AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It wasn’t by choice,” I say through gritted teeth.
“It doesn’t matter,” Adrik says, like there’s a conspiracy I’m part of without my knowledge.
His words from that day 15 years ago echo in my head.
You’ll come back and avenge your family.
I look at him and see a determined expression on his face, as if the next phase of a master plan has officially begun.
“You think I came here to start a war against an enemy I don’t even know?” I shake my head in outrage. “No. I’m here to confirm my identity so I can walk away a free man. Then I’ll go back to the country you flung me to as a child.”
“It was for your safety, Viktor,” Adrik says.
“My safety…” I scoff as I turn away from him.
“I was Konstantin Mikhailov’s soldier. Your father’s soldier,” Adrik says. “The day he died our compound was being attacked. He was shot and a few moments away from his end. Your father ordered my brother and me to rescue you from the village.”
It’s an almost surreal experience to hear any new information about my father. All I have are memories that were abruptly cut off once he was murdered.
“In the case of my mother, you failed,” I say.
“That is… regrettably true. Still, we followed his orders,” he says like a loyal soldier.
“Where in his dying orders did he tell you to ship me off to America?” I ask. “I can’t imagine he had enough life left in him to come up with that plan.”
“Fredek and I made that decision,” he says, stepping closer to me. “Your father had many allies, but he also had rivals, and there’s never a shortage of fresh blood looking to snuff out the existing power. When your father died, that power went to you, but as long as you lived in this country, you would never be safe.”
I consider his argument, not expecting the reason Adrik and his brother sent me to America, fending for myself in group homes to be based on logic. I grew up not knowing who this man was, but I hated him. For an entire year after, I’d spend nights awake, terrified that one day he would find me in America and kill me. I know he wasn’t part of the group that killed my parents, but he’s the only face I remembered from that entire experience, and it became the face I associated with that day.
Vadim walks into the foyer, adjusting his suit jacket. He passes Adrik without a word and stops in front of me. “You’re unarmed?” he asks.
“I haven’t had a gun since I arrived in Russia,” I say, reminding him.
“If you’re staying in my house, you don’t need one,” Vadim answers. “You blame the elders for your parent’s murder. I don't want you standing in front of them armed.”
I block Vadim’s way and lean my head to the side. “If I wanted to bring a gun, you wouldn’t have stopped me.”
Vadim leans towards me, grinding his teeth with his words. “If I see you draw a gun at any time we’re meeting with the elders, I’ll pull mine out and fire a bullet into your skull, family or not.”
His suspicions are for good reason. I’d be tempted to empty my clip at the elders for what happened to my father while they were supposedly allied with him.
Vadim walks outside where his car is parked with doors open and waiting.
I turn to Adrik, irritated that he’s still looking at me with that optimistically vengeful look on his face.
“You should have left me to die with my family,” I hiss at him before following Vadim out the door.
* * *
Vadim,Adrik and I find ourselves standing in front of another door, but this time we’re only wearing towels and slippers.
I’ve never been to a Russian bathhouse but know enough from my parents visiting them.
Vadim leads the way, and we form a line of men with dark, tattooed skin that contrasts with the white tile of the walls. The smell of eucalyptus and mint tingles the lining of my nose and lungs. Passers-by stare at us, then turn away as soon as we look in their direction. Those intending to cross our path stop to either allow us to pass first, or they turn and walk in the opposite direction. A few people sitting in the cooling pools climb out and leave.
I don’t blame them. We’re not a welcoming sight.
Vadim turns left and we approach a secluded corner of the bathhouse with what appear to be more luxurious appointments. The cooling pools are larger, though they’re still only meant for a single person, and in the room adjacent, there’s an Olympic-sized pool.
