Page 45 of Impenitent Claim

I froze.

My heart galloped. When pain didn’t spread over any particular place, I drew a breath into my lungs.

“You can’t even follow the simplest instructions,” the voice of darkness growled.

Spinning, I locked eyes with his terrible gaze. Those eyes were storm clouds, and thunder clapped in their depths.

“Don’t bother making excuses,” the monster snapped, leaning over the bald attacker. “I saw you peeking out the doorway like a saints-damned idiot.”

Hiking my skirt, my fingers clutched my weapon, and I pointed the pistol at him. Satisfaction bloomed in my chest. “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

The Russian flicked a condescending look over me before a sickening crack sounded. He shot the bald one in the knee.To wound….

Advancing, my stalker knelt over Cigarettes. This attacker was conscious. My midnight monster stared down at him, muttering something guttural and harsh.

I didn’t need to understand the words to know the meaning was the call of death.

Cigarettes knew it too. It should have been hard to watch a grown man turn into a blubbering mess, calling for his mother in broken dialect. I took a step closer, relishing the thrill of knowing his end was near and he would never hurt me.

The Russian cage fighter put his hand around the thick throat, making the body part look small under his large hands. His thumbs pressed down, cutting off the airflow.

“Did you understand what he was saying?” the Russian asked over his shoulder.

“Yes.”

Cigarettes was Napolitano.A faction of Camorra, probably.

“And?” The Russian held the writhing man as if he were a toy.

I kicked Cigarettes’ arm away, leaning my weight into my heel and crushing the hand to the ground. I added a vicious twist for good measure. No one touched me, especially not a rodent like this. “He called for heaven to help him before he prayed to his mother for salvation.”

We remained silent as the man fell into weak twitching and then went still.

Only then did the Russian remove his deadly grip.

“Why did you help me?” I demanded.

The monster lifted his eyes to meet mine. Those cold, colorless depths hid such incredible violence. Staring into them had my heart beating wildly.

“No one threatens you and lives,” he growled, rising in one swift move and capturing my chin in an unforgiving grasp. He stared down at me, unapologetic in his callousness.

“Except you, phantom?” I scoffed.

His eyes burned silver. “Excuse me?”

While keeping a tight grasp on my weapon, I stabbed an accusing finger toward him. “Don’t you realize what will happen to me when they find out—and they will, it’s only a matter of time—that I have a gigantic cage fighter stalking me? That he sneaks into my room while I’m sleeping?”

A muscle in his jaw ticked. “They won’t find out.”

“What’s this to you? Hmm? Am I just some toy to play with?” I laughed roughly, ignoring his stony response. “I’m done with games, Elijah. Go ahead. Take your best shot. Break what few pieces are left intact.”

Some emotion, something close to pain, crossed his features. My chest constricted in response. I didn’t like to see that on him. My fingers itched to reach out and comfort him. But I pushed the odd reaction away. This man just admitted he wanted to destroy everything I held dear.

“Know this,” I added, moving into his space and not fighting the hold on my chin. “I won’t go down without a fight. I will claw and struggle until the darkness claims me.”

A terrible moment passed where neither of us spoke. In the silent battle of wills, we were an equal match.

“Lower your gun and save your bullets for the enemies out there,” he said, voice thick with an emotion I couldn’t name.

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