Page 109 of Deviant Need

I pull the knife out and stab him again.

He gasps, his eyes going wide with shock. I pull it out and stab him again, the blade sliding between his ribs. Blood sprays across my face, hot and metallic.

I drive the knife down again, into his stomach this time, twisting it before ripping it back out. Again. The blade sinks into his shoulder, his chest, his throat.

Blood splatters everywhere, covering my hands, my face, my shirt that’s already soaked with my own.

His hands come up, weak and trembling, trying to push me away, but I knock them aside and stab him again. The knife plunges into him again, and I feel it scrape against bone.

Pulling it out, I drive it back down, over and over, the wet sound of metal piercing flesh filling the stairwell.

I keep stabbing long after he stops fighting, long after his hands fall away and his body goes limp beneath me. Blood pools under us, spreading across the concrete in a dark lake.

My breathing comes in gasps, and every movement sends white-hot pain exploding through my stab wounds, but I can’t stop.

The knife slips in my grip from all the blood, and I tighten my hold, bringing it down one more time into the center of his chest. It stays there, buried deep, and I finally let go.

Blood covers everything, and his brown eyes stare up at nothing, empty and lifeless.

The door swings open, and it snaps me out of it.

Daniil stands there in complete shock, eyes wide and locked on the body beneath me. Blood drips down his forehead from a cut above his eyebrow. He’s not moving or reacting, just staring like his brain can’t catch up to what just happened.

Chapter 25

Daniil

Mikhail stares up at me, expression blank as he sits over our father’s body. Blood covers every inch of him, coating his hands and shirt, splattered across his face and arms. He looks like he bathed in it.

Walking into the stairwell, I close the door behind me and gape down at him and the scene in front of me. The entire street outside is lit up in red and blue through the broken window, sirens wailing, the buildings bathed in emergency lights instead of their normal colors.

He killed Roman. Our plan just went to hell. This is bad. This is so fucking bad.

Blood pours from his stomach. Did Roman stab him?

My gaze jerks to Roman’s mutilated body. His suit hangs in shreds, cut apart by the blade over and over. The wounds are brutal, deep enough that I can see the damage underneath. Torn flesh exposes the curve of ribs and the dark mess of organs spilling out.

“I told you I was going to snap one da⁠—”

“Are you okay? Did he stab you?” I cut him off, dropping to my knees next to him.

I pull him against me, clutching him tight as a sob breaks from my chest. The blood soaks through my pants instantly, warm against my knees, and spreads further the longer I kneel there. Pulling back just enough to look at him, I see my hands covered in red, his shirt completely drenched. The puddle beneath us keeps growing.

He stares at me like he’s trying to process what just happened. “This wasn’t our plan. What happened out there?”

“I don’t know, but we need to get out of here. We need to get you help. Right now.” My hands hover over his wounds, not sure where to touch without hurting him more. “There’s gunfire on both floors and explosions going off. Our guards tried to drag me out, but I got loose and came for you.”

Another explosion rocks somewhere in the distance, and we duck our heads instinctively, debris raining down from the ceiling above us.

“Hurry,” I say, taking his arm and pulling him up carefully. Getting him to safety is all that matters, and having someone to look at those stab wounds, making sure he survives this. He seems steady right now, alert and breathing, but steady doesn’t mean safe. I need him checked, stitched up, and stable before I can breathe again.

He rises slowly, one hand pressed against his stomach where the blood is still flowing. His other hand braces against the wall for support.

“Can you walk?” I ask.

“I think so,” he says, but his voice is strained.

We make our way through the doors and slowly glance out into the VIP floor.