K E I R A

Warsaw, Poland

I pushed down on the brakes, swerving the steering wheel to get out of the truck's way. The tires screeched as my fingers trembled, and the vehicle dodged the threat. Needing a moment to catch my breath, I pulled over shortly after, leaning against the seat, I closed my eyes as I breathed through my nose, the nonexistent smell of gasoline taunting me.

"Are you insane?" Kyzer nudged my arm as I turned my head in his direction, fluttering my eyes open when my breathing settled, "I don't know about you, but I don't plan on dying without taking the rest of them with motherfuckers with me." He pinched the bridge of his nose, checking the time on his Rolex. "Pull up at a club, I need a drink after this, and do me a favor, Keira, get fucking laid."

Shaking my head at my brother, I turned to reignite the engine, my legs still had a light tremble from the near-accident, but I wasn't going to show him that I was out of it. If he got a hint that I was tense about meeting Chernov because of his fucking name, he'd ask questions, and I'd vowed on my life that Niko's life was more important than my desperation to see him again.

"Oh, and please eyes and mind on the road," He pointed on the crowded road just as the car slid back between the large mass of evening traffic on the street.

♤ ♡ ◇ ♧

It took Kyzer less than a minute to find a girl, and he was lost between the large mass of sweaty bodies, dirty dancing with his conquest of the night. I cringed at the mental image of my brother with a girl and shot down my whiskey down my throat, enjoying the light burn. A low chuckle had me snapping my head towards my right where a man almost my age was looking me up and down. He was wearing a white t-shirt, his muscles strained against the thick fabric, and his dark eyes settled on my face with a look I was privy to.

"I would've taken you for a wine person," He eyed the glass I'd just emptied as he took a seat on the stool beside me, moving it a little closer.

Turning my head to him, I smirked as I picked the other shit from the bar, and brought it to my lips, drowning it in one go with my eyes trained on the stranger. "Looks can be quite deceiving." He didn't know what was hiding under my leather jacket, three knives, and a gun.

"Indeed," He nodded, his finger tracing his jaw as he narrowed his eyes. I knew he was trying to gauge my feelings, but there was nothing except lust for him to see, and it was the way I was brought up.

"Don't just lock your emotions, Keira, burn them. All locks have a key, and thus they're vulnerable, but ashes, they're depraved."

Dad's words blazed through my ears and I shuddered, remembering how I'd broken every single one of the Pentagon's rules all for a devilish delight—love. I broke my oath for something unrequited, and so beyond my reach, but I couldn't bring myself to regret it.

Regret him.

I'd do it all over again if it meant I could touch him again. The tattoo on my arm burned with vengeance, reminding me of everything I did wrong. I wished I could just wash my memory clean, and forget why I had a wilted rose with an N stemmed around it.

I missed him. So much. But it was my own doing that I was lonely, seeking out strangers just to look for him in one of them, but no one ever compared. Even the ones who had the same metallic eye color as Niko didn't have that passion in their gaze.

A memory hit me like a storm, unannounced and so fierce that it nearly shook me. Eight years and it wasn't getting any easier. I still loved him, missed him, and wanted him back. Perhaps it was the alcohol in my system or my unfortunate vulnerability, I let the memory play inside my head like a deadly song.

"Hate to break it to you, baby but poetic isn't your forte," Smacking him on the shoulder, I rolled my eyes, fighting the smile that threatened to break over my face.

"And yours is?" I mumbled, keeping an eye on the stove. The dinner should be ready any minute.

"No, I prefer dirty talking." He wrapped his arm around my torso, pulling me back to his chest, "You know the kind that gets your knickers drenched for me," His breath fanned the side of my neck, and I moaned softly.

The loud music blaring all around me pulled me out of my trance, and Niko blurred until eventually, my gaze focused on the flashing neon lights with strangers dancing the night away. I wished the memory would last forever. I also wished I didn't remember.

Fuck.

I needed to dance. Let loose exactly as Kyzer said, but something told me I wouldn't be finding a stranger, even though I didn't want to go back to an empty bed. Ignoring the man seated beside me, I took my drink and started getting up.

"Where are you going?" He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, sizing me up. Yeah, certainly not him.

"Ladies room," I replied, clutching my wallet in my free hand.

"With your drink?" He pointed at the whiskey in my hand, and I felt the hair at the back of my neck rising in alarm.

