Gabe drops me onto the bed then quickly moves off the mattress and eases out to the living room. Time ceases to exist. My heart ceases to beat as I follow Gabe and watch as he pulls his gun from the side table and makes his way toward the door.
“Stay back, Joss,” he whisper-shouts to me as I stand at the threshold of the living room. His body hardens when he gets closer to the door, making mine transition into survival mode.
I walk back to my room and yank my pistol out of the holster sitting on the dresser.
Commotion of colliding bodies and a small, quiet pop noise connects with my eardrums, and my adrenaline surges. I hold my gun up, scared of what I will find when I come out of my room yet excited for the man I will see.
I unlock the safety on my pistol, the red kill dot exposed, and then I step out into the living room. I release a relaxed breath when I find Gabe is standing. There’s a splotch of red on his polo shirt. He has been shot. But I’m relieved because he’s alive.
The comforting notion vanishes when Nikolai’s head appears from behind Gabe’s hulking body. He’s smiling wickedly at me, his eyes dancing with excitement.
My inner darkness smiles back, but I keep it from showing on my face. I look down the length of their bodies, seeing Nikolai is shoeless and muddy. I wonder for a moment how the hell he managed to escape until I see the pistol rise higher, and Nikolai presses it harder into Gabe’s skull.
“Hello, detective.” His voice is deep and gruff, mixed with amusement.
Nikolai strikes Gabe in the side, making him buckle at the knees. The gun is still pressed to the back of his head as Nikolai stands over him, toying with his life.
“Let him go!” I shout as I snap out of my trance.
I know what Nikolai is capable of. I have seen it first-hand, and I can’t allow that to happen to Gabe. If anyone in this scenario should die, it should be the murderer holding him hostage.
“Drop your gun, and I won’t hurt him too much.”
“Don’t listen to him, Joss!” Gabe shouts then is greeted with another blow, only to the back of his head this time.
He bends forward from Nikolai’s punch, blood oozing down his neck as he is yanked up by the collar of his shirt. Gabe is forced to keep himself upright, his shoulder and head bleeding.
Without another choice, I click the safety back in place and lower my arm. The gun clunks against the carpeted floor, and Gabe’s face withers slightly.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to him, choking back how frightened I’m for his life.
“Sorry, my dear,” Nikolai says then raises the butt of his gun.
He slams it down forcefully into Gabe’s temple. Gabe’s large frame falls to the floor, but that doesn’t stop Nikolai. He lifts his gun, pointing it at me, smiling wildly.
He knows he won this round, but the fighter in me knows there will be more rounds to come, and I will be his number one contender. I will not allow him to have power over me. I can’t let him get inside my head anymore.
Nikolai steps over Gabe’s collapsed body, stalking his way to me. The black tattoos dance with every step he takes, and my well-rehearsed speech of keeping him out of my head becomes a distant memory.
As he gets closer, the smells of earth, blood, and musk cloak the air. They intoxicate me, captivate me.
His body radiates a cold heat, one that charges my darkness, feeding it and bringing it further to life. My breaths falter as he leans forward, his lips slightly brushing against mine.
The intensity of desire and disdain wage war inside me. I want more than anything to slam my lips to his, feel his body on top of mine, and pick up where we left off the last time he was free. However, the other side of me, the logical side, knows this is wrong. Everything about Nikolai is wrong and will destroy me in the end.
He pulls his lips away and slowly moves closer to my ear. I can feel his hot breath dance across my skin as his soft lips graze against my earlobe. Then he breaks the silence.
“I told you before, detective, you will be of great use to me.” His teeth nip at my ear lobe, sending a charge of electricity down my spine. “However, I will be of great use to you, as well.”
Nikolai leans back, his icy wolf eyes radiating a blue heat, and I fall a little weaker. Still, I hold myself firm, showing nothing to him, but I feel the violent ocean of emotions toward this man. I can’t think when he is this close, and I know he won’t allow me to live in peace until this is completely over for him.
