Page 70 of The Killer Card

“Graham Rosales,” I swallow. “Have you ever killed anyone…?”

He doesn’t hesitate this time. No, now his answer is quick and steady. “Yes,” his jaw clenches absolute fury blazing behind his green eyes. “And they fucking deserved it.”

23 Years Ago

Chapter Twenty-Three

Graham

"Get the fuck off me, motherfucker!” I shove at Andrei hard enough to make him stumble, which surprises us both but has him coming back at me with a vengeance. And a knife. I feel the blood dripping over my Adam’s apple before I feel the prick of the blade.

“Where the fuck is my stash, Domovoy?!” His face is so close his saliva strikes my eyeball.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I spit back.

I know exactly what he’s talking about, the problem is it’s already gone. Grandfather has always forbidden me from sampling the merchandise, but he doesn’t stop Andrei or any of his other top sellers. It doesn’t even come out of their salary. He should have known it was inevitable I would get a taste and as the Domovoy I get the chance to sample whatever I want so long as I’m quiet about it. Unfortunately, Andrei is a distinctly organized addict.

“Listen to me, you little cunt,” he growls, digging the knife deeper. “If you think you can steal from me and get away with it, you are either the stupidest motherfucker I’ve ever met or a dead man. Unfortunately, for you, today you’re going to be both—”

“Andrei!”

Oh, thank fucking God.

Kira presses the barrel of the one handgun all staff carry against his temple. “Let him go—”

“He’s a fucking thief—”

“He’s a child, and you’re careless.” She presses a bag of white powder against his chest. “You left this in the lounge last night.”

Andrei’s eyes narrow, only removing the hand he has pressed against my chest to take the baggie. He checks it over thoroughly before looking down at her burning blue eyes. She doesn’t waver, her finger ready on the trigger making it clear it’s my life or his brains across a floor she just fucking cleaned.

With a grunt the guard releases me, shoving me back into the wall with a finger to my face. “Stay the fuck out of my room, Domovoy.” He turns to Kira, who lowers the gun to her side but does not flip on the safety. “You should stop protecting him. He is a boy only for a few weeks more and men,” he glared at me. “Must face the consequences of their actions.”

Pretty sure I already face enough consequences, but I don’t say anything. Kira and I watch him go, and only when he’s turned the corner do I use the sleeve of my sweatshirt to wipe the blood from my neck. Then I take a little bag from my pocket, tap a small pile onto my finger, and bring it to my nose with a deep inhale. When I look back at Kira she’s glaring at me. She never glares at me- unless I’ve done something particularly heinous- and the look makes me avert my eyes to my sneakers, shame a nest of snakes in my belly.

“Gracias…” I mutter and then snap out an, “OW!” When her hand slaps across my cheek. “Do I not get hit enough around here—"

“Clearly not, for you seem to get more stupid by the fortnight,” Kira hisses. Rubbing at me cheek, I watch her hide her gun in the waist band of her pants, letting her blouse fall over it, and then her apron which is covered in flour from today’s baking. “What on Earth would prompt you to steal from Andrei of all people—”

“It’s not like it was the first time—”

“And his fucking cocaine?! Are you out of your fucking mind—”

“How else will I get any?!” I sneer under my breath. “It’s not like it’s offered to me willingly except to sell it to somebody else!”

“You’re not supposed to have any!” Kira shoves at my chest. “You’re supposed to be better than them—”

“Maybe I don’t want to be better than them anymore!” I shout a bit too loudly. Kira looks up and down the hall on my behalf as I run my fingers through my hair which is once again growing too long. It seems she has to cut it for me every month. My heart is racing, my mind going a million miles a minute and it’s only the threat of being heard by someone more willing to leave bruises on my body than Kira that makes me lower my voice to murmur, “I’m sick of playing their games…. Maybe it would just be easier if I stop resisting and—”

“No.”

I blink down at her, the way her lips pull down in a scowl, tears pooling in her ice blue eyes. “Kira—”

“You are not allowed to give in, Grisha,” she tells me firmly. An ebony finger pokes my chest, her voice catching in her throat. “You are not allowed to become like them. Do you understand me? You are better! You are made of something stronger! You are the product of love and will not disparage what your parents had to go through to bring you into this world- Oof!”

I pull her into my arms so quickly I’m scared I might have knocked the wind out of her, but I need to hold onto her too desperately to let go. Her arms band around me, one hand on my back, the other in my hair soothingly stroking the strands. Tears start falling down my own cheeks as I bury my face in her hair.

“I don’t know what to do anymore,” I sob. “I don’t want to keep fighting—”