Page 173

Fear trickles down my spine and goosebumps follow soon enough.

My head turns to look at the pair of black eyes I grew up hating. His hands massage my arms, slowly sliding down and my brain shuts down entirely.

“Hello, Ela.”

A whimper slips past my lips before I push him away only to be grabbed by the nape of my neck.

“Leaving? So soon?” His head tilts towards the right, his receding hairline crept back from his temples in a slow, uneven retreat, exposing more of his forehead.

A golden tooth glints under the light as he smiles viciously at me and I fight a full body shiver, unable to stop my lips from quivering.

“W-what are you doing here?” I gasp, I feel his grip on my heart as if to stop it from beating, my chest heaves, pleading with my eyes as my head shakes in all the directions.

“Daddy’s here for you, yes?” He nods at his own question, still smiling, his voice, his touch, his pungent scent it all consumes me, reminds me of what I have tried so desperately to escape.

I failed.

“Please, let me go.” My voice breaks, turning into full- blown sobs and I feel another wave of panic that was deeply rooted in my chest re-emerge.

“Do you know I was so furious when you fucking escaped?” He hisses, his tongue poking out to swipe across my lips but I turn my head away swiftly.

His grip on my nape tightens as he forces me to look at him. “I had to get creative.” He chuckles then, nodding towards Amara.

I don’t think I can handle this anymore.

“I just wanted a pussy and you were not here.” He hisses, his black gaze turning darker and my legs almost give out. “I was fucking waiting for you. But you didn’t show up. I had to teach you a lesson, Ela.”

My head turns, gaping at my sister’s trembling body as she refuses to turn her head and cries silently.

I did this to my sister?

She’s here because of me?

“She isn’t pretty like you, she isn’t tight—” my hand lifts before he can finish his sentence and my palm connects with his cheek.

His head snaps to the right, jaw tightening before his hand clamps harder around my throat, cutting off my breath.

“That’s some family love.” He mutters, his voice dropping, catching onto a darker, heavier, and dangerous tone. “Let me tell you a story.”

Before I can react, he hurls me across the room. My body slams into the hospital bed, my head hitting the edge and a sharp crack rings through my skull as pain explodes behind my eyes.

I scramble back, trembling, as I press my knees to my chest, clutching my sister’s hand like it’s the only thing anchoring me to this world.

Thick tears blur my vision, slipping down my face as my breath comes in shallow, broken gasps.

I can barely breathe as a horrible, suffocating clarity settles in; I’ve been so self-absorbed—so consumed by my own pain—that I never stopped to see anyone else’s suffering.

Amara. Sergei.

They were always hurting. Because of me.

“There was a girl—pretty cliché.” He shrugs, dragging the chair across the marble until it screeches to a stop in front of me. “One night, she stumbled upon a big, bad wolf.” He drops into the seat, the wood creaking under his weight, loud enough to make my pulse stutter.

“She wasn’t scared, she thought this wolf was also like others.” His gaze assessing me, and I break the eye contact not wanting to hear him recite my story like a fucking tale when it’s nothing but a tragedy.

“When the wolf was about to bite her, she panicked and begged and begged. And the wolf—well he was kind, he had seen enough.” He chuckles again. “But even he was surprised when the girl offered to trade.”

My body goes still.