Page 12 of Phantom Flower

I blinked hard, gasping, and the memory shattered. I was back in the present, tears stinging the corners of my eyes.

I refused to let them fall.

Not in front of him.

I forced my hands to stop shaking, wiped my face roughly with my sleeve, and got out of the car.

We were in the middle of fucking nowhere, a dense forest stretching out in every direction, and it was starting to get dark because the sun was setting.

It was eerie as hell.

The kind of place where people vanished and no one ever found the body.

Dimitri stood a few feet away, watching me with those arctic blue eyes that saw too much. His uniform jacket was open, revealing the hard lines of muscle underneath.

He looked completely at ease, like dragging someone into the woods was just another Tuesday for him, and it probably was.

“Why did you bring me here?” My voice came out rougher than I wanted, but I forced myself to hold his stare. “Are you planning to kill me?”

I said it with sarcasm. But then the truth hit me.

This was Dimitri Morozov. One of the Void Kings. He had probably killed people. For less.

He smiled. That scary smile.

“Oh, little fairy,” he said with his Russian accent. “Killing you would be too easy. Where is the fun in that?”

Before I could answer, he reached back and pulled out a gun. I stepped back fast.

Holy fuck.

Was he really going to kill me?

Dimitri saw my face and laughed. He checked the gun like it was a toy. “I am a little out of practice, you see.”

My blood went cold.

“What are you talking about?”

He stepped closer. Gun loose at his side, but I knew he could move fast.

“This is how it will go, Rei. You are going to run.”

He pointed the gun at the trees. Then back at me.

He winked like this was a game between lovers.

“And I am going to hunt you.”

I stepped back more. Leaves crunched under my boots, my heart beating loudly in my ears.

“You’re insane. This isn’t funny.”

“Look,” I said quickly, hands raised slightly, trying to sound reasonable even though my voice was shaking. “I’m sorry, okay?”

I wasn’t.

“I didn’t mean to kick you. Well, I did, but you wouldn’t let me go. You had your hand in my hair, and it wasn’t exactly nice of you either. Can we just… talk about this like normal people?”