Chapter 6 - The Blood and the Oath
A deafening gunshot echoed through the high ceilings of the library.
The gunman holding Alina gasped as a blood-red hole appeared in the center of his chest. He collapsed instantly onto the Persian rug.
Alina fell to her knees, choking for air, looking up through the smoke to see Damon Vulkoff standing in the doorway, a heavy silver pistol smoking in his hand.
Behind him, two more gunmen tried to raise their rifles, but Damon moved with lethal, terrifying speed. Two more shots roared through the room, dropping the intruders dead on the floor before they could pull their triggers.
Damon dropped his weapon, sprinting across the bloody rug and dropping to his knees beside Alina.
"Alina!" he roared, his hands hovering over her body, checking her frantically for wounds. "Did they touch you? Did they hurt you?"
"I... I'm okay," she gasped, clutching his dark velvet lapels, her body shaking hysterically. "Damon... they broke in..."
Damon pulled her violently into his arms, burying his face in her neck, holding her so tightly she could barely breathe. The raw, unbridled panic in his voice proved everything she had suspected.
He didn't just see her as a maid. He didn't just see her as a temporary distraction.
He cared for her.
"If anything happened to you," Damon growled into her hair, his voice vibrating with a terrifying rage, "I would have burned this entire city to ash."
He lifted her easily into his arms, carrying her out of the blood-stained library and down the private corridor straight into his master bedroom, slamming the heavy iron-reinforced door behind them.
He set her down gently on his king-sized bed, kneeling in front of her, taking her trembling hands in his.
"Listen to me, Alina," he said, his dark eyes burning with fierce determination. "The Voronins know about you. They saw me watch you in the courtyard two days ago. You are no longer safe as a maid in this house."
"Where will I go?" she whipped, tears overflowing her lashes.
May you like
Damon leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers, his voice dropping into a sacred vow.
"You stay here," he growled softly. "In my room. In my bed. Under my protection. From this night on, no one touches you, no one commands you, and no one threatens you again."
