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If tonight he was taking us away from this hellhole…that meant…
Tonight, Valentin dies.
I didn’t know how or when. But once Valentin Solonik breathed his last breath, then it would be complete chaos.
Viktor would be right in the middle of it.
My lungs wheezed. For this exact reason, I had been trying not to think of it. I couldn’t think of Viktor being hurt. Or worse.
I had spent my day knitting. I had knit until my fingers were aching and became numb. Just when I was about to be swallowed and consumed by distress, Irina had appeared.
I had been elated. But now…the feeling of uncertainty and dread was back.
Irina slid in front of me, blocking my vision. “Hey. Breathe.”
I found myself nodding, an automatic reaction. She rubbed a calming hand up my arms and then smiled. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Hope is all I have left, Irina,” I choked. “I fear the last time I saw him would be our last. The thought of that has been driving me to the point of insanity since this morning. Sometimes it felt like I couldn’t breathe. So hope is all I have left.”
“Tell me how you and Viktor met,” she said suddenly. Her brows were drawn together. I could tell she was trying to change the topic, trying to distract me.
Irina gripped my hand and pulled us to the bed. We sat down on the edge and she folded her legs underneath her lithe body. “Tell me,” she demanded.
So I told her of my tale.
A tale of broken silent love.
A story that led to a taste of blissful happiness.
A tale of forbidden kisses and vows. Gentle touches and sweet love.
A story filled with paper swans and dancing.
A tale of how a savage made man fell for his silent myshka.
Irina listened intently, engrossed in my story until she wasn’t.
Until our little bubble snapped.
Irina stiffened, and at the look on her face, the rest of my sentence was suddenly stuck in my throat.
“What is it?” I whispered, my hand going to my throat. My hands trembled. Irina’s expression changed from calm to…something…fear.
A look of utter terror filled her face and she seemed to fold into herself, her shoulder caving in. She now appeared so small, so frightened.
“Irina.” I clutched her hand in mine. “What’s wrong?”
Her eyes flitted to the door, and a sudden coldness hit my core.
“Irina,” I found myself whispering again. I followed her gaze and we both stared at the door.
My heart thumped. I seemed to freeze on the spot. The heavy thud of my heart was causing my chest to ache.
“What’s going on?”
Oh God, please…
The door was still closed.
The world remained silent, like always.
Yet…
Irina’s lips quivered and she clutched her throat in panic. “You don’t hear it…?”
“What?”
Irina flinched and then jumped from the bed. She cowered to the wall, her whole body shaking with silent tremors.
“Hear what? What’s going on?”
My throat felt scratched raw. Maybe I was screaming, I didn’t know. I didn’t care. There was a sound in my ears, like something was pounding and ringing loudly. My head swirled and the world wouldn’t stop moving.
Irina was hearing something I couldn’t…and it was bad. My pulse raced and pain stabbed through my chest.
I marched to Irina and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. “What do you hear?”
Viktor.
My thought went to him.
My Viktor.
Something happened.
I swayed on my feet, my head swirling, the world now a mess of colors. Distorted. Silent. Dark. Empty.
The ground underneath us shook suddenly. My blood roared in my ears and my body trembled. Fear washed through me with an intensity that seared and incised itself within the depth of me.
“What was that?” I demanded. It felt like a small earthquake.
“It’s so loud…Valerie…”
Irina brought a hand to her chest, her fear-filled eyes meeting me. “I think…people screaming…I hear…gunshots. I think…I think there was an explosion.”
My heart stilled; the world froze. My stomach twisted almost painfully, and I felt the urge to throw up suddenly.
Viktor. My Viktor.
“No.” A whimper escaped past my lips.
Gunshots. Explosion. People screaming…
“No. No. No.”
I rushed to the door, my heart thumping frantically. Before I could reach the handle, a hand pulled me back harshly. Irina and I stumbled back a few feet before falling into a heap.
My arms lashed out angrily, and I tried to push her away. She wouldn’t let go, though. Irina used her last strength to hold me still.
She slid in front of my vision with her pale face and shaken expression. “We can’t…we can’t leave. Viktor made us promise. Under no circumstances, he said.”
I shook my head wildly, trying to escape her grasp, but she wouldn’t let go.
She wouldn’t…she just wouldn’t let go…
I wanted to go to him. I had to find him.
Viktor.
Oh God. No. Please. I couldn’t lose him. Not now. Never.
Irina and I turned to face to the door, the door that held us inside and held everything else happening outside.
