Page 149 of Wicked Refusal

“Kaz.” My lastvorrushes over in an instant. “Protect him with your life.”

He gives a grim nod. “What are you going to?—?”

“What needs to be done.”

Prizrak is closing in on us, soldiers swarming from every side. I catch a glimpse of Desya at the center of the deck, eyepatch gleaming black, a sick grin on his face. Like he’s won.

He raises his gun. I don’t raise mine.

A bullet won’t save Maksim. It won’t save Kazimir. It won’t save Mia.

So I do the only thing that will: I grab onto the railing and throw myself overboard.

The three last things I see?—

Desya’s face twisting in horror.

His men, ditching Kaz and Maks to chase after me.

And the dark, churning waters, swallowing me whole.

51

YULIAN

Visions swirl before my eyes. Hazy, confused images, like dreams inside of dreams. Mia’s face. Mia’s smile, bright as the midday sun. Mia’s lips, calling my name.

For one endless second, I think I’m back in bed with her. That the yacht ambush never happened. She’s rolling over towards me, a huge grin on her face. Saying something that I can’t hear.

Her mouth shapes three words. I think I know what they are. I haven’t told her yet—been waiting for the right time, the right place.

“I love?—”

But when I open my eyes, it’s not Mia I see.

It’s darkness. It’s the Hudson closing in on me. Then it’s sand.

“Oh, no, no. Don’t even try.” A cold, abrasive voice cuts through the fog. “You don’t get to die yet. Not until I say so.”

Desya.

He drags me along the sandy bank, then rotten planks. I barely have time to realize what’s happening—that he’s pulling me out of the water,saving me—before he drops me unceremoniously near the edge of the pier.

I twist around, start coughing up water. My lungs burn. My shoulder throbs. Everything hurts.

But somehow, I start laughing.

Because I wasright.I found it. The one thing Desya gives a shit about. A single, precious piece of leverage.

Me.

Desya’s face turns vicious in the moonlight. “You think this is funny?” He reels back his leg and kicks me in the stomach. Once, twice, again, again, until I lose count. “You think this is a fucking joke?! You’remine,Yul. You don’t get to quit this game. Only I decide when you’ve had enough!”

His foot connects with my side over and over again. Soon, a metallic taste fills my mouth. The next time I cough, it isn’t water anymore.

I reach for my gun—waterproof, the height of StarTech research—but Desya instantly kicks it far away. Then he grabs me by the collar and yanks me up to meet his gaze.

“You abandoned me,” he snarls. “You left me to die. Worse, you didn’t even finish the goddamn job. Do you have any idea how hard it was? To pick myself back up after that? I wanted todie.”