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I'd cut the lights. Maybe no one had realized whom they were fighting.

“Come on,” I yelled, struggling under the girl's weight. “You have got to help me get you out.”

We'd barely moved five feet when I stopped dead.

My heart leaped into my throat, and my limbs turned to lead.

An Order guard had Nika pinned to the floor, and they were struggling over a gun, and he was winning.

Bile rose in my throat.

Because my sister was here.

Here.

Here to help the Russians capture this girl. Here to protect a trafficking cult. Betrayal twisted through me. I'd suffered three years to protect her.

I’d suffered three years to protect her. I could have tried to escape if it weren’t for trying to keep her alive and whole.

I whimpered and turned away.

Let her die.

I couldn’t care anymore.

She was a villain, and it was my job to kill them and to save the Forgotten.

But the sound of my sister’s shriek cut through the air, stabbing into every chamber of my heart. It was so gut-wrenching it nearly brought me to my knees.

My cheeks ached with the effort of holding everything inside.

I took another step away from Nika, then stopped.

I couldn’t let my sister die like this.

Even if she were a villain. Even if she deserved it.

I turned back and raised my revolver, searching for a clear shot. There wasn't one. Any angle risked sending a bullet through the guard and into Nika. Bullets didn't behave like they did in the movies. In real life, they could pass through one body and strike another.

Fuck.

My knife was the only option.

I holstered my gun and drew my hunting knife. Nika was too far away to reach while supporting the girl. I guided her against the wall—definitely not gently enough—and she slid to the floor. “Stay here.”

Eight men stood between my sister and me. I fought through them, shifting between ghost and human forms. I struck, disappeared, kicked, punched… whatever it took to reach Nika.

In the process, I cycled through five more transformations.

Yeah, I was fucked.

But I reached the guard pinning my sister down. I fully materialized, my silver hair swaying with movement, as I stabbed my knife through the man’s throat, nearly tearing it open.

I shouldn’t have turned fully human, but I wanted my fucking sister to see who had just saved her life.

That arrogance would cost me later, but I didn't care. She should know who'd saved her life. The Ghost she was trying to destroy.

The guard didn't die instantly. He choked, and spattered blood across my sister's face. Good. She fucking deserved it.