“Konstantin, please. Don’t be like this.” She softened, trying to sound as gentle as she had when she’d spoken to her rabbit. “We’ve shared so much, and I don’t know why you’ve taken such a turn. But I forgive you. I still want to be with you, even after all you’ve done. I still love you.”
“After all I’ve done?” Konstantin growled, and then he threw her to the floor. She sat on the white rug looking up at him, and somehow managed to have tears in her eyes. “You are an evil, ruthless bitch, Mina. Don’t act like I’m the one in the wrong here.”
“Look, Konstantin, I know we’ve had our differences, and that you haven’t always approved of the way I’ve taken care of things,” Mina said. “But I just did what needed to be done. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t love you. That I don’t still.”
She reached out, meaning to touch his pant leg, and he stepped back from her.
“I should’ve killed you years ago,” he said harshly. “But I was too blinded by my own foolish love, and I hate myself for the parts of it that still linger on. The parts of my heart that I gave to you that I can never get back.”
“Konstantin,” she pleaded with him.
He inhaled sharply through his nose, and he turned away, trying to hide the emotions on his face. It was just the slightest bit of vulnerability, but that was all Mina needed. His back was half to her, and she could see the dagger holstered in the back of his pants.
With stealthy fast reflexes, she moved, grabbing the dagger before I could even shout Konstantin’s name. He started to turn toward her, but it was already too late. She stabbed him in the left side, digging the dagger right into his heart.
Konstantin didn’t even try to fight back. He let his other dagger fall from his hand and stumbled back until he hit the wall, then slid down and sat slumped on the floor.
SEVENTY-EIGHT
gutted
You think you couldn’t kill me because you loved me?” Mina sneered at him. “It was because you were weak. That’s why I never loved you. You were always a weak, stupid boy.”
I pounded on the armoire doors, and Mina turned back to look at me. She cocked her head, realizing that she wasn’t alone, and picked up the dagger Konstantin had dropped on the floor. I hit the doors again, harder this time, and they flew open.
“Oh, I should’ve known.” Mina snickered. “He brought his dumb little bitch with him too.”
“You’ve always underestimated me,” I said. “But not today.”
I ran at her. She tried to stab me, and I grabbed her wrist, bending it back until she dropped the dagger. Then I punched her as hard as I could. Mina staggered back, her lip already bleeding.
“I know you always wanted to fit in, and you never could,” Mina said, giving me a wide berth as we circled each other. “But I’ve the means for it. I’ve got the one thing you always needed, to be accepted—money. You let me go, and I’ll give you everything you’ve ever wanted. Respect. Acceptance. A kingdom.”
“You know, that’s what Konstantin always thought you wanted,” I said. “That if you had enough money, and the crown, and the throne, and the kingdom, eventually you’d be happy. But I don’t think you really wanted any of it. You just wanted to destroy it all.”
She smirked. “Greed is always such a great motivator, and I know it’s worked for so many of those that have joined my team. But you’re right. The truth is that I just wanted to take everything from those that had taken from me. I just wanted to see the Kanin obliterated from this earth.”
“The only thing I want is to see you dead,” I told her. “And that’s something that I’m gonna have to do for myself.”
She dove toward me, scratching at me with her nails, fighting the only way she knew how. I punched her again, and then I kicked her in the stomach. Mina doubled over, but she didn’t go down.
As I walked over to her, I picked the dagger up from the floor, and I kicked her again. Mina started promising me all the money in the world, and I grabbed her by the hair, yanking her back up.
“Please, anything. I will give you anything and everything,” she tried, pleading for her life.
“I would stab you through the heart, but I don’t think you have one,” I said, and then I slid the dagger across her throat. I let go of her hair, and her body fell lifeless to the floor.
“I wish I had the strength to clap,” Konstantin said faintly.
He was slumped low on the wall, barely breathing, and I raced over to him. I knelt beside him, and he was starting to slide to the side, so I put my arms around him and held him up. His body felt cold and heavy, and I didn’t know how much time he had left.
“Why did you do that, Konstantin? Why didn’t you let me help you?”
“I didn’t want you getting hurt anymore. You’ve already been hurt so much by the things I’ve done. This time I just wanted to protect you.” He reached up, brushing my hair back from my face before letting his hand fall back down.
“You don’t need to protect me. You never did.”
“I know.” He smiled weakly. “Do you remember when I told you that for love, I’d kill myself again?”