The Shadow Circle

Chapter-15

Nikolai Kaito Nozava stopped by a cute little hotel and parked the car in the parking lot. Fortunately we all were alive despite his shitty driving. Who can make it past Ninja 101 and still fail driver's ed?! Nikolai/Kaito apparently.

"Wake up!" He barked. What a gentleman.

Elizaveta opened her eyes and got out of the car. Yeah, she was definitely awake the whole time. I snapped my fingers in front of Julian's face to wake him up. "Let's go. You can sleep in the hotel room." Julian mumbled something and went back to sleep.

By the time I got him to wake up, Elizaveta had already gotten us four rooms. Kai had managed to take our backpacks upstairs, including mine. Dammit!

I snatched the keys from Elizaveta and marched upstairs with the intent to kill. I strode into his room. The place was definately more luxurious than the last place we stayed but it wasn't exactly the grant Hyatt or anything. Kai was lounging on his bed and going through the papers I had stolen.

"Kestrel!" He smiled and waved me in. I shut the door behind me and walked in.

"Give them back, Nikolai," I said.

"It's Kaito," he told me.

"It's not. Your real name is Nikolai, liar," I said.

"Whatever, why do you want them back? You've already read them," he said.

"I rightfully stole them!" I snapped.

"I rightfully stole them from you!" He was treating this like a joke. Arianna was in the hands of a human trafficker and the fucking liar was laughing. Tears of frustration stung my eyes.

"Kai, my sister is missing," I reminded him.

"If you're her only hope, she's screwed."

"Nikolai, stop joking around. You have to tell me what's going on," I said.

"No," he said with a teasing smile. "What are you going to do about that?"

That was it.

I picked up up a sharp pen on the study and lunged for his throat. He swatted the makeshift weapon away easily and fell off the bed, dragging me with him. Somehow I maintained my balance.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" I yelled, trying to knee him in the crotch. In my defense, the target was rather hard to find.

"You can't," he said, stepping away. I scratched at his wrists, drawing blood. Somewhere down the line, I had come to instantly regret my decision to attack the assassin. I wasn't thinking. Now I was fighting to survive and not kill. Though I suppose I wouldn't be too upset if I did kill him.

His eyes narrowed at the sight of blood. "Watch it," he warned.

I slapped him.

"My sister is missing, you fucking asshole!"

My palm stung with the impact. Fast as a viper, Kai reacted. Suddenly I was thrown two feet back against the wall and something cold brushed my throat. I made the mistake of looking down at it.

Kai had a knife to my throat.

It was a slim, triangular blade that was a little short of a foot. The lights glinted off the sleek metal, it was almost mesmerizing. Where had that even come from?! Shit. Shit. Shit. I kept my chin up and stared at him. He was pissed.

Nice knowing you world, even when you tried to screw me over multiple times.

I didn't say anything. I was balancing on a knife's edge. Literally. My breaths were sharp, whether it was from the fear or the adrenaline, I don't know.