He keeps his face close to mine, his warm breath caressing my skin the same way his heat caresses me.
I finally whisper, “How can you be of any use to me?”
“Because I understand your need for vengeance, Josslyn. It’s the same as my own. The man who killed my family is the same man who killed your father.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Nikolai
August 11, 2015 12:27 a.m.
“What? What did you just say?” Josslyn steps back, doubtlessly trying to wrap her mind around my admission.
Prior to entering her home, I stood outside, hidden in the recesses of the apartment complex as I witnessed a revolting sight.
The bright light shown from her apartment window, two silhouetted bodies swaying in unison. Their lips were connected and bodies wrapped, holding each other in passion—Josslyn and the gorilla in a heap on the floor behind me.
I wanted to kill him the moment he opened the door. I wanted to shove my Bowie knife through his larynx and watch him bleed out from his throat. I wanted to cut his hands off for touching Josslyn and for her touching him. I wanted him to die. However, when her eyes showed fear for his life, I couldn’t.
I didn’t know how she would react after I killed him. She might have killed me, or she might have killed herself. Then again, she might have been indifferent. I don’t know. What I do know is I need her to come with me, and there is no time to waste.
I take a step back, preparing myself for whatever reaction she might have to the information I just shared.
“What did you just say to me?” Her voice elevates, and her skin turns red.
Josslyn walks away and stands over by Gabe. He is still knocked out on the floor, but not for long. I have to convince her that she needs to come with me. She needs to fulfill her desires to watch Stravinsky die for what he did to her and her family. I have to make her believe she is a partner in all this, not a pawn to get closer to him. It will be one of my biggest lies yet, but one that will pay off in the end.
“I was there, Josslyn. I watched him die,” I reveal, omitting my role in his murder.
She snaps her head up from Gabe’s husk on the floor and lunges. She lifts her fists as she attacks me, the hate and pain exploding from every inch of her body, all landing on me.
She swings her leg up, kicking my side where I was cut. A twinge of pain ignites there, but I’m able to deflect it enough to fend off her onslaught.
Josslyn then bends to the side, favoring her broken ribs, but she has managed to pick up her gun and holds it up to my head. She is dancing on a delicate rope right now. One wrong move or wrong word spoken and she’ll blow my head off.
“Did you kill my father?” Her voice is quiet yet laced with pure evil.
“Lower your gun, Josslyn.”
She steps closer, pressing the barrel of the gun to my forehead. I cease any movement and wait for her to hear my words. Normally, I would sweep her legs out from underneath her, but I need to let her think she has the upper hand. I need her to remain tapped into this state of revenge. After all, that’s what this is all about—bloody, calculated revenge.
“Did you?” she demands.
“No, I didn’t kill your father. But I was there.”
Her frame starts to wilt and her elbow bends as she lowers the gun slightly from my head. I seize the moment, jerking my arm up and connecting it with her gun, knocking the pistol from her palm. It thuds to the floor.
Before she can defend herself, I spin her around, pressing her back to my
front, then hold my own gun up to her head. She bucks wildly, trying to break my grasp, but it’s no use. She’s become too emotional, and my grip is too tight.
“Stop!” I shout. “Listen to what I’m going to tell you, Josslyn.” Her body softens against mine. “I need you to pack some clothes and come with me. We have to leave now. Tonight.”
“You’ve got to be crazy. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You have to because you have no other option. The easiest way for both of us to get what we want is for you to come with me now.”
“And if I don’t?” She’s trying to remain confident and in control, but much like her body, her confidence is starting to wilt.
“Then I will gag you, lock you in my trunk, and make you come with me. Either way, you’re getting in the car.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
I spin her around and connect my gaze with her eyes. I let down my guard and allow her to see what’s left deep inside.
