Page 76 of Then We Shatter

“I preferred the dress that was smeared with blood,” she remarks.

“Jealous?” I say, smiling at her.

Any life is better than the one she willingly signed up for with Grigor, and my words must hit home because she flinches.

“Of you? Never,” she lies, before turning her back to pick up the veil and tiara I’m supposed to wear. She marches over to Alexei and thrusts them into his arms. “Shove these in the golf cart somewhere. Unfortunately, we can’t cover her face until we reach the ceremony. The veil might wrap around a wheel and strangle her. On second thoughts…”

“Let’s go,” I say, heading out the door and leaving my entourage to follow.

Sasha and I squeeze into the back of the golf cart and my multi-layered skirt fills every spare inch of space between us. Alexei takes the wheel directly in front of me and we set off.

Eric’s little island is framed against a dark pewter sky, streaked with the promised deluge heading our way. The sight makes Alexei speed up and as we jolt forward, I knock against my sestra.

“Watch what you’re doing!” she snaps, hitting me with her small satin purse.

I roll my eyes but don’t retaliate and she rests her purse on her lap. There’s a brief moment of peace until Alexei veers left to circle the main villa and my body thumps into Sasha again. As she’s nudging me away with her elbow, her purse slips. She’s too busy cursing to notice me burying it in layers of lace and chiffon. I’m the one holding her purse now.

I knew Sasha would carry a weapon of some sort, and the knife I find is perfect. No gun shots to alert the groom or my uncle. I tense, about to make my move when a golf cart speeds around the corner of the house so fast it tilts on two wheels for a second or two. Emily’s on her way back to us.

If I make a run for it now, she’ll either give chase or raise the alarm, reducing my head start. I wait until her cart comes alongside me and order Alexei to stop.

“No, no, keep going,” Emily bleats, her cheeks burning crimson and her eyes flooded with tears. Kind and caring Eric must be having a hissy fit.

“We’ve got time,” I insist, quickly undoing the ties of my skirt before leaning forward as if to whisper in Alexei’s ear.

“Please, Kat–” Emily’s words turn into a gurgled gasp as she’s sprayed with blood.

The cut to Alexei’s carotid artery is clean and clinical, and as the deceased guard’s body slumps against the steering wheel, I leap out the cart. I leave behind the bridal skirt, but keep hold of the knife as well as a cell phone, also from Sasha’s purse.

Emily stares wide-eyed at Alexei’s corpse, blood dripping from her face. She starts mumbling incoherently and her voice rises with each ragged breath.

I point the tip of my blade to her neck. “If you don’t shut up, I’ll silence you permanently. Now, give me your cell.”

Her trembling lips are pressed together as she fumbles to hand it over. I turn to Sasha, who watches with interest as I wipe my blade against my bodice to clean off Alexei’s blood.

“The blood’s an improvement,” she says dryly.

“Shame it’s not Vasili’s. Or your husband’s.”

Sasha swallows a laugh. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“We’ll soon find out.”

“Please,” Emily begs, her throat constricting. “You can’t… He won’t… There’s no escape. You must see that.”

“Oh, the escaping part is easy. Surviving might be an issue, but I’d rather die than become a glorified sex doll,” I counter. “Wouldn’t you agree, Sasha?”

“If you’re going to fuck off, go,” she replies, giving away none of her thoughts as usual, but I hear the inflection. Sasha is telling me to move my ass.

Why the push?

Because Sasha is my last surviving sestra and despite appearances, she’s always had my back. We’ve protected each other the best way we could. We weren’t allowed to ally ourselves with each other, but we found creative ways to stack the odds in each other’s favor.

A guard at our training camp had thought I’d share the joke when he told me she was about to be auctioned off. So I broke Sasha’s nose in a fight to damage the goods. And on the night Kira was gunned down, her laughter had been a warning for me not to break cover and follow our friend who was already in a sniper’s sights.

When we fought over Grigor, we were playing to his ego and ensuring one of us would be chosen as his wife. It was always going to be Sasha because Vasili had bigger plans for me, and her position as Grigor’s spouse has given us access to top level information. Sasha’s technical know-how was the reason I could do certain things under the radar, like syphoning off Ilya’s money. And sneaking Killian into my apartment.

Sasha is the closest thing I have to family and if this goes wrong, it could be my last chance to tell her how much she means to me. There’s so much I could say. I’d settle for a hug, but to do so would expose Sasha’s duplicity in front of Emily.