M I K H A I LWithout hesitation, I pull back, clench my fist, and break out of the chains that are binding me to the wall.The needle in my arm breaks, spilling the hissing formula of the wolfsbane potion everywhere, causing it to burn holes in the actual concrete. I step on it, not caring at the small sting that it causes, not caring about anything much at all except for my parents’ safety.Strength is flowing in my body like a lush river, endless and loud and raging. I face Uncle Amos, who is watching me without a clear expression on his face. But when he sees me breaking the bars of the cell with my bare hands, he smiles.“You coming to hurt me, nephew?” he asks tauntingly. “Are you going to kill me? Because I bid you good luck for that.”With that, he rushes towards me with no warning, his fists already clenched. I have to admit that I didn’t anticipate his speed at all or any kind of grace from him, so I don’t manage to parry the punch that he lands against my face.My head sta
Y A N AEvan moves quickly and seizes my wrists with one hand as though binding me, pushing me against the wall. I yelp and gasp, looking at him with my gaze full of questions.He shoots me a meaningful look and I immediately get that this is all for show. He's trying to make it look like he's trying to subdue me.It would make a pretty convincing narrative, I have to admit. It would look like I somehow managed to escape from my bonds and my cell just to wreck the princess up and end up killing her. The story might crack if they realize that I'm just a weak human with no special abilities whatsoever, but at least it would do for now.To add to the credibility of it all, Evan turns to the warriors and says, "I got it under control, everyone."They hesitate, and I can see their eyes flitting from him to me and to the princess, who's clearly gone.The warrior in the front who I assume is the leader steps forward. "What happened here?""She managed to get out of her chains and out of her
M I K H A I LI let go of Uncle Amos, only letting the tips of my sharp teeth graze his neck and not letting things get too far.I realize that I may have proven him right by doing that. He called me a coward, and perhaps I really was, because I have the chance to kill him right now and I'm still struggling with the morality of it all even though he never stopped to consider that for me or my family.What am I doing? How can I do this? How do I finish this fight?I hate this. I hate this so much. I hate that I have to do it, I hate that it is the only thing that would keep Uncle Amos from causing more harm. I hate that I’m the one who has to stop him . . . permanently.And most especially, I hate that after everything he’s done to me and everyone I care about and love, I still have some amount of respect and love left for him.Needless to say, I should be as cold as him now. I should be able to take him out without feeling an ounce of remorse. I know everything he did now. He basicall
M I K H A I LThe aftermath of what I can confidently call a war was almost . . . calm. There were no notable ups and downs, but I couldn’t really say there were no hard emotions involved. I guess what I could say about it is that it is subdued. Quiet. Defeated.We are the winners, my family and I. And yet victory is not something that we feel.Because today is the burial of Uncle Amos, and we have to remind ourselves once again that someone we considered our family has betrayed us and died in the process.But of course, we all know that the pain and fresh betrayal and perhaps even guilt that my parents and I are all feeling right now is nothing compared to what Evan is feeling.After Yana and I kissed in the hallway a week ago, I went to see Evan. He was in the morgue, crying over his dead father’s body, which was in the other side of the place being embalmed. We couldn’t see the process, only some views of it through the little window on the door.He turned to me abruptly when I wen
Y A N A“I’m so sorry, Miss Allard, but I’m afraid there’s nothing much I can do,” Deborah says, glancing at her papers with a fake regretful face. “You’ve been asking for rent extensions for . . . three months?”“Well, two months and twenty days, but of course,” I correct her. “Is there really nothing you can do? I mean, give me two weeks and I will--”“Yana.” She stares at me sternly with her beady eyes. “That’s what you said two weeks ago.”I open my mouth to tell her that no, that’s not actually the case, but even I can’t fool myself anymore. The truth is, my jewelry business Catori, is not taking off, and it’s been a year since I established it. I can’t afford the rent in downtown LA anymore, even if the store is right below the living space of the building.Deborah Phipps, the owner of the establishment, is done with me. Hell, she could have thrown me out three months ago, but she didn’t. Or at least not yet.I’m on my ninth life right here, and I don’t think anything will save
M I K H A I L"Well, I'm just glad that was over," I say with a sharp exhale as I climb into the backseat of the SUV. "Now we can go back to normal.""Or new normal, considering Olivia's fans are still coming after you," my cousin and my executive assistant Evan says dryly. He points at the other side of the street to show me a group of adolescent girls trying to take a picture of the car. "I bet it's going to be worse online.""Please," I mumble. "What's the worse they can do?"I roll the window up and signal the driver to go, and soon we're cruising down the streets toward my office downtown.Am I excited to get back to work considering that I have that public conference tomorrow? Well, no. Because that was just a PR stunt that Evan suggested I should do.The truth is, I did give Olivia Lacroix the impression that she and I had something special going on. I wanted her to be at the front and center of the ad campaign we're launching for a perfume line of Belladona, one of the fashion
Y A N AUsually, I didn't mind living in the upstairs space of the store with Lily and Jason, but this time, I found it quite bothersome.After registering for the open conference yesterday, I tried to tell them about my meeting with Deborah and how we could possibly find ourselves out in the streets after the month of May unless I landed a deal with a douchebag bachelor. However, my cowardice was much too strong and I ended up just telling them that I would be meeting a client for brunch.That's why right now, I'm standing in front of the mirror wondering if any of them would find my pencil skirt suspicious."Are you sure we can't come?" Lily asks as she watches me put on some sneakers (because my high heels are already in my bag). "I really want to go on that brunch too.""Don't worry, we will stuff our faces as long as I get this deal," I lied, shrinking inside. "Wait for me here, okay? We need people for customers.""Oh, yeah. For sure."She sounds bummed and unsure about the cust
Y A N A No. This can’t be happening to me. My mouth goes dry at the sight of Mikhail Sartori standing in front of the double doors. The logical part of me wants to look at his face to see if he’s angry or not, but the cowardly side of me just wants to look away and ignore him until he goes away. Unfortunately, the cowardly part wins. I lower my head and pick up the broken necklace, taking my sweet-ass time as the whole hall gets brought into a standstill. I shove Gwen’s leg just to be mean, and of course she makes a whole show of flinching to bring even more attention to us. “What’s happening?” I hear Mikhail asking in a low voice, amplified by the silent hall. “What commotion is going on?” The woman at the desk whispers something incomprehensible to him, and I don’t dare get up until he’s gone. I’m silently praying to all the gods in every religion that ever existed to take me out of this awkward and possibly life-ending situation, stuffing the necklace back into its bag. I hold