“This is the only way we can get what we want. It’s the only way we can get our revenge, Josslyn.” I’m not bullshitting her. We will both get the revenge we crave when Stravinsky is dead, but I can’t guarantee what will happen to her after it’s all said and done.
“How … How do you I know you were there? How do I know you don’t want to kidnap me and kill me?” She pulls away, but I rake her back in, pulling her body flush with mine.
“All in all is all we all are. All in all is all we all are.” I speak the lyrics to the song she had started to sing when Boris was violating her and the song she sang when I was first with her.
The movement in her chest stops, but her heart is still colliding rapidly next to mine.
“What?” she barely gets out in a whisper.
“That’s the song you were singing, wasn’t it? When you were attacked?”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Josslyn
August 11, 2015 12:35 a.m.
My body weakens as Nikolai holds me up, the gun pressed to my head and the darkness shrouding my heart. All the pain from the night my father was murdered obliterates my insides. I spent nights consumed in tears and plots, sobs and vengeance. Night after night, month after month, I would lie in bed and plan how I would avenge his death, my mother’s pain, and my youth.
Then Nikolai comes strolling into my life, telling me he was there when my father was murdered. He was there when my mother and I were raped. I shouldn’t believe him. I can’t believe he wasn’t a part of it in any way. He most likely followed through on orders to kill and destroy a cop’s family.
I’m held prisoner by his arms, unable to move and unable to escape the pain as he holds me securely.
“What do you want from me?” I whisper as my spirit starts to deflate more.
“I want you to come with me.” His breath is warm, his scent intoxicates me, and his words reach in and awaken my inner monster. “I need you to come with me, Josslyn. We need this freedom.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you!” I shout, jerking my arms in an attempt to free myself.
“He killed our loved ones! Stripped away my daughter’s innocence and the rest of my brother’s family. They are dead because of him. Don’t you want him to pay for that? He needs to die!” Nikolai’s voice explodes throughout the room. It reverberates through my soul, and I can feel the pain seeded deep in his heart.
I relate to the young girl, Leah, who was found raped and murdered at the hands of the man Nikolai eventually killed. However, his death is not enough. Nikolai wants the man in charge, the man who ordered their deaths.
My will begins to deteriorate even more when I think of Leah and the torment from her killer. Yet I can’t ignore the audacity of his request.
The sensible side of my brain awakens finally and leads me to really think about what is happening. This man is an escaped convict. He is holding me at gun point. My partner is lying in a heap on the floor, badly wounded. Danger is eminent. Lives are at stake. I’m a police officer. If I get caught helping this man kill anyone, I will be on death row beside him.
“Look, I know what it’s like to live with this deep desolation, misery so excruciating you can barely think. Or worse yet, harboring a hatred so deeply embedded all that’s left is a vast hole and it can only be filled with revenge. I’ve been living with it for fifteen years. But you have to be out of your mind if you think I’m going to willingly walk out of here with you,” I finally snap back.
“Shall I kill you, then?” Nikolai presses the barrel of the gun harder against my temple.
My heart races with the onslaught of adrenaline. However, I make a bold statement then close my eyes, hoping it doesn’t come to that.
“If that’s the only way, then so be it,” I reply, hoping he needs me more alive than dead.
He huffs out an agitated breath. “I will offer you a deal, then.”
“What can you offer me that leads you to believe I would even entertain this idea?”
“If you come with me willingly, I will take you to him, Josslyn. He’s a heavily guarded man, a man who is practically untouchable, but I can get you right in front of him.” He releases a breath and lets me go.
I quickly step back and look into his eyes. I study them, looking for any sign of deception, but it doesn’t exist. I only see the truth.
I have been dreaming about the day when I would meet my father’s killer again. I have spent hours thinking about how it would feel to watch him die or to kill him myself. I want to see the recollection in his eyes as his mind flips through the memories of that night. I want the vile man to suffer an agonizing death while he realizes someone strong and just as vicious survived that night.
