Page 117 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

“Because I wasn’t always powerful,” I murmur.

Belle hesitates before she responds. “I forgot you said that before. To Elise. You grew up poor?”

I pause for a long moment before sighing. The last thing I want to do right now is tap into my fucked-up childhood and family. That shit is dirty fuel. It burns hot, but it leaves behind a nasty wake.

“It doesn’t matter,” I say finally. “The point is, life can be like… well, like these lava fields. Like what you said earlier. Sometimes, devastation is what it takes to make beauty.”

Belle stops walking, and I turn around to find her staring at me.

“What?”

“That was poetic.”

I smirk. “Surprised?”

“Completely,” she admits. “Maybe you’re a bit more like these lava fields than you want to let on, too.”

I wave her on and continue towards the precipice. We’re close. Just a few more yards until the grand reveal.

“If you’re looking for some redeeming quality in me, I’d stop. You’ll just be disappointed.”

“Oh, I don’t know—” Belle starts to say, then her voice cuts off. She tilts her head to the side. “What is that?”

I smile and step up the last foot. Suddenly, like a curtain being yanked away to display a masterpiece, the lava field falls away and we’re standing on the edge of a cliff. Opposite is another cliff covered in luscious trees with a chasm between. On the opposing cliff, water is pouring over the side in at least fifty different rivulets, collecting in a stream far below.

Belle gasps. “What is this?”

“Hvatvíslegur Falls,” I tell her. “It means ‘precipitous.’”

“Checks out. We are so high up.” She peeks over the side and then takes a nervous step back. “Where is the water coming from?”

“Snow melt and rain running over the lava fields. It all moves over the land and makes its way here.”

“It’s incredible,” she breathes, shaking her head like she can’t believe it.

“You like it?”

“I love it,” she whispers sincerely. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

“Of course. I chose a beautiful place for you to die.”

It takes her a second, but then Belle’s eyes widen in horror as she processes what I said. “That—that isn’t funny.”

I smirk. “It’s a little funny.”

She rolls her eyes and looks out over the waterfall. “What comes next, Nikolai?”

“We hike back.”

She shakes her head. “No. I mean… what am I doing here?”

“You’re here because I said I’d take care of you.”

“There’s more to it.” She turns to face me. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

I laugh again. I’m doing a lot of that today. Strange. “There are a million things I’m not telling you.”

“Then tell me one of them.”

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