Page 165

“Elara.” He says my name and my heart warms and I smile, unseeing the carnage waiting for me.

His gaze darkens, finding me caged just as something inside me splinters as my eyes trace the damage—his bound, bleeding, and battered body.

“Golden bird, will you let me fuck you in front of him?” Vasily’s words make my smile falter and Sergei thrashes against the rope, raw, uncontained rage pouring out of him.

His eyes burn, glaring at his father before finding mine again. “What did he just say?” He growls but I turn my head away.

“Ser—”

“What did you agree to, Elara?” He yells, the sound is so animalistic, it even forces his father to take a step away from him.

“She promised son.” Vasily mocks, marching towards the cage, towards me.

“Stay away from her!” Sergei’s roar is deafening, but I can’t look at him. My eyes are fixed on the pool of blood spreading beneath him, his wounds torn open again, staining the floor crimson.

“Do you have a better deal?” Vasily speaks to his son, though his eyes are on me, with filthy lust and hunger.

“Do whatever you want.” I yell back, unable to meet Sergei’s gaze as his father’s chuckle travels through the hair.

“Elara, no. Baby no.” He pleads yet my eyes stay stuck on the ground.

The cage door rattles as Vasily unlocks it and pockets the key, he then unties my ropes. “Remove your clothes.”

“No, Elara, no. Don’t fucking do it.” Sergei’s rage reverberates through my bones.

“It’s alright, Sergei.” I fumble with the stupid camisole they made me wear, tears threatening to spill my eyes, and my brain slowly goes to the pit of darkness, to the pit of nothingness, where it’s hollow and quiet.

I used to think no man was worth becoming Eurydice for.

Then I met Sergei.

And I’ll willingly walk into ruin just for him. It’s alright.

It will be. It will be alright.

The voice inside my head grows louder, as the black fog seeps through my skin, trickling down the floor, slowly twirling around the metal bars of my cage.

Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop,

“I’ll go back to Russia.” Sergei says, his voice cutting through the fog. “I’ll be the Pakhan. I’ll continue your legacy, just let her go.” His voice is distant but I don’t strain to listen, not wanting to get back to the real world.

“Interesting.” Is Vasily’s reply. “You’ll never run again, son?”

“As long as she’s safe, I’ll do everything you say. So, just let her go. Unharmed. Untouched.” His voice is final, and I look up to see him standing, his legs bleeding, his wrists raw as he holds his body weight.

“The way you keep on making demands even in the situation that are not in favour tells me you’ll do good as a Pakhan, but…” Vasily’s finger traces my jaw, turning my head to look at him.

I let my head move, but my eyes stay fixed ahead, refusing to meet his.

“She just promised to give me a baby.” He adds and leans down to kiss my cheek, my jaw, my neck.

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock.

I hear a lot of thrashing in the background, but it’s all white noise in my black world until Sergei’s voice tears through the room.

“No!” It rips out of him, raw, deranged. “No, stay away, stay away from her.” I can see his body jerking against the restraints, the wild, bloodshot desperation in his eyes. “Do not fucking touch her.”

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,