Page 98 of Phantom Flower

I thought about the bathtub last night. The way he played with my fingers under the water. The way he kissed the top of my head when he thought I was asleep.

He was not gentle with the world. But he had been gentle with me.

“You’re wrong.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow, clearly amused.

“Oh?”

I wiped my face again, even though fresh tears kept coming.

“You are wrong. He is not like that. You do not know him.”

My voice cracked again, but I kept going.

“And if I die… he will know it was you. And he will not let it go. He will come for you. And when he does…” I looked Daniel straight in the eyes, voice trembling but fierce, “you are going to wish you had fucking died.”

Daniel stared at me.

Then he smiled again.

“We’ll see,” he said softly. “We’ll see how much your Russian boyfriend really cares when your body turns up in a river somewhere. Or maybe I will make it look like you finally gave up and jumped. Wouldn’t that be poetic?”

He stood up and took a step closer. I instinctively pressed back against the couch.

Daniel stopped right in front of me, looking down.

Dimitri would come.

He had to.

Chapter 30

Rei Kurosaki

Daniel was still talking when the phone started ringing on the coffee table. Both of us looked at it at the same time. The screen lit up with a name I knew too well.

“She’s probably heading home soon,” Daniel said. “Why don’t we make this quick?”

He stood up.

I could see the way his fingers tightened around the handle of the knife as he stepped closer to the couch.

The second he got within reach, I kicked out with everything I had. My foot connected hard with his knee. He grunted, stumbling sideways, and I used the opening to scramble off the couch. I did not get far.

Daniel recovered fast.

He lunged at me with a snarl, grabbing a fistful of my shirt and yanking me back. I twisted in his grip and drove my elbow into his ribs as hard as I could. He shoved me against the wall.

The back of my head hit the plaster. Stars exploded behind my eyes.

Before I could recover, the knife slashed across my chest in one vicious arc. The blade tore through my shirt and into skin.

“Fucking brat,” Daniel hissed.

I kicked again, this time catching him in the stomach. He doubled over and fell down, and I tried to run past him toward the door. My legs felt unsteady, but panic gave me speed.

I did not make it.