Page 125 of Requiem
Andagain.
Her screams echo off the concrete walls while she stabs him over and over, her entire body shaking with every downward strike. Blood splashes across her arms and chest, but she doesn’t stop. Erik barely manages a sound before the knife sinks into him again.
No one moves to pull her away. No one even fuckingtries.
I let it happen exactly as long as it needs to before my attention lifts toward Alexei. For a moment, the rest of the room fades, and it’s just the two of us staring at each other across the basement like this was always where our story was going to end. His expression isn’t calm anymore. The composure he wears like insufferable armor has cracked enough for me to finally see what’s underneath it. His eyes keep sweeping over me in disbelief, taking in the blood on my clothes, the knife at my belt, the fact that I’m standing here at all.
“How?” he demands sharply.
A menacing laugh sounds behind me.
Rafe steps into the room with blood streaked across his hands and jaw, his icy eyes cold enough to freeze the fucking air. He looks less human like this. More like death finally arriving to collect what it’s owed.
“Your men,” he says casually, “weren’tnearlyas protected at the gate as you thought. You forgot who I am, Morozov.”
Alexei’s jaw tightens, his gaze darting to the small metal table where he must have set his gun down. Within the next second, he’s lunging for it.
And then Rafe moves.
The dagger leaves his hand with brutal precision, cutting through the air before burying itself straight through Alexei’s hand. A sharp shriek rips from him, but I’m already moving before the sound can even echo. I cross the room in seconds and slam him back against the wall hard enough to rattle the chains bolted behind him. My hand fists in the front of his shirt while my forearm crushes against his throat, pinning him there as fury tears through me so fast it almost feels euphoric.
And then I laugh. I can’t fucking stop it. The wild sound rips out of me, so unhinged that even I barely recognize it as mine. Alexei hears it too. I see the moment it unsettles him.
Rafe swipes Alexei’s gun off the table, standing just behind me in case I need him.
“Youmadethis,” I tell Alexei, leaning close enough that he has no choice but to look directly at what he created. “Don’t act surprised that your fucking weapon finally turned on you, bitch.”
For the first time since I’ve known him, his composure slips visibly. His breathing turns shallow, and his pulse jumps hard beneath my arm.
Then he speaks.
“???????????.”
The word hits me like a blade sliding straight into my fucking spine. My entire body jerks instinctively, the conditioning slamming into place before my brain can catch up. It only lasts half a second, but half a second is enough.
His fist crashes into my jaw. Pain explodes across my face as my head snaps sideways, blood flooding my mouth instantly while I stagger back a step.
“????????,” he presses quickly, voice sharper now as he points toward Emma. “???????????!”
The entire room fucking tilts.
Something fractures open inside my head, and suddenly the monster he built starts clawing its way forward again, dragging instinct over reason until everything sharpens into command and target and obedience.
Kill. Obey.
My breathing changes, and my vision narrows. Before I can stop myself, my hand closes around Emma’s throat. I force her backward a step as my grip tightens, the command locking into my muscles so deeply it feels carved into bone.
The room goes dead silent.
“Jude—” Her voice breaks around my name as her hands grab at my wrists, trying to reach me through whatever the fuck this is. “Jude,look at me.”
“????????,” he bellows. “???????????.”
I can’t.
I can’t fucking—
“Stop,” she gasps desperately, nails digging into my skin. “Please, stop.”
