Ruby Fever (Hidden Legacy, #6)(103)

Arkan slashed, protecting his injured leg, and Alessandro drove his elbow into the older man’s face. The blow snapped Arkan’s head back. Alessandro struck out, trying to trip him, but Arkan twisted at the last moment, and sliced at Alessandro’s face.

A thin line of red split the skin below Alessandro’s left eye. He grinned as if Arkan had given him a gift.

The resolve in Arkan’s eyes broke. In that moment he must have realized that he wasn’t good enough. He wasn’t going to win this fight.

His mind lit up.

Magic crackled around Arkan. I didn’t see it but in my mind’s eye it was a black wave, dark and empty. It crashed against Alessandro and tore into me.

It was like someone had ripped me free of reality. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t do anything except watch Arkan’s mouth twist into a grim smile in slow motion. In front of me Alessandro stood frozen, his arm raised, his hand balled into a fist.

Arkan smiled wider.

Black glyphs appeared on Alessandro’s skin, spinning over his arms and neck, and burst with brilliant light.

The magic gripping me tore.

It was a one-shot arcane circle drawn onto human flesh. Arkan’s magic grasped all large objects within his immediate vicinity and froze them exactly as it found them. It was exceptionally powerful but very fragile. The circle I had drawn on Alessandro’s flesh was designed to take that initial blast of magic and use it as a fuel to spin and slide across his form. That movement shattered Arkan’s hold. His magic crumbled.

For a delicious second, Arkan’s eyes widened. Fear slapped his face.

Alessandro pulled the null blade out of its sheath, activating it, and stabbed Arkan in the stomach.

The assassin stumbled back. His mouth gaped, in disbelief or pain, I wasn’t sure.

Smirnov stepped out of the crowd. Arkan’s gaze snagged on him. Smirnov twisted and became Konstantin again.

“The Imperium sends its regards,” the prince said.

Alessandro freed the blade and swung. The top half of Arkan slid aside and fell on the grass.

It was over.

Finally, finally it was over. We had laid a trap and it had worked. It was okay to feel things now. It was okay to let go.

Alessandro turned away from Arkan’s corpse and saw me. He crossed the space between us and hugged me to him. He’d lived. He’d survived. My knees shook all of a sudden. If he hadn’t been clamping me to him, I would’ve fallen.

Konstantin turned to the remaining fighters. “Does anyone else want to challenge the Imperium?”

Arkan’s people scattered.

Arabella ran out of the hole that used to be our front gate carrying a huge pincher-like tool. “Where is Linus? I have the jaws of life.”

She’d left the grandmothers alone.

“Why aren’t you protecting the south side?” I called out.

“Protect it from what? Sgt. Heart is there. There’s nothing for me to do.” She saw the mech still glowing. “Hold on, Grandfather, I’m coming.”

Alessandro was staring at me. His face was bleeding, his left sleeve and the arm underneath it were shredded, and there was a strange look in his eyes. He looked a little deranged.

“Are you okay?” I asked softly.

“I’ve never been better.”

The sound of a car’s horn made me turn. A black SUV was making its way up our hillside driveway. It didn’t look like FBI SUVs.

Konstantin frowned.

The SUV came to a stop. It had diplomatic plates.

Three men got out. The tallest of the three looked familiar. Athletic, handsome, dark hair, piercing grey eyes. Where . . . Mihail. Konstantin’s brother.

Arabella pulled Linus out of the mech.

Alessandro’s eyes turned dark. “We had a deal.”

“I’ll handle this,” Konstantin said and started toward the men.

A quiet argument in Russian ensued.

Linus sprawled on the grass. Arabella heaved the jaws of life onto her shoulder and came over to stand next to me.

Mihail sidestepped his brother. Konstantin blocked his way. Mihail pushed him aside. Konstantin stumbled as if hit by a car.

Mihail marched toward us, his gaze locked on Alessandro. “Come with me.”

“I affixed my seal,” Konstantin growled.

“Yes, and our uncle changed his mind. His seal is heavier than yours, brother.”

“What do you mean, come with you?” Alessandro asked.

“My orders are very clear. I am to come back with Orlov, and if you’ve killed him, I am to bring you in his stead. Come quietly. It will be easier that way.”

Arabella stepped in front of Mihail. “I don’t like that deal. How about you take this slightly damaged corpse instead. If you insist, I can throw in a brain-dead Italian count.”

“Too soon,” I told her on autopilot. They were out of their minds if they thought they could just take Alessandro.

Mihail stepped to the right.

She matched him.

He looked down on her. She was a foot shorter than him.

“Move,” he ordered.

“Move me,” she told him.

Mihail reached out and tried to gently push her aside. Only she didn’t move.

“I don’t know what you are, but I’ve had a bad day,” he said. “Getting in my way is not healthy.”