Page 161 of To Catch A Rogue
Blood spattered on the marble, but her cousin reversed the cut of the sword. It was all she could do to throw herself into a roll beneath its deathly arc.
He moved faster than she could imagine possible.
She and Nikolai circled him from opposite sides, and Lark was forced to focus her entire concentration upon the fight. Blood wet her knuckles, and her heart raced.Tap. Tap.Deflecting the swing of the sword. Dodging and weaving, stepping back, foot by foot.
Sergey was a true master of the blade.
But Nikolai was just as dangerous.
Without him, she'd have had no hope.
The first opening came as her brother pressed his suit. Sergey was forced on the defensive, taking a step closer to her. Lark slid to her knees beneath his sword, the cut of her dagger biting across the back of his thigh as she brutally slashed his hamstring.
He screamed, staggering out of the way as Nikolai lunged forward.
"You little bitch!"
Nikolai was forced to retreat against a flurry of blows, and then Sergey turned on her.
Lark threw herself onto her back and slid, as the sword bit deep into the marble between her calves. Another opening. She slammed her boots together, trapping the sword between them and twisting. All she needed was a second. Just a second....
"Now!" she screamed at Nikolai.
Sergey wouldn't let the sword go.
A fatal mistake, for Nikolai grabbed his lapels and hauled him directly into the path of his own knife.
It happened as if time slowed.
Sergey jerked, coughing blood as Nikolai stabbed him directly in the heart. He went down to his knees, mortally injured, but not yet finished.
Lark scrambled to her feet, taking his sword with her, and staggering as the enormity of what had just happened hit her.
Vengeance.
Finally.
Her hands shook as kicked the sword far out of reach.
Was it... over?
"I never wanted to be the Prince of Tsaritsyn," Nikolai whispered, advancing upon the fallen man at his feet. "I never wanted the responsibility. All I could see was my father sitting in that chair, and my father was gone. Because ofyou."
"Please!" Sergey gasped, as Nikolai set the knife to his throat.
"When you suggested that I 'died' in the riot, I allowed it, because I wanted to die. The boy that I wasdiddie. That boy would never have hurt you. He was weak. He was frightened. He thought himself crippled. But now, all that is left isme. Beg me for your life."
The words spilled from Sergey's lips, along with a spray of spittle as he sobbed.
"I will grant you mercy," Nikolai finally said, and Sergey slumped in relief.
What?Lark shot him a sharp look, but he was not done yet.
"I will give you the same mercy you granted Natasha when she begged you to spare her children. I will give you the same mercy you bestowed upon her. You cut her. Here." Nikolai made a sharp slashing stroke across Sergey's brow, his other hand clamped around Sergey's throat. "And here." Taking the tip of his nose as Sergey screamed. "And here."
Lark couldn't look anymore.
All she could see was her mother screaming.
