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Kaden isn’t paying our silent communication any attention. His eyes are solely on the Petrov girl. I don’t know whether to laugh or to groan in exasperation as he cocks his head. He looks like he has just found a shiny new toy. A toy that he won’t stop playing with until he breaks it.
Then, just as Jace and I had predicted, he takes a step forward.
All hell breaks loose.
I dart forward, slamming my fist into Anton’s side before he and Mikhail can trap Kaden between them. To my left, Jace engages the twins.
A huff rips from Anton’s chest as my fist connects, but he recovers quickly and spins around to swing at me. I duck and twist before ramming my elbow into his back. He stumbles a step forward. Shifting position, I kick towards his knee, but he manages to jump back in time. I press the advantage.
Pain explodes behind his eyes as I manage to land a punch to his jaw hard enough to snap his head to the side. He blindly throws his forearms up, blocking my next strike. Shaking his head as if to clear it, he suddenly twists down and slams his leg up in a kick towards my side. I yank my arm down to block it.
A dull ache pulses through my bones as his boot connects with my forearm. I quickly shift my hand, aiming to grab his ankle. But he yanks his leg back down before I can.
All around us, the sounds of punches and kicks have been echoing through the warm morning air. But now, everything goes deadly silent.
Anton and I break apart at the same time, both of us snapping our gaze up to the people around us.
“One more step, and I’ll slit her throat,” Kaden announces, his voice dripping with cold threats.
“You move one muscle, and we’ll break his arm,” Maksim retorts.
I whip my head from side to side. Alarm shoots through me as I take in the scene.
On my right, Kaden is holding the girl trapped with her back pressed against his chest. He has one hand around her arm, keeping her immobile. The other is holding a knife across her throat.
Mikhail is standing two steps away, staring at them with a mix of hatred, horror, and panic in his blue eyes.
On my left, Jace, who was fighting two opponents at the same time, is down on one knee. Konstantin has his hand around the back of Jace’s neck while Maksim is forcing his arm up behind him at an angle. Jace is clenching his jaw hard, the only outward sign of pain he is showing. But I can tell from the position of his arm that if they force it a little higher, they will in fact break it.
For a few seconds, we all only stare at each other while deafening silence pulses through the air.
“If you don’t tell your cousins to get their fucking hands offmylittle brother, you’re about to watch your sister bleed out on the street,” Kaden declares, his voice so cold it could’ve sheared through a block of ice.
“If you don’t get your fucking knife away from my little sister, I’ll—” Mikhail begins before he’s cut off.
“I said, lower his fucking arm!” Kaden yanks his knife high up, pressing the flat of the blade hard underneath the girl’s chin and forcing her to tilt her head back. “Now!”
The twins shoot a panicked look at their cousins, and when Mikhail jerks his chin down, they lower Jace’s arm a bit. They don’t release him completely, but Jace at least stops clenching his jaw against the pain.
“We trade back, and then call it a day,” I announce.
It’s more of an order than a suggestion, but Anton replies anyway. “Agreed.”
Mikhail snaps an angry look towards his little brother. Anton only shoots a hard stare back until the eldest Petrov forces out a long breath.
“Fine,” Mikhail agrees.
They all turn to Kaden. A cold smile lurks on his lips.
“I’ll release her,” he agrees. “In exchange for my brother. And a name.”
“What?” Mikhail says.
Kaden, who is still forcing the girl to crane her neck with his blade, looks down and meets her gaze. “What’s your name, little doe?”
“You fucking—” Mikhail growls, but he is interrupted before he can finish cursing him to hell.
“Alina,” the girl replies. Her voice is soft, but to my surprise, there is no tremor of fear in it. “My name is Alina.”
