, the less everything felt real.

The engine growled beneath me. The speedometer kept climbing. But none of it was fast enough. My chest wouldn’tloosen. My lungs were working too hard, like breathing was something I had to fight for now.

My thoughts spun in circles. Too many images. Too many voices. Anna’s door slamming shut. The USB. That clipped Russian voice sayingRomanov approves. The marriage contract. Yuri’s stunned expression. And Rafael’s silence— Thatdamn silence.

Five days of nothing and I still knew he’d be coming for me. Because I wanted him to. Because I needed him to. Because part of me didn’t believe it until I heard it from his mouth—and another part didn’t know if I could survive if he did.

My grip on the wheel tightened as I turned off the road and onto gravel. The tires kicked up dust. The headlights stretched out over open sky. And then— The cliff.

It appeared like a mirage, jagged and raw against the black velvet of night. The moon hovered above it like it was watching me, waiting.

I slammed the brakes. The car jerked forward, then rocked to a stop. For a second, I just sat there. My hands slipped from the wheel and dropped to my lap, shaking now. My knees felt weak. My throat burned like I’d swallowed broken glass. But I reached for the door anyway.

The cold hit me instantly as I stepped out, wind slicing through my jacket like it wasn’t even there. My boots crunched on gravel as I walked toward the edge, each step heavier than the last.

I didn’t stop until the ground ended. Until there was nothing ahead of me but darkness and a long fall.

The ocean below crashed against rock with a violence that matched the way my heart was beating. I stood there, my hair whipping around my face, the gun clutched in my right hand so tightly my fingers ached.Breathe.

I couldn’t.

I couldn’t fuckingbreathe.

The cold air wasn’t enough. My lungs were collapsing in on themselves, my chest rising too fast, too shallow.

It was all too much. Anna. Rafael. That voice. That paper. The betrayal. The lies. The way he looked at me and made me believe I was his only truth, when I might’ve just been a loose end he never got around to tying off.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to fall. I wanted him toappear already.

The wind howled louder. My breath came faster. My vision blurred, then snapped back. My fingers twitched over the trigger even though I wasn’t pointing the gun at anything.

You don’t want to die.

No. But I didn’t want to keep breathing like this either. Like I was drowning in questions no one had the guts to answer.

I stepped closer to the edge. The gravel shifted beneath my feet, and I didn’t move back. I held the gun close to my chest, my arms folded tight around it, like it was the only thing holding me together.

He’d come. Iknewhe would. And when he did—I was going to get the truth. Even if I had to put this gun between his ribs to take it.

I stared into the dark like it might give me answers. But it didn’t. It never did.

The ocean below churned violently, black waves slamming against the jagged rocks like fists that didn’t know how to stop breaking things.

I was the same. Still. Tight. Trembling. And all I could think was—God, I was so stupid.So fuckingstupid.

I should’ve seen it. From the beginning. Ididsee it—when I first met him, when I first looked into his eyes and felt that pull. That burn. That danger. He felt like a threat from the first breath. And I ignored it. Because I wanted it to be somethingelse. Because when he looked at me, I didn’t feel invisible anymore. When he touched me, I didn’t feel lost. I feltseen. I felt like something sharp and powerful, like I wasn’t just a name buried beneath someone else’s blood.