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What Vincent looked like on that final day. The way he accepted his fate and his eyes begged me to end it.
Everleigh’s gone.
Vincent died for nothing, and I lost Everleigh anyway.
I only realize I’m crying when Mama pulls me into a sitting position and presses my head to her chest.
“Shhh…zaika…shhh. Your Mama’s here.”
When I was little, I always found comfort in her arms, but there’s none to be found today.
Today there’s only agony and guilt.
I have to bear the cross of being the only survivor.
How do I live with the guilt of failing my brother?
How do I survive while half my soul is rotting in a field?
Where Vincent and Everleigh’s torture has ended, mine is just beginning.
Chapter 17
Everleigh
When I open my eyes, my body feels numb, and I don’t recognize anything around me.
It looks like I’m in a hospital room. I hear sounds from machines next to the bed.
My heartbeat speeds up, and I notice an IV in my left hand.
Where am I?
The memories of my captivity pour into my mind, and I remember being shot by Alek’s father.
Oh, God!
Alek! Did he survive?
Suddenly an elderly man comes into the room.
I don’t recognize the old man and stare at him, fear and panic filling my chest.
When he notices I’m awake, his eyes widen. He rambles something in Russian, and it looks like he expects a reply.
“I’m American,” I say, my voice hoarse as if I haven’t used it for a long while. “I don’t speak Russian.”
“Ohhhh.” He comes closer, his eyes skimming over my face. “I found you in field not far from my house. I brought you to hospital.”
Pure relief washes over me, and the tension that’s become a normal feeling for me falls away. Overwhelmed by the realization that I’m no longer a captive, my chin trembles, and hot tears roll down my cheeks.
“You found me?”
He nods. “Bad shape.” His eyebrows draw together in a serious expression. “Why you get shot?”
After all the trauma I’ve suffered, I don’t trust a single soul. What if he’s in the bratva or knows them? What if he tells them I survived, and they come to kill me?
Besides that, who would believe my insane story?
