Page 20 of Dark Soul

“Are you watching?” Nikolai asked.

“I’m watching,” Alexia confirmed. It was good to know some things remained constant with children all over the world. Whether in upstate New York or Gstaad, all children wanted to be watched.

Nikolai put both feet on either side of the sled and lifted the front, as she’d shown him. Then he pushed off.

He picked up speed, slowly at first, then faster and faster, and Alexia realized the boy was leaning to the right, veering away from the course they’d traced together and towards the steeper part of the slope.

Lean back.

Slow down.

But Nikolai apparently had a different idea. His slim body leaned forward on the sled as he could go, willing it to go faster.

And then disaster struck. The sled hit a hidden rock and flew up into the air.

Alexia’s stomach flip-flopped. Her hand went up to her mouth.

“Nikolai!”

The boy miraculously kept his seat on the sled, but now he was going fast—way too fast, and heading towards the road below, where there were cars and a truck approaching.

“No!”

Alexia ran to intercept the sled, even though she knew she’d never be able to make it in time. And then she realized there was a man standing there—a man who hadn’t been there seconds earlier.

Her first instinct was to shout at him, too. Because if the sled hit him at this speed, it could hurt him . But he was also the only thing standing between Nikolai and the truck.

The man stood very still. And there was something about the way he was standing, about the way he was staring at the boy, that made her think he knew this, too.

And then there was no more time for thinking, because although the world seemed to have gone on slow motion for an instant, things suddenly sped up again.

The sled was about to strike the man, and Alexia wanted to close her eyes, but couldn’t. Then, suddenly, when the collision was imminent, the man moved—fast He lunged, plucking the boy off the sled. And even though he counteracted the boy’s momentum with his own mass, there was still too much momentum, and the man toppled, flipping onto his back at the last instant so his body would be the one to hit the ground first.

Without the boy’s weight, the sled careened sideways, slamming into a tree just inches away from the road.

Alexia’s heart thumped. She heard a sound a lot like a whimper, and it took her an instant to realize she was the one making the sound.

Nikolai.

Go to Nikolai.

She raced clumsily across the snow, towards the figures lying so still on the ground—dropped onto her knees beside the man, who still cradled Nikolai against his body.

“Nikolai? Nikolai!” she shouted.

The man scrunched his eyes at the sound of her voice, but she didn’t care if she was shouting in his ear.

And then Nikolai sat up in the man’s arms—and laughed.

“That was amazing! That was—“ He stopped as he saw Alexia’s stricken expression, then turned to the man. Stopped laughing and visibly shriveled up, making himself smaller, awaiting punishment.

Alexia felt a fresh burst of hatred for Arseny Kvyat—a man who’d taught his son to fear contact and to expect punishment.

The boy had almost died, and he thought they were going to punish him, when all she wanted to do was bring him into her arms and squeeze.

“Are you okay?” the man asked calmly in a deep, low voice. Alexia finally looked up at his face—and felt something catch inside her. He was, if not the most handsome man she’d ever seen, certainly one of the most striking, with penetrating, light blue eyes, a hard, square jaw, and thick lips that looked—

Jesus.