AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s about to happen. The ‘sex’ or whatever Tanya called it. When will she strip him of his immortality? How long do I have to endure this building tension? The air around me is so thick with it that I struggle to breathe. I feel my heartbeat in strange places of my body—my temple, my wrists, the backs of my knees.
In my mind’s eye, the rye field sways in the warm breeze, and the rustle of the stalks invites me inside in a whispering promise of safety.
No.I can’t escape. We are outnumbered and if the men go to Tanya, they can steal the needle blade. Everything can go wrong in a moment.
I have to pay attention, no matter how suffocating the truth gets.
And it’s like the Gods of Light heard me, because in the next moment, Koschei hisses, then shouts a word I’ve never heard him use.
“Fuck!”
I catch the glint of the knife and jump to my feet. I scream, releasing the pent-up sound I’ve been hiding inside after years of blindly following Koschei’s commandments.
Hands grab at me, clawing at my face, trying to shut me up. I’ve got the attention of at least one of the guarding men. I go limp, catching him unprepared for the weight of my body and unbalancing him.
I use the moment of stillness to look at Tanya and Koschei. They’re fighting each other, tumbling in the sheets like animals wrestling for dominance.
The second guard is standing in the middle of the room, unsure whether to help his friend or Koschei. Reveling in my new power of decisiveness, I engage every muscle in my body and kick away from the man holding me. I take a handful of boiled potatoes from the table and throw them in his face.
The two guards try to catch me as I run around the table, throwing anything I can get my hands on.
My ears catch how Koschei grunts, then Tanya’s guttural screams.
The guards give up on me and run to the bed. I run at them, making sure Tanya can finish her mission.
I am tossed aside like a doll. They grab at Tanya, who’s covered in red. Koschei is holding his chest, the ink of his life seeping out of him.
I scramble to my feet, unsure what to do. The image in front of me is like nothing I’ve seen before. The violence of it paralyzes me. Is this what darkness truly looks like?
My eyesight blurs and the four bodies on the bed become disfigured monsters. Why did I think this death ritual was going to be an explosion of brilliant light? I thought I was going to see the picture-perfect ending of a fairy tale.
Koschei the villain; defeated.
“Run!” Tanya screams as one of the men hits her in the face.
I flinch at how she flops to the bed, on top of an unmoving Koschei.
The other guard turns around. His face is beastly—his jaw protrudes forward, his eyes are wide and black, his lips are twisted in an unnatural grin. He lets go of Tanya’s leg, which is the only warning I need.
I turn and run toward the door, praying it’s unlocked.
As I reach it, it opens and I crash into a person. Looking up, I see Ben’s warm brown eyes and a frown that tells me he’s here to protect us. To save us.
He catches me and walks backward, letting other men shuffle into the room.
“We’re here, Jenya. I got you.”
Chapter 42
Setting up all the explosives in the small prison outbuilding took five minutes.
Now, we’re all sneaking through the long corridor in the main building and I’m doing my best to listen in for danger instead of the blood swishing in my ears. There seem to be many doors but no one inside.
With each tiny, depressing room we clear, my heart sinks more and more. What if Tanya isn’t here? What if the tracker was wrong?
My thoughts spiral when we open a door to a small bedroom and I see Tanya’s hoodie and sweatpants, and next to the bed—her sneakers.
“This doesn’t mean anything.” Sophie squeezes my upper arm. “We’ll find her.”
