Kole’s eyes widen in panic. “Are you okay, Sugar Bear?” I frown, looking up at him.
He lets out a quiet breath before nodding once. “Yes. Fine. Do the blood oath, and then let us be done with it.”
Alexei wastes no time. He pulls a knife out of his boot, and with a few sure strokes, carves the initials “NV” into his hand. “I, Alexei Volkov, declare my unwavering and undying loyalty to Nikolai Vasiliev, Third Son to the Vasiliev Family.”
“Kole?” My voice is quiet but sure as I watch the rite I’ve only ever heard of be performed. “Do you accept his loyalty?”
“I do.” Kole’s voice is hard as he stares at Alexei. “Now, kill him, Bloodsworn.”
With that, Alexei grins, and we watch with varying degrees of morbid curiosity as he turns and stabs Mikhail Vasiliev in the heart.
seventeen
Jo
Hayden leans his head against the window of the delivery van as we exit the restaurant parking lot. “I mean, really, I feel like that went about as well as it could have.”
Sam snorts from the driver’s seat. “I guess at the end of the day, we each got what we wanted, huh? Except Mikhail, of course, and Kole, who got a littleextra.”
It’s mostly true, actually. Mikhail is dead. After Alexei plunged a knife into his heart, they all spoke at length about what the blood oath means now that Kole has finally been set free of the tethers of the Russian Mafia.
I still don’t have answers about Mama, but maybe I never will. Maybe it was a freak accident. But Daddy’s words from that night never stop echoing in my mind.
“What was she doin' home? She was supposed to be at work.Youwere supposed to be home."
But now Daddy is dead, and I didn’t try to get the truth from him like I wanted to.
“Extra,” Kole spits, venom in his voice. “He is under strict orders to stay the fuck away from me and support my brothers while they transition to power. That is the best way that he can uphold his loyalty.”
My hand reaches over and squeezes his knee. “Do you wanna talk about it? That was a lot of information thrown at you in the span of an hour.” Between finding out that Alexei not onlywasn’tresponsible for his mama's death but that he was supposed to die that day too, and being told that the man who worked him to the bone as he was growing up was in love with his mama, I’m sure his head is spinning.
“Perhaps later.” His eyes soften as he lays his hand over mine. “Just being near you helps, even though I cannot scent you.”
“I hate that,” Sam grumbles, and both West and Hayden mumble in agreement.
“As soon as we get home, I’ll rinse off all this de-scenter and then we can have a big cuddle party, hm?” I grin, leaning my head against his shoulder. I’m very excited to see my completed nest in all of its glory. Hayden promised Maeve he’d record my reaction like an episode of Extreme Nest Makeover. Then tomorrow Declan will feed the information of Richard Pierce’s demise to the press, and we can take one more step towards taking down Xavier.
“Maybe I will join you in the shower,” Kole murmurs, pressing a kiss to my hair.
“Maybe I’ll let you,” I sigh, letting my eyes flutter closed.
My jaw drops when we enter my nest. The walls have been painted, and I know I must have Mabel to thank for the soft string lights that line the ceiling like a sky full of stars. The color complements the cream and beige items of my nest, making the space feel perfectly serene.
It’ll be the perfect place to have my heat.
“Damn,” West lets out a low whistle. “They sure made the place look swanky.”
“Swanky?” Hayden snorts, “What are you, like…eighty?”
West frowns. “I liked you better when you were only making fun of Sam.”
Sam barks a laugh as he claps West on the shoulder. “Yeah, but then I reminded him that we’re the same age.”
“Y’all better play nice while I’m cleanin’ up,” I arch a brow, kicking off my shoes and walking to the bathroom. Something on the nightstand catches my eye. “Well, lookee here, someone left us a little congratulations present.” And, it looks like whoever it is is babysitting too, considering they’ve moved Turnip’s little shelter back in from the room we were staying in before we left, with a note that reads, “Gone to Uncle Declan’s house. Paint fumes are not good for rats.”
Kole walks over and picks up the bottle of vodka that is nestled in a bucket of ice on the table, reading the note attached to the neck. “‘Kole, welcome to the ‘I killed my dad’ club. Signed, Declan.’”
My hand flies up to cover my mouth as I try to hold back a horrified laugh. “I’m gonna kill him.”
