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Sofia and Sasha go to Ana at the same time, helping her up as I walk behind them, agonizingly aware of my nudity. I feel embarrassed and exposed, helpless and vulnerable, and I know that’s the point. Alexei is enjoying this, sending us naked and scrambling for the stairs, hurrying to obey before he changes his mind and comes up with something worse.
None of us want to walk in on the children like this, so we find the first guest bedroom upstairs that’s still dark, pushing open the door and making a beeline for the closet and dresser. There’s no telling what we’ll find or if any of it will fit, but it’s clear that at least one woman stayed here in the past. I manage to find a cotton long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans that fit loosely, and Sofia finds a black sweater dress from somewhere in the depths of the closet. She quickly hands Sasha another, and the three of us get dressed as soon as we can, painfully aware of the lack of underwear or anything beyond these borrowed, ill-fitting clothes.
“Let’s go find the girls,” Sofia says, and I nod.
“They will have left them in one of these rooms.” I glance over at Sasha. “Sasha, find a bed for Ana, and then find the bathroom on this floor, if there is one. Heat up the water so we can get the girls clean.”
Sasha nods, looking almost relieved to have been given something to do. She wraps an arm around Ana’s waist as Sofia goes to the other side, helping her hobble down the hall until we see a room with light coming from under the door. When we open it, there’s a large bedroom on the other side with two beds, one on either wall, the same sort of dresser, and a chair and desk by the window. Anika is huddled beside one bed, picking at her lips as Yelena lies next to her on the rug, curled into the smallest possible ball.
“I’ll go figure out the hot water,” Sasha says quickly. “Girls, we’re going to get you baths, okay? You’ll be nice and warm when we’re done.”
I’d give anything for a hot bath. Hell, even a five-minute hot shower would be acceptable at this point. But the last thing I want is to take off my clothes in this house again, even for a moment.
Anika narrows her eyes at me as Sasha leaves, and Sofia sinks down onto one of the beds. “Is the mean man letting us take a bath?”
“He is,” I tell her tiredly. “Both of you. And then we’re going to stay in this room, and neither you nor Yelena are going to leave for anything, do you understand me?”
Anika nods, but I don’t break eye contact with her. “I’m serious, Anika. You know how you came out of your room even though your father told you to stay because you were curious? And that’s how you got hurt?”
The little girl purses her lips as if she wants to argue, but she finally nods. “Yes,” she mumbles. “I remember.” She presses her small hand to her stomach, where I know there are still bandages ensuring the wound heals. It needs to be cleaned as badly as the rest of Anika does.
“You have to obey this time, okay?” I let out a breath, wondering how much to say. “Anika, the man who took us, is bad. He’s a very bad, very dangerous man. He’s responsible for you getting hurt in the first place, okay? Do you understand?”
Anika nods wordlessly, her eyes starting to blink rapidly as if she wants to cry, but refuses to.
“I need you to stay in here, unless I’m with you, so that I can protect you. Okay?”
“Okay.” Her voice is smaller than I’ve ever heard it, as small and fragile as Yelena’s, and I hate it. I hate that Alexei has managed to take even Anika’s spark to frighten her to the point of being timid.
I’m going to make sure he pays for this if it’s the last thing I do.I think as I gather Yelena up in my arms; Sofia gets up to help me with Anika.
And if I’m being honest with myself, it very well might be.
