Dirty Collateral

AND THE

but my skin might as well have

ersonal as a surgeon's. The porcelain burned where my thighs touched it, but I didn't flinch. The pain was

sleeves were rolled past his elbows, revealing thick veins and faded ink-a coiled serpent h

looking. The nails were tinged blue, the skin wrinkl

wavered as he leaned closer, distorting th

out t

fast enough, he twisted my face toward his. His eyes were black with something darker than

hing. I wrenched away, water sloshing over the ri

liquid mercury. He dried himself with a monogrammed towel,

, the lock engaging with a final

-

library tonight-a calcula

and silver. Viktor sat silhouetted against the flames, his face in shadow. The flickering

The bathrobe they'd given me-plush Egyptian cotton, no doubt worth m

imson. Viktor watched as I lifted it to my lips, his gaze trackin

out hoarse, still raw fr

china as he cut into his steak. Blood

ith deliberate care.

he crystal like arterial spray. "Your father didn't just gamble away mon

ned to acid

, "Gregory took something from m

le's edge, digging into

nted off his

-

tering on the hardwood. A shard skitter

ossible," I

antel, he took a small velvet box. Inside lay a yellowed photograph-a

woman's face with a tenderness t

e. Had seen it in the faded pictures Dad kept locked in

o America. Met your father. Had you." His thumb br

ed my vei

you." It wasn

hin, the same stubborn set to the brows. T

ft as a razor's edge.

-

e photo agai

d away, my breath coming in

dn't flin

ewhere in the house, a clock chimed midnight-twelve

I said slowly, "beca

t you here because Gregory stole you from me." His knuckles whitened

between us, pulsing

r the firep

waist, hauling me against his chest. My back

his lips brushing my ear

n the ribs. He grunt

me

ough to choke, just enough to feel my pulse hammering aga

"What do you

through the thin fabric of my

-

tate. My reflection in the glass looked hollow-eyed, a ghost of t

h a final warning: "Think ca

without a soun

ili

voice. Not

smirk absent. In the grey morning light, he looked almost huma

" he said quietl

sts, nails biting into my

him. "Because you deserve to know what you're up against." He stopped just out of reach, clo

at does

ucce

a shroud. Outside, a branch cr

'll break you to make it happen." His smile didn'

clicked b

ued to fall, burying eve