“She was as much a victim as any of us,” Bone said, the words scraping her throat.
“She was and she was not,” Blade returned. “She made a decision that changed her course. From that point on she was no longer mine.”
“You speak in riddles now, sister. Tell me.”
“I thought her gone, of no concern. As the years passed I heard no more of her but when Bullet came to Arequipa she was there with Grant. And she was in China with Arrow. Whether she was helping there or not I haven’t been able to determine. Since then she has been preoccupied searching for the boy. It wasn’t an issue until recently and she amped up her efforts. It was as if you engaging with Asinimov stirred her anger. She was in the woods the night Asinimov rescued you. That is too close. She has become a threat that must be dealt with.”
“So I will lead her from here,” Bone assured her. “She will not be close when you take down Nodachi and get the boy. She wants what is not hers to have.”
“She thinks the boy is hers, Bone, and you know it. She is out there and she will not give up. Grant is helping her.”
Shock ghosted through Bone. She’d known a woman was following them, knew Grant was helping her but for some reason verification made it all the more real. “She is but another player in this game. If she wants me, if she feels I am responsible for her loss that night, I will accept my share of the blame and she will move on or die.”
“She is trained but not as we are. I would that you did not kill her,” Blade requested. “Remember, she too suffered the unspeakable.”
“You speak on one breath of her no longer being yours. With the next you caution me against harming her. Make up your mind, Blade.”
“I said she suffered and for that she’s earned at least a stay. You will do what you will do. I am simply asking you to try not to harm her before we know the truth of it all,” Blade urged.
“I can make you no promises, sister. I am about to give up my chance at happiness because I helped another live all those years ago. My rage is greater than it has ever been—even the night I found out what Joseph did to you. I might understand her reasons but I will not allow her to hurt any of us. And the boy is ours—we kept him safe, protected him from a truth that would destroy him, gave him a chance at life.”
Blade sighed. “What is life if you must hide to live it?”
Bone’s chest hurt at the heartbreak in Blade’s voice. She was tired of feeling. Indeed she preferred the nothingness of her hate.
“You cannot return there,” Blade said, guessing Bone’s intent which reminded Bone they were all connected in a way not many others ever experienced.
The bonds forged in Hell…
“I must. If it’s retribution she wants, I will give her a chance at it,” Bone whispered.
“What of your Asinimov?” Blade asked.
“He will be angry. I know this and yet it will not sway me from my duty to the boy, to you and Arrow and Bullet. Find the child, Blade. Get him to safety so that you may begin the final play and we can all have our revenge.”
“For Ninka,” Blade said, once again directing her words to the sky.
Bone nodded. “For us all.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“I did not think I could know love,” she murmured at Dmitry’s side.
Bone had left her sister among the towering eucalyptus trees and walked back to his side, crawling into bed with him and letting his warmth soothe the places made cold with talk of death.
She had never questioned her life, the whys and wherefores of it all, but now she did. When she’d found someone who made her want more than the death-dealing that came so easy to her, why was fate so intent on taking it from her?
Perhaps she was more like her father than she realized. Maybe the loyalty to his wife had made him go crazy. Maybe the love he had for her made him blind to the reality that he was never meant for anything more than killing.
She had never known the stirrings of love until she’d tasted Dmitry Asinimov. She was different now and the burden of the loyalty she had to her sisters, while absolute, had become another weight on her soul.
Though he’d vowed it wasn’t what he wanted, he had changed her.
She had more steps to take it seemed. More miles to travel and another reckoning to meet with. Nameless was probably out there right now, waiting for Bone to make a move.
It had taken Bone a long time to sleep but she’d finally given over, waking to find him on his stomach, face turned toward her, snoring softly. She’d played with his body, licking his skin and rubbing the firmness of his muscles, testing his reactions and knowing she had found something she did not deserve.
And he was awake because she’d played but she did not regret interrupting his rest. His beautiful gaze pierced her, splitting her open and demanding everything she was. “No one deserves it more. And if you keep rubbing my ass I am going to fuck you.”