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"What do you see?" Mom asks urgently.
"Nothing. I don't know what's going on." But I have a feeling. One so delicious, so exciting, I try to ignore it because the pain of being wrong would tear me apart.
The door bangs open, hitting the wall, bouncing back into Yevgeniy's grip. His lips are curved in a wretched snarl. "You! What did you do?" he shouts at me.
I let go of the curtain, my heart tap-dancing into my mouth. I don't like the manic expression he's wearing as he shuts himself inside the room.
"What are you talking about?" I ask.
"The police I arranged to guard this place are under attack!"
The gunfire outside seems to grow louder. It isn't, not really, it's just that I'm listening to it with more interest. It’s Arsen! It has to! The part of me that was afraid to hope grows big enough that it lifts my lips in a helpless smile.
"Scared?"
"Fuck no," he growls. Storming towards me at a rapid pace, he blocks me against the wall with both hands. His breath is humid on my cheeks. "I care more about how he found us!"
I cringe away as much as I can. "I didn't tell him anything."
"Liar!" He snatches my wrist, hauling me onto the tips of my toes. "I’ll kill you!"
A crackling sensation spreads up my neck as every hair on my body stands at attention. Yevgeniy is close enough that I can see the red veins webbing in the whites of his eyes. His chest rises and falls; he's worked up.
Afraid.
"Why are you smiling?" he demands, shaking me.
"Because Arsen is alive. He’s going to save us." I laugh so hard I begin to hiccup. He's here, he really came! We're going to be okay! My hand drifts down to my belly. All of us. “And he’s going to kill you.”
Yevgeniy goes still as the surface of a fetid pond in the heat of summer. His fingers burrow into my wrist until the burst of pain breaks through my joy, forcing me to cry out.
“You think you’re saved? You really think I'd let him get what he wants after all of this?"
His shoulder bunches up. My eyes bulge in terror, my body racing to react to protect me in time. I'm too slow—he slams me into the wall, my skull bouncing off the solid plaster. Pain explodes behind my eyes from the force of the impact. I can taste blood in my mouth.
"Galina!" Mom shrieks.
I scrape at his arms, and when he doesn't release me, I go for his face, but he simply holds me further away. "There’s nothing you can do to stop him," I wheeze.
He slams me into the wall again. It's like my brain is being knocked back and forth. My eyes start blurring, unable to focus on anything but the pain along my spine. I can't see or move, and all I manage to do is bury my nails deeper into his wrist.
"You fucking cunt!" he yells. I can barely hear him from the throbbing headache. I don't hear the gunfire anymore. I don't know what's up or down or if I'm blacking out.
Is this what dying feels like?
"Leave her alone!" Ruslan jumps onto his father's leg, yanking at him with all his might.
"Ruslan!" Mom's voice cracks.
All the pressure vanishes from my arms; Yevgeniy has let me go. Unable to stand, I collapse against the wall at his feet. He turns away, looming over Ruslan with hatred blackening his stare.
"You ungrateful welp!"
My vision is still swaying when Yevgeniy backhands Ruslan. My mom screams, her fear and my own bringing me to my senses. Everything is in hyper focus. Veins bulge on Yevgeniy's hands, saliva drips from Ruslan's gawking mouth.
"Get away from him!" I shout.
Ignoring me, he crowds over Ruslan, holding him flat to the floor with one wide palm on his tiny chest. He hits him again, the sound wet and awful.
