Page 31 of Lord of the Underworld

The terrace door opens.

"Hey, Anka, could you help me with my zipper? It's stuck -"

My back violently hits the wall of the closet, hooks digging into my shoulder.

"You were supposed to be mine!"

I'm thrown against the wall again, my vision exploding into a thousand points of light as my head bounces off the wood, sending pain searing up my neck. The dress is tangled around my feet. I can't kick. I can't run.

My vision clears just enough to see who's hurting me and a scream rips loose from my throat before he can stop me. Even with one hand, he manages to slam my head again, hard enough that I see two of him and I'm fighting, scrabbling at him, tearing his cheek with my fingernails. A monster, a one-eyed skull. The single eye blazes at me as his handless forearm slams against my throat, choking me.

"He said you'd be mine, you whore bitch!" He's screaming, flecks of spit hitting my face.

Yefim. It's Yefim. He is a monster. He must have taken something incredibly powerful to keep him on his feet.

I throw up my arms, shoving at him, twisting, trying to get away and the dress, my wedding dress trips me. I land against the doorway. Yefim yanks a gun from his jacket, shoving it into my mouth.

"You were going to let him have that kiska. It's mine. They promised you to me!" He's babbling. Three of his hideous white teeth implants are gone, making his words sound mushy. "You were promised!"

His hand is shaking, but his face is twisted, greedy, petulant, a child denied his toy. The metal of the barrel is cold, clacking painfully against my teeth. There's a roaring in my ears. He's going to kill me.

A breeze blows past me and I can breathe again. The gun is out of my mouth. Yefim is gone. I slide down the wall, staring as Vadim holds up Yefim, who kicks and squirms like a worm on a hook, with one hand. My knees give out and I slide down the wall, landing on the fluffy silk bustle of my dress.

"I intended to let you live a little longer," Vadim says dispassionately. "Then, you touched my wife." He pulls a blade from under his tux. How did I miss it? It's a huge knife. How did I not feel it when he kissed me? The thoughts flow by, just words in a stream and maybe it's to protect me from what is happening.

Vadim's knife is being driven into the noseless, eyeless monster's stomach. At first, he kicks harder, looking even more like a fat worm on the hook. I watch his insides become outsides. Blood sprays all over my dress.

I don't say a word.

I just sit, watching as it happens. Then, he drops. Like the useless garbage he is, like a sack of meat that no longer resembles a human being.

One word comes to my lips as Vadim looks at me. "Good." I say. "That's good." Struggling to my feet, I haul up my torn, bloody dress and kick Yefim's twitching body as my new husband raises one perfect brow, signaling surprise for the first time.

Surprised by me.

***

Nevestka - Russian for Daughter-in-Law

Kiska - Russian for pussy.

Babushka muzha - Russian for Grandmother-in-law

Chapter Fourteen

In which we learn why it is wise to always invite a doctor to your wedding.

Vadim…

I sweep a trembling Oksana up in my arms and carry her away from the body and into the bathroom.

"I'm okay," she says, as I put her on the counter. Her tone is steady, but flat. I check her pupils; she doesn't seem to be going into shock.

"I'm not going into shock." She blinks and looks up at me. "I'm not."

Running my fingertips feather-light down her neck, I ask, "Are you tasting blood in your mouth? Can you breathe?"

"I can breathe just fine. It just hurts a little when I swallow." She winces slightly when I touch the marks on her throat.