Page 192 of Eternal
My arms are tied behind me.
I fucked up.
And the moment I realize it, I almost,almost, feel relieved. She knows I was the one following her. Is she confused? I think she is.
My mask is gone, she can see my face, the face of a liar, no more hiding, and when my eyes try to find her, all I see is anger.She’s across the room, her back to me, and fuck, I can't stop staring.
Black lace lingerie, barely covering the expanse of her skin, but it’s not just that, it’s the tattoos.
A symphony of art inked across her back, faded scars, fresh lines, symbols I don’t understand.
She reaches for a knife, and then she turns. Her eyes, betrayal in them.Anger.
“So…” Her voice is quieter than I expected. “You know my name.”
That's all she’s gonna ask? A drop of blood slides down my cheek, I can taste metal on my lips.
“I found it.”
She inhales deeply looking up at the ceiling, then she moves. In a second, she’s on me, straddling my lap, knife in hand, her fingers gripping my face.
“Who are you, Damir?” she whispers, voice trembling, not with fear but rage. “Why did you enter my life? Why do you follow me?”
She’s too close, so fucking close I can feel her bare skin against me. The scent of her, even through the pain, the bindings, the blood running down my temple, I wanther. Ialwaysfucking wanted her.
“Because it was my mission.” Something flashes across her face, rage, betrayal, grief, before it vanishes into something colder.
“Viper.”She spits the name like poison. “A mercenary?”
“Yes.”
Her hands clenched into fists, like she wants to tear me apart with them. “Partner, right? You were never mine.” Her voice wavers. “You were theirs.”
Pain lances through me, not the physical kind, a deeper kind. “It was my mission.”
“Was?” she snaps. “Tell me. Who the fuck pays you?”
I inhale sharply. “The government.”
She stills. My voice is hoarse when I continue. “You’ve killed too many people, everywhere. They tried to stop you, and they failed. So, they sent me.”
Something inside her fractures, and for the first time since she tied me to this chair, she doesn’t look furious. She looks…destroyed. I swallow the lump in my throat. “I was sent to stop you, Voron.”
Her expression doesn’t change, her blade does. The tip drags across my throat, slow, taunting. Not enough to cut, just enough to make me feel it. “You fucking lied.”
“I pretended.”
The blade digs in, and I suck in a sharp breath.
“For fucking ten months?” Her eyes close for a second and then she talks again. “Try again.”
I exhale. “I had to lie.”
She tilts her head, watching me. “Had to.” She repeats it like she’s tasting the words. “You had to…”
I keep my mouth shut, and it’s a mistake. Because she grabs my jaw, forcing me to look at her, her nails dig into my skin, and her eyes… fuck, those eyes. “Are you even Bratva?” Silence. Her grip tightens. “Is your name even Damir?”
I hesitate, another mistake. Because this time, she moves the blade lower, pressing against my collarbone, dangerously close to my chest. “I never lied about what I told you. My name is Damir. I’m still yourpartner.”
