Page 50 of Volik

That pull in my chest.

The tug in my bones.

The heat in my blood.

The beat of my heart.

It all tells me the same thing.

Volik is speaking the truth.

Opening my eyes, I move my hand from my throat to his.

I slide it down slowly to his chest.

Then over, until I can feel the thump of his heart under my palm and the cool steel of the blade against my fingers. “Why are you holding the knife?”

He pulls his forehead away from mine and holds my gaze. “So you can slow me down.”

“Slow you down?”

“Da. I will follow you. I will never be able to stop myself from finding you. But I will not hurt you, Nix Novak. If you are not ready for me, push this through my heart and run.”

Push this through my heart and run.

I lift my hand from his chest and slap at his hand holding the knife. “Don’t be an idiot.”

“Be careful.” He holds the knife out, away from me. “It will not kill me. Just slow me down.”

“I’m not stabbing you.” The urge to cry hits me at just the thought of Volik being hurt. “Don’t say that again.” My words crack.

He releases the knife, and it clatters to the floor. “I am sorry, Mea Unica.” Volik brings his empty hand to my cheek and strokes it with his thumb, catching a stray tear.

“Don’t—” I try to swallow down my rioting emotions. “Don’t offer me that again. Ever.”

“I promise.” He drags me around from his side to his front and wraps both arms around me. The material of my skirt bunches with the movement, rising as it twists around my waist.

Volik holds me tighter. “If you will not run from me, then you are letting me stay. Do you understand what that means?”

I think I know. But my mind is so fuzzy right now that I’m still not sure this isn’t all just some dream.

So I shake my head.

Volik palms the back of my head and pulls my face into the side of his neck. “It means I am going to take you now. And you are going to take me.”

Air pushes out of my lungs, and my stomach dips, like I just experienced the drop of a rollercoaster.

Volik ducks, tipping me backward, and I blink up at my bedroom ceiling.

How did we get here from the kitchen?

Electricity skates over my skin as the room vibrates.

Thunder booms outside.

But I don’t think it’s the storm that’s shaking the building.

I think it’s Volik.