AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Do you know anyone who might—” I grit my teeth and start over. “Did you see anyone? Mikhail Sokolov? Or Alexander McAllister?”
Jorden frowns. “Mikhail. Cora and Mikhail…”
I lean forward as her voice trails off, hanging on every word. “Cora and Mikhailwhat?”
Yasha gives me a warning look, but I ignore him. Now is not the time for his puppy love. Not when Cora’s life is on the line.
“She hates him,” Jorden mumbles. Her eyes are starting to flutter. She’s fading fast. “She hates… I don’t know who. I can’t—What did you say?”
“I have to get her to a doctor,” Yasha barks. “Now. No more questions.”
He cradles her in his arms and stands up. And there’s no point arguing. Jorden is already unconscious again, her body sagging against Yasha’s chest. Now that she’s off the ground, I can see the blood matting the hair at the back of her head.
Did they hit Cora, too? Is she unconscious in some dark room? Is she crawling towards what she hopes is safety, praying I’ll be there to rescue her?
The questions torment me. They torment me enough that I know exactly what I have to do.
“Take Jorden to Dr. Popov,” I tell him. “We’re done here anyway.”
Yasha hesitates. “What are you going to do?”
Whatever it takes to keep Cora safe.
“I’m going to marry Francia.”
3
IVAN
“No!” Yasha shakes his head. “No. I won’t let you marry that psychotic—”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice! You’re Ivan Pushkin, for fuck’s sake. There is always a way out.”
Yasha isn’t prone to idealism. It’s one of the many reasons I chose him as my second. But he knows what my job is. What my jobtrulyis: I’m a man who knows how to make the tough calls other people are too afraid to make.
This is one of them.
“She played us,sobrat. Francia played us all for fools. The only way to save Cora now is to give her what she wants.”
“No. There has to be another way.”
“Not one we can figure out in—” I glance at my phone. “Two minutes.”
My heartbeat ramps up, matching pace with the seconds ticking past. Time is running out fast.
Jorden stirs in Yasha’s arms. She grabs his shoulder and tries to sit up, but she is weak. She can barely hold on.
“Relax,” Yasha reassures her. “I have you.”
Her head swivels to me, her gaze glassy. “Cora… You need her. She talks about… you two. Two… together.”
“Get her to the doctor, Yasha. She isn’t making sense.”
Except she is. I know what she’s saying as well as Yasha does. But it’s not possible. Cora and I can’t be together. Not in this lifetime. I’d rather break her heart and save her life than doom her to dying because of me.
“When we find Cora, she’ll be destroyed if she finds out—”