"I don't fancy leaving my drink unattended especially if I've paid for it," Not in the mood for chitchat, I didn't bother with what he was saying and made my way across the club where a large mass of bodies were dancing.

I recognized the song as a remix of some One Republic song and immediately downed my drink. Finding an empty booth, I placed the glass on the table with a small thud and went towards the mass of dancing bodies.

Swaying my hips to the beat a little, I tried connecting to myself, or at least who I used to be. I'd always loved freestyle dancing, it was my refuge from the vicious ruckus inside my head. I got lost in the music, the notes flying through my body as I busted my best moves. A manly scent engulfed me, just as I felt the heat of a man's body on my back.

"Dance with me...?" He screamed over the music, slightly uncertain, and I turned around.

The silvery glow in his eyes startled me, squeezed my heart as the air suddenly seemed on fire. Niko's eyes. Then he grinned; his eyes didn't hold the same flames in them, and it stopped me from going back. For the sake of my sanity, I had to stop thinking about Niko.

Hoping to not let the stranger catch on my moment of weakness, I offered him a coy smile and nodded. He placed his hands on my waist as we started swaying to the beat, then as the song drew closer to the drop, he turned me around, my back to his front as I ground my hips against his. I foolishly let myself believe that the hands all over my body were someone else's.

Love wasn't a game for fools, it was roulette, and if you lost, everything was gone.

I wished I could've gone somewhere with Niko where no one knew us, but I knew The Pentagon would find us and inevitably kill him. Fuck. I had to stop thinking about him, I'd never see him again. I chose this life for myself knowing I was burning all my boats.

It was a sacrifice. Our love was the martyr in the war against reality. He was my fairy-tale, but the thing about stories? They all end.

A sloppy kiss on the side of my neck pulled me out of my trance, and I focused all my energy on my body's biological reactions. I didn't dare turn around, afraid of what I'd start seeing in his eyes, but I arched my neck against his shoulder, allowing him more access as he ran his tongue over my skin, uncaring that we were still in a crowd.

I let the fog of lust lead me as I used the perfect stranger for my benefit. Means to an end. My eyes scanned the club for Kyzer, hoping that he hadn't found his lay for the night, sighing when I didn't find him. I didn't get a chance to dwell on it though as it was barely a minute when a loud bang went out, followed by the crash of the glass walls in the club being shattered to pieces. The music dimmed, the neon lights became daunting as the gasps and screams took over the delirious rhythm. I sighed, yanking my hand back from grey eyes as he tried to get us out of the mess.

"What are you doing?" He hissed in polish as I reached for my pistol in my garter belt. "This isn't an ordinary accident. We need to leave."

"You need to leave. I don't." I flashed him my matte black pistol, grinning when his eyes widened and he dropped my wrist, raising his hands in defense. "Now, get out of my sight," I turned around, eyes scanning Kyzer as I made my way through the sweaty mass of panicked bodies.

Stepping away from the crowd, I scanned the empty corridor—not for people—noises. My brother was an animal, who was never sated with the amount of pussy he got, and he did get plenty mind you. I sighed when I finally caught the noise of male grunting. Suppressing the urge to facepalm, I pushed my pistol against the door, opening it. The girl was gagged, her eyes widened as Kyzer turned to look at me, a grin on his face, not even bothering to get decent.

"You need to stop walking in on me, sis."

"You need to stop being an asshole, brother." I spat out, not taking my eyes off his face as I suppressed the urge to throw up. Let's be real, no one wants a memo of their brother's kinky tastes. I'd gotten quite a spectacle, and it wasn't once.

"Don't blame me for having a healthy sex life when you can't even find a decent lay." He buttoned up his shirt, pulled up his briefs and pants, completely facing me as he turned away from the girl he was fucking not minutes ago. She spat out his tie, and it fell to the ground, he grimaced but didn't say anything.

"Get your head out of your dick, they're here." His eyes widened with realization, and he took out a syringe with a colorless liquid in it. The girl's eyes were still on us—on Kyzer, He took off the cap with his teeth, turned around with his shark grin, and brought the needle to the girl's skin. She whimpered, then went limp in his arms as he dropped her to the ground.

"What the hell did you inject her with?" I hissed, shoving him back as I leaned down to check her pulse.

"Valium, this way whoever came after us won't ask too many questions from her, and she'll stay safe. A lot of people saw her go out with me." He rubbed his jaw, pocketing his other hand, taking out his fake passport, followed by his knife as he cut out his disguised picture, and let it fall next to his tie on the floor.

