Page 114 of Silent Heart

“You’ll think badly of me,” he pleaded in a hoarse whisper.

“Never.” My lips found his. I poured the promise into that kiss.

I felt the moment Kolya surrendered. We continued to kiss for a few more moments, letting our bodies say what words couldn’t.

When I finally pulled back, I gave him a tight nod.

“I had an episode in Arizona last spring.” Each word came out broken, defeat pushing them past his lips.

My heart ached for this man. Formyman.

But he didn’t back down from the fight. “They discovered me, learned enough to follow me north. It’s why I came to the lake house. I was hiding until they backed off. I couldn’t lead them to my family. I only went back to fight because his operation has been in chaos. I had to choose between continuing the fight and you. It wasn’t possible before to do both.”

I heard what he said, my brain processed it, and then…I began to smile.

“Harley!” Kolya choked, eyes wide with panic.

“This broken road led you to me.” I hugged him tight. “And what do you mean, it wasn’t possible before?”

“I think I’ve found a way to take a more administrative roll in fighting the enemy. It’s a trial run, but this might be the beginning of a vigilante program that would have a more powerful reach. Later, when I can think straight, I want to tell you all about it.” His body shuddered against mine. “It would mean not leaving you. If you’ll have me.”

My heart beat fast enough I feared an explosion. “Whether the partnership works out or not, I promise, I’m never leaving you.”

His breath was hot as it rasped against my throat. “That’s too good to believe.”

“Well, you’d better believe it, mister.” I pressed my lips against his hair. “I’m not going to stop telling you—every single day—until you do.”

There was a pause, and then he said, “Maybe I never will. You’d better not stop.”

“I’ll never stop.” Because there was no stopping the way I felt. I would wait however long, be impossibly patient, until this wild, untamed creature of the dark believed me.

Chapter 47 – Kolya

The cold air bit at my face as I stood in the middle of the harvested field, my hands tucked into the pockets of my jacket. The sunrise was deceptively warm on my shoulders, cutting through the chill in the air but never fully banishing it. My breath came out in soft, white puffs that drifted up and disappeared, but the cadets’ breath was heavier, visible as they ran, climbed, and strained through the obstacle course. The field stretched wide and open before me, dotted with stations of ropes, walls, and balance beams. Frost clung to the edges of the grass, crunching faintly under the boots of those running.

My thumb slid over the button on the screen. A patch of earth exploded, sending clumps of dirt into the sky like a fireworks show.

The noise didn’t faze a single recruit. I hummed deep in my chest.

This could work.

The bullets that sprayed through the air at random were blank rounds. Not that anyone besides me knew that. The explosions were real enough, however. But I strategically detonated them sothat no one would be caught in the blasts. These four men and two women didn’t need to be casualties.

They didn’t stop. No matter what I threw at them. Some inner drive in each of them pushed the individuals forward, and as a collective, they stood firm, lending their strength to one another.

For the finale, I remotely dismantled the climbing wall. Two of the recruits were halfway up, far enough to make it back to the ground without hurting themselves. I wanted to see them fight through real panic.

My inner pessimist was silent, while some foreign emotion cheered for them in the back of my mind. That voice was a trickle of optimism that I owed to my little water sprite. She brought out the best in me, and I was willing to embrace that part.

The implosion ripped through the chilly morning air. The large climbing wall shuddered. The bottom buckled.

Come on guys, you can do it!

They didn’t disappoint. The largest leapt to the ground, and with a shove, moved his teammates, who were preparing to climb, out of the way of the collapsing obstacle. The other man? He rode the structure to the ground, gracefully rolling from the debris.

The moment of truth….

There wasn’t a pause. With a shout, the recruits moved around the fallen piece of equipment and continued the course as they’d been ordered.“Run the track until told otherwise,”had been my order. And they were following it without complaint. I’d run them ragged, and they were still going.

---