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“And you don’t know what I have either.” Her voice was flat and her face lacked all semblance of joy.
“What did he do to you? What is he threatening you with?” My voice was a little too loud, and the couples around us regarded us for a moment before moving along.
Izidora’s iciness deepened with the unwanted attention our conversation was bringing. “He’s done nothing wrong, Kazimir. But I’ve changed – a lot.”
“Then let me get to know the new you. I have a surprise for you. Please, let me show you how much I love you.” I was begging, but I didn’t care – not when losing our bond was the price of failure.
Her aquamarine eyes wavered, bouncing between mine as she chewed her lip. “Fine. We can spend some time together tomorrow.”
I released a breath, a weight lifting from my chest with her words. “Thank you, Izidora.”
Her lips pressed into a firm line as we continued the steps of the dance, but I couldn’t waste a single moment I had with her. “I still love you, Izidora. Don’t you still love me?” My voice broke over the question, along with my heart.
A tear spilled down her cheek, and guilt flashed in her eyes. “Kazimir, I–”
Before she could finish, Ruslan yanked me back, separating me from Izidora.
“What the fuck,” I snarled, shaking his hand off of me.
“Song is over,” he hissed, wrapping Izidora possessively under his arm. She made no move to fight him.
I clenched my fists, still hearing the same tune playing. “You can’t handle another male threatening what you think is yours, can you? You’re just an insecure child playing king.”
He dropped his arm from Izidora, and then he took a menacing step toward me.
“Ruslan!” Izidora reached for his sleeve and missed.
“She chose me, and you can’t handle that,” he seethed, popping one knuckle after another as he puffed himself up.
I straightened to my full height and bared my teeth, not backing down, not when I’d been preparing for this fight for months.
I took a step forward. “It seems to me like she was not actually given a choice. What do they call that? Oh yeah, rape. As if she did not experience enough abuse at the hands of your people, you had to continue it.”
Horns sprung from Ruslan’s head as he shoved me with all his strength, forcing me to take a stumbling step back. “She came to my bed willingly. She even asked nicely. And she had no thought of you.”
The only color I saw was death as I dove for his midsection, pulling us both to the floor. The crowd parted as their king and I each grappled for control of the other. Ruslan swept my legs out from under me so that I landed hard on my back, air whooshing from my lungs as he rained heavy blows on my face. I trapped his arm before he could land another punch and rolled him off, retaliating with a hard elbow to the ribs followed by a sharp hit on his jaw.
Ruslan spat blood into my face, and I jerked back, giving him the opening he needed to stand up and throw a knee to my face. I dodged at the last second, catching the back of his leg and standing, off-balancing him as I kicked his other leg out from beneath him. He landed with a heavy thud, and I dove to follow him, fist poised to strike again, when a set of hands dragged me backward. I struggled against them, my vision tunneled on a grinning Ruslan who pushed himself off the floor.
“Kazimir, calm the fuck down. We can’t do this here,” Viktor warned, giving my arm a harsh yank, trying to ground me. But I was too far gone.
Ruslan flashed his bloody teeth and spat ruby on the ground. “That’s right, run away like the weak male you are. No wonder Izidora chose me. A real male would fight to the death.”
“Let’s fucking go.” I yanked out of Viktor’s grip, raging to finish what I’d started.
I stomped toward Ruslan, who used the opportunity to lunge and yank me to the ground with him. He wrapped his legs around my shoulders as I fell on top of him, locking them together so I was gasping for breath and blood in my brain. My vision clouded, stars dancing in my eyes as I struggled to free the knife hidden at my ankle.
But the darkness embedded in me sang and filled my veins with power, giving me strength. Knife in hand, I stood with him still wrapped around me and stabbed into his side. He grunted, legs releasing my neck, but dropped them to my hips instead, launching me back with a powerful kick. The crowd caught me as Ruslan popped to his feet, his roar shaking the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling as he clutched his side.
Drazen burst through the crowd and grabbed Ruslan from behind before he could move forward and continue our fight. He shouted past me, “Get him out of here!” as Ruslan’s eyes flashed with dark fury. Izidora’s hands were pressed against Ruslan’sside a moment later, white light flashing beneath her fingers as she healed him.
The sight of her so quickly coming to his aid boiled my blood.
Viktor’s hands were on me again, with Vadim assisting him as they fought to return me to myself.
“Come on, Kazimir,” Viktor ordered as they hauled me through the crowd of people, and once Ruslan was out of sight, rage’s hold fell away as if it were never there at all. I slumped into the chair they threw me in once we left the ballroom, head in hands as I processed my massive mistake.
Vadim snorted, “At least he hit you first.”