"We could have killed her! Why do you insist on having these disgusting rumors make rounds about you?" He shook his head at my outburst, his grin never faltering, and it made me think if he was hiding just as much as me.

"I'm a killer, Keira, and last I checked, so are you. Some fabrications are essential, everyone fears a man without morals, and I'm not fond of pretending to have them. Besides, let's be real, I don't need a drug to get myself some pussy," He spat the last words out almost offensively like it was a crime to believe otherwise. It was true, with his dark blonde locks, unlike my golden ones and emotionless green eyes, he was quite a ladies man.

"I don't like it. You're my brother, and I certainly do not appreciate the extent of these rumors. You are a killer, not a rapist, and they should know that." Kyzer shook his head in amusement as he took out his phone, swiped on the screen for a minute,

"That's why you're the one who schmoozes the bloody politicians," He chuckled, eyes trained on the screen. "Besides, what does it matter what they think? I'm phantom remember, they don't know me so they conspire, and I let them because you know the reality is much darker." He finished, and then the lights went out, blotting out the neon liveliness inside the club

"You did that on purpose didn't you?" I rolled my eyes, trying to navigate around the girl's unconscious body.

"You bet!" He gloated, "Let's go." Kyzer held out his hand, and we snuck out towards the back entrance. "Tell me you did one thing right and parked in the back?"

"I did," I replied, rolling my eyes as I unlocked the Porsche and slid behind the wheel, fastening my seatbelt as I waited for Kyzer to buckle up.

"Let's get the hell out of here, Keira." He didn't have to say twice.

We drove in silence for a few minutes, wondering who it could've been. The Interpol wouldn't take such an aggressive approach in a public place. They were pussies for the most part, and couldn't really hurt innocent people. Besides they didn't have our faces, fingerprints, or anything to make our identity more than that of a ghost. Chernov wouldn't waste his resources before he'd gauge us, our politics, and weak points, definitely not a place that wasn't his stronghold. Attacking like this wasn't Santini's style. That left only one person, but who could've tipped him off, last I heard he'd gone off into hiding. Why was he back now, if it was him?

"You think it was Astley?" Kyzer breathed out, and I sighed. How could it be?

He supposedly died when the building blew up with the original five, but I was supposed to be dead too, so I couldn't be too sure.

"He's the only one who'd have the balls to come after us like that," I leaned back in my seat, trying to keep my eyes and focus on the road.

"Fuck!" Kyzer growled, hitting the dashboard repeatedly, "The others can't know about this. It is our mess, Keira."

"Our parents'," I corrected him, unable to help the gaping hole in my stomach. This was bad.

"Stop being a smartass for once!" He hissed, then lowered his voice "This is serious,"

"I know," I whispered dejectedly, knowing all too well that the cycle was about to start again.

In moments like these, I was actually glad, I'd let Niko believe I was dead even if it killed me every day. This way my past wouldn't hurt him. He could live the life we never would.

"We need that alliance with Chernov, I know you don't trust the others, and I don't either, but if shit goes to hell, he's our get out of jail free card." Kyzer strategized, finally back inside his head.

"Then we better make sure he agrees, and we need to get the others on board, and I need Maxim off my back." I turned the car towards the left, still driving aimlessly just in case someone was following us, but I hadn't seen it, so maybe we were safe for now.

"The Masquerade. Find a nice guy for the night, he's a cunt, he'll lay off if he sees the competition is bigger." Kyzer suggested, and I found myself nodding to his strange idea. It wasn't one of his best, but it'd work.

It had to.

The Masquerade was in two days, then we'd meet Chernov in his lair. A perfect time to size him up as a potential ally, and get him to work with us.

Kill them before they could get their hands around your neck.

Astley shouldn't have crawled out of whatever hole, he was in for the past fifteen years. This battle cry would cost him, and I wasn't shitting myself into thinking we won't take a hit, but I'd save myself and Kyzer even if I have to kill the others. He was the only family I had left, and I wouldn't lose him.

It's always been me and him against the world, even if I have a secret that could bite us in the ass if someone found out my weakness—my Niko.

♤ ♡ ◇ ♧

Well... What do you think?

Thoughts? Theories?

We're going to start getting into the drama from the next chapter!

This is going to be my last warning about the book being dark. There will be disturbing scenes,

Thank you so much for reading, please vote, comment and share if you enjoyed.