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The White Hand threw his head back in a sick laugh. “Oh, is it? Too bad you couldn’t save your precious wife.”

Arkane’s panicked eyes flew to me, and before I could react, the end of a sharp knife pierced the space between my shoulders, right behind my heart.

“Don’t move a fucking inch,” said a gruff, thick voice from behind me. “Drop your weapons and put your hands up in the air.”

An uncomfortable shiver raked through my spine. Even though it sounded different now, I knew that voice. I knew that breath that was breathing down my neck. It appeared in my nightmares one too many times.

Only he didn’t have the fingers to touch me now. Or lips to take what I didn’t give.

“One hand on her, and he dies.” Arkane’s tone was so deadly that it prickled my skin. His gaze hardened like ice on someone behind me. “And then you would wish you were dead, Glen.”

All I heard was the same mind-numbing laughter from that night.

My eyes slowly flickered to Mikhail, to find him in the same ordeal as me. The Surman leader, Jock, who had it on Mikhail the last time they met, stood behind him with an ugly sneer, holding an upright knife under his chin. If Mikhail lowered his head even in the slightest way, the blade would plunge straight through his head.

We’d been too focused on Arkane to notice the enemy creeping behind us.

All of us doing exactly what we feared.

Walking straight into the White Hand’s trap.

“I said drop the fucking weapons, sweet Bellerose,” Heath Glen whispered in my ear. “I’m going to have so much fun with you.”

“Move the fuck away from her,” Arkane bellowed, his arms tightening around the White Hand’s neck, almost cutting off his oxygen while he clawed at Arkane’s grip. “I swear I’ll fucking kill him.”

My eyes collided with Arkane’s unwavering gaze. I kept them locked on him, reassuring him I was fine. That I could handle this. Something flashed in his eyes, an emotion so soft and gentle that it sent an ache through my chest. But he nodded, loosening his grip, and the White Hand coughed, struggling to catch his breath.

Heath Glen didn’t know I wasn’t the little girl he tormented once.

I was a woman determined to keep her promise.

And I needed no weapon to do my duty.

A loud clang swept through the air as my blades met the ground and my arms lifted over my head. And for the first time today, complete calm washed over my skin. Heath Glen was going to die tonight. That much was a promise.

“Good girl,” Heath Glen praised me. I could feel his leering eyes on me as his shoulders brushed against mine.

“Let’s all talk this through, shall we?” the White Hand rasped. “You let me go, and they let her go. And it’s a win-win for both of us.”

Right then, the corner of my eye caught a moment behind Ark, accompanied by the rustle of heavy footsteps.

Jon.

He was escorted by two Surmans, his sharp blue eyes assessing the situation, while a slight smirk shadowed his lips.

“Found this one trying to snoop around.” The heavy Surman manhandled Jon into walking forward, but he had other plans. One second, he was their prisoner, and the next, he easily got out of their grip and was pounding his fists at them at such speed that his hands almost blurred in the air.

Knowing Jon, he might have tricked them into leading him here.

The commotion was enough for me to make my move. I lunged forward and spun back, driving my knee into Heath Glen’s chin. Caught by surprise, Heath Glen stumbled back, falling to his back.

Fear flashed in his eyes as he struggled to catch hold of his knife, but his fingerless hands wouldn’t let him. “Don’t you fucking dare come any closer,” he screeched. “Help, someone, help me.”

I smiled, taking each step with intention. “No one is coming to help you,” I said. It was apparent from the medley of clutter behind me that I wasn’t the only one who took advantage of the commotion.

Heath Glen tried to get back on his feet, but failed miserably, falling smack back down. “Don’t come any closer or I swear I’ll destroy your life!” Even his threat came off weak and dull. The man knew I was going to kill him. Good.

“Still think you’re in the position to make demands?” I casually picked up my discarded blades from the ground and twirled them in my hand.