Only You (The Mephisto Covenant Series) Read Free Page A

old coat, wishing I had fur-lined gloves like Gustav’s. “So I went back and told her I had gotten lost when Viorica and I followed a dog down the street. We couldn’t find our way home, and when we were in a crowd of people, a lady picked up my sister and took her away. Maybe because Viorica was such a beautiful child, Nadia believed my story. She made a halfhearted attempt to find her, but I know they were glad to be rid of her.”
    “Didn’t they call the police?”
    He didn’t get it. Not yet. I glanced up at him. “Emilian wouldn’t let Nadia call.”
    “What about neighbors? Didn’t anyone ask what happened to your sister?”
    “If anyone noticed one of us was missing, they must have assumed she’d been visiting or something. We’d only been there two months when I ran away. And even if they were curious, no way they would have knocked on the door and asked. Emilian and Nadia never spoke to their neighbors and had no friends. You really can’t imagine what horrible people they were.”
    “You’d be surprised. I’m kind of an expert on evil people.”
    It hit me then what it was about Kyros that was so odd, what set him apart from other guys. There was an air of darkness about him, a faint but distinct feeling of doom. I checked him out as we walked. “You seem . . . different. How do you know my sister?”
    “It’s a long story.” As we turned a corner, he asked, “Didn’t Emilian and Nadia recognize Jordan when her adoptive father became president, and she became a public figure?”
    There it was, the question I’d known he’d ask, that I’d tried to prepare for. Didn’t matter. This box I had hidden deep and w ell, but I could never completely lose it. That it existed at all was my certain damnation. It was why I never attended mass. Hadn’t since . . . “Nadia died from cancer before he was elected president, but yes, Emilian knew it was Viorica, and he had big plans to demand money in exchange for not taking her back. He also wanted to extort money for his silence. How would it look if the American president had adopted a child with legitimate guardians? That President Ellis didn’t know wouldn’t have made any difference, because there would be people who’d insist he did know. Emilian would have threatened to go public, and play up how Viorica was stolen from him. I was so afraid for her. She didn’t know any of this, and having that slime crawl out of the gutter and come after her family . . . I couldn’t let it happen. By then, I was almost fourteen, and after all that time, after what I did to save her from Emilian, I wasn’t going to let him screw up her life.”
    “How did you stop him?”
    I killed him. “It turned out I didn’t have to do anything. He died when his house burned down. He was a drunk, and a smoker. He passed out with a cigarette, and that was that.”
    “When did Nadia die?”
    “When I was twelve. After she was gone, Emilian started . . .” I paused, horrified by what I’d almost said. Had I been that close to saying it? Kyros’s peculiarity was getting to me. “Everything got worse,” I finished lamely.
    He fell quiet and I wondered if he guessed. He was young, but an old soul. I had a feeling Kyros knew about men like Emilian.
    He asked in a low, hoarse voice, “After he died, what did you do?”
    “I lived with the woman across the road, who wasn’t unkind, but she expected me to work for my keep. I cooked and cleaned, and when I was old enough, I went to work for her son.”
    “Gustav?”
    I nodded. “He’s gruff and hard, but generous, and he makes sure none of the customers get out of hand. About six months ago, his mother passed on and he sold her house. That’s when I got my own apartment.”
    “Are you . . . with someone?”
    “No. I’m never going to be with someone. I don’t even date.” I shot him another glance. “I don’t like men.”
    “You mean, you’re—”
    “No, I just don’t like guys. You saw, in the bar.