Page 96 of Pretty Little Assassin

“I was improvising.”

“And then?”

“Then you came through the door and offered to open my throat, and there was nothing left to work out.”

I pause. I am not holding anything back, but I need her to hear this exactly as I mean it.

“I should have told you. I’m sorry. But know this, Valentina. I never showed you the second message because it didn't change anything. The Primacy could restore my standing within its ranks, but it never had power over my reputation. Neither was worth killing you. I was the best assassin in the field.”Her eyes flash. “Second best.”

I take a tendril of her copper hair that came loose from her bun and twirl it around my finger. “I said was. I researched you before I went to your warehouse.” I tug her closer to me. “By the time you came through the door, there was nothing Johnson could offer that would make me kill you. You were my match.”

For several seconds, she says nothing.

Then her blood-slick hand closes around my coat and pulls me down.

Her mouth meets mine hard, furious and certain. I catch her waist with one hand, keeping the other clamped against my side. She kisses me again, deeper this time, her teeth catching my lower lip as she presses her body against mine.

The wound tears wider. I cannot stop my muscles from tightening beneath her hands.

She pulls back. Her eyes drop to the blood soaking through my shirt.

“How long have you been bleeding?”

“Since the last address.”

“What about this?” Her fingers brush the fabric over my shoulder.

I look down. My shirt is grey with grit, and the seams are scraped through on both sides.

“What happened?”

“The gate was locked.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“There is a maintenance conduit beneath the eastern wall. It was faster.”

“How long were you in there?”

“I did not time it.”

“Viktor.”

“There is a bend in the middle where it narrows.” I reach for my jacket with my good arm and avoid her eyes. “I stopped there for a while. I might have used some of your breathing techniques."

“You know I didn’t need you to save me.”

“Yes.” I look at her. “I came for you anyway.”

She steps beneath my arm and takes my weight without being asked. Behind us, Madam is already arranging medical assistance.

“If you die in my stepfather’s house,” Valentina says, “I will find you wherever you go and kill you again.”

“You are my mate, Valentina. I have no intention of surviving this world without you in it.”

She closes her eyes briefly.

“Take me home, Wraith.”