“What’s in it for you? There has to be a reason for all of this.” I ask as I dismiss the logical thoughts a police officer is trained to think.
“I want him to die, and I can’t do that locked up in prison, now can I?”
“Do you realize the risk I’m putting myself in as a police officer? As a law-abiding citizen?”
Nikolai sighs and looks lost in thought for a moment. Then he expels another breath and says, “Yes, I do realize the risk.” Nikolai’s voice is low and full of pain. It’s the same as it was when I was his prisoner.
My heart begins to ache, and I start to connect with his hurt.
“I have to do this, Josslyn. If you willingly go with me, I will turn myself in. I will admit guilt for the murders of the two men I killed.” He lowers his gun, desperate and brooding. “I will go quietly without a fight. You will have your man, and I will have the man responsible for killing my family.”
My heart is wrenched in agony. I know exactly what he is going through. The moment my father was murdered, I would have made a deal with the devil himself to avenge his death. Then it dawns on me. Perhaps that’s exactly what I need to do. I need to travel down this unpredictable path of darkness in hopes of finding my light once again. If I can finally end that night, then maybe I can finally move past it and be normal again.
I lower my head and look back down at Gabe on the floor. If I want any chance at normal again, then I need to expunge the hate from my veins. I need to bleed it out and finally end the gut-wrenching pain.
I nod my head as Nikolai steps closer to me.
Nikolai doesn’t allow me to think. He pulls on my arm and tugs me into my room where he tosses my gym bag on the floor and says, “You have five minutes to pack. Then we need to be gone.”
I don’t look up at him, and I don’t acknowledge what he said. I only act like a robot and do as I’m told. I scramble to my bathroom, pulling necessary items from the drawers and tossing them into the bag. I pull open my dresser drawers from top to bottom, pulling bras and panties out first, tossing them in the bag. Then I moved to the next, grabbing some shirts and finally jeans. I get a couple of pairs of shoes from my closet and sweatshirts. Then I zip it all inside.
He nudges the gun forward, and I step out of my bedroom toward the front door. Gabe still l
ies on the floor. I worry about the state he’ll wake up in.
Once the clouds part, Gabe will be on a warpath to find me. He’ll see my room in shambles and my absence in the apartment, and then he’ll think the worst. He’ll believe I’m held prisoner again, that Nikolai took me against my will. Gabe will do what he can to find me and protect me because he’s the good guy … because he cares.
I side-step his arm and pull open the door, walking out into the cool night. Nikolai tucks his pistol inside the back of his pants, and we head down the stairs together. He points me in the direction of a sleek black car.
When I get closer, I see a brand new Dodge Challenger backed into a parking space across from my apartment. He unlocks the doors, and we both get in the car. He says nothing as he turns the metal beast on and makes it roar with power. He pulls from the parking lot, and we head down the dark, bleak street.
Nikolai’s car is a mirror image of him: sleek, dark, and powerful. It smells clean and masculine. The speakers vibrate from the daunting classical piece playing through the radio. It, too, mirrors Nikolai. From the brooding drums, haunting strings, and cunning melody, the power behind the orchestra is soul expanding and intelligent, exactly like him.
He drives with confidence down the street, keeping to the side streets and away from any major roads. Then I finally see where we are going, and my heart lurches. Why the hell would we be here? Why risk being noticed?
He pulls along the street, a block from the front door of the forensics labs and warehouse. I look over at him, giving him the strongest look of disagreement I can, hoping he’ll realize that, if I get caught with him, I would be in as much trouble as he would.
“I need my briefcase,” he says as his deep baritone cuts through my silent thoughts.
“What? Why?”
Nikolai glares at me, irritated that I’m questioning him. Icily, he says, “Because I need it.” I can feel his intense, arctic presence takeover every inch of me. “My lawyer told me it was collected as evidence, and I need you to get that for me.”
Away with You (The Revenge Series Book 2) Page 11