“Stay here,” I instruct her before moving into the corridor.
Frozen in fear, she nods. My steps down the corridor are soundless; not even Wolverine would hear me coming.
I release the breath I'm holding in when the faint voice of Maya squeaks through the door. Housing my gun into the back of my trousers, I unlatch the numerous deadlocks on my door and swing it open. Blaire must have recognized Maya’s voice as well, as she arrives at my side not even two seconds later.
Blaire releases a deep sigh as she rushes to Maya’s side. “Oh Maya, what happened?”
Fury blackens my blood when I discover what caused Blaire's skittish response. A nasty bruise circles one of Maya's brown eyes; her lip is busted open, and her wrists have welts only rope burns create.
As Blaire continues to fuss over Maya, I step into the hallway of my apartment building and run my eyes down the length of the hall. The exact pair of eyes I'm expecting to see greet me from the end of the corridor. Erik.
Erik is my one and only confidant in the Popov compound. I trust him with my life. He shares the same sentiment. I duck my head back into my apartment to make sure Blaire and Maya are occupied before closing the front door behind me.
Erik meets me halfway down the hall.
“What was Maya punished for?” I question, recognizing the injuries Maya has suffered. I’ve seen them numerous times the past twenty-four years on Vladimir’s mistresses. I’m just shocked to see them on Maya considering she is his daughter.
Erik hands me a folded-up piece of paper. “Confronting the man responsible for this.”
I dart my eyes between Erik’s before lowering them to the piece of paper. My veins turn black when my eyes roam over the document.
“They orchestrated Blaire’s attack?” I ask, already knowing his reply.
He nods.
Ididn’t even consider why Blaire was in the servants’ quarters the night she was attacked. I just assumed her curiosity got the best of her. I never fathomed she was set up.
“Who did this?” My words come out strained, strangled through the fury pumping my veins.
Erik hesitates before muttering, “Nikolai.”
Chapter 28
Blaire
Ipass Maya a handful of ice wrapped in a tea towel as a door slamming bellows through my ears. Rico moves down the corridor so quickly, he's nothing but a blur of black. After placing Maya’s half-drank glass of water and a bottle of pain medication on the coffee table, I tell her I'll be back in a minute, then take off after Rico.
I find him five minutes later in the walk-in-closet of the spare bedroom. I can barely breathe when my eyes lock in on a black mat he has rolled out on the floor. Knifes, tweezers, clamps, and other stainless steel instruments I can’t stomach to mention are stuffed into the pockets lining the leather material. It looks like an ideal set up for the creator of Frankenstein.
Sensing my presence, Rico lifts his head from the ghastly set of instruments in front of him to me. Tears pool in my eyes when I see the blackness swamping him. I hold my hands out in front of my body and take a step closer to him, hesitant on approaching him while he's stuck in the depths of despair. Rico angrily shakes his head, urging for me to stay away.
“Don’t do whatever you’re thinking of doing, Enrique. It isn’t worth it. Maya wouldn’t want you—”
“He set you up, Blaire,” he interrupts, the pain in his eyes growing. “He sent you down to the dungeon so that monster could kill you.”
I gasp in shock. “Who?” I ask through the bile sitting in the back of my throat, my stomach as squishy as my mind.
My stomach lurches when he replies, “Nikolai. He sent you the note to meet me in the servants’ quarters. He orchestrated your death.”
After rolling the mat up in front of him, he stands from his crouched position. I move closer to him, ignoring the threatening glare he is issuing me, cautioning me to stay away.
“He may have organized it, but it didn’t happen, Enrique. You saved me.”
“What happens when he tries again, and I don’t hear your cries? What happens if I’m too late?” he roars, startling me.
I shake my head, sending tears flying off my cheeks. “That will never happen. You’llalwaysbe there to save me, Enrique. You’llneverlet anyone hurt me.”
Fear greater than anything I’ve ever felt blazes through my veins when I see the pain in his eyes. My fear isn’t for Nikolai or myself. It's for Enrique. He has walked so far into the blackness, I don’t know if I can drag him back out.
