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My breath comes out in small, cloudy puffs. It’s so cold in here, there’s frost coating the edges of what appear to be shelves.
Fuck. He’s thrown me into a freezer.
I’ve seen the movies. I know what this is. My heart starts pounding and I’m scrambling to get up, but he simply presses me back down with one hand to my chest. The floor is too slippery and cold for my bare feet; otherwise, I’d keep trying. I’d keep fighting him.
“Stay,” Demyen orders me like a dog. He holds his hand out over me like I’m about to pounce back up. “Just… stay here. Don’t do anything stupid.”
Sheer spite and determination to protect my daughter has me pulling myself up to my feet—but not fast enough.
Demyen walks out of the freezer and slams the door shut behind him.
Leaving me in the frozen dark.
I slump back against a pile of cardboard boxes, feeling weaker than before. Utterly defeated. Tears drip down my face. They’re hot at first, but I wonder how long it will be before they freeze to my skin.
I don’t know how long it takes for someone to die inside a locked freezer, either.
But I know he’s going to leave me here long enough to get the job done.
21
CLARA
Light spills through a thin crack that forms in the frost.
The freezer door opens.
I can barely move. My lips are numb. I tried keeping my fingers warm inside my armpits, and now, I’m permanently frozen in this cross-armed fetal position. Frost has formed on my lashes, from what I can tell in the dim light.
A brighter light clicks on, blinding me.
Demyen is here to collect my body. He’s about to be sorely disappointed when he finds out I’m still alive.
He crouches down and scoops me back up in his arms like he did earlier.
“Still… alive… asshole…” I manage to mumble through my frozen lips. It’s about as close to a middle finger as I’m able to flip.
He furrows his brow as he looks at me. “What? Of course you are. It’s only been ten minutes.”
… What?
No. It’s been way, way, way longer than ten minutes. I counted every icicle that formed on my breath, flipped through every happy memory of my sweet baby girl while I felt the setting and the rising of the sun… minutes turning to hours… hours into days…
My body shivers for a violent moment. I pretend to completely ignore the way he holds me closer, his solid chest and thick arms warming me up. As he carries me out of the freezer and into what is apparently his kitchen, I feel the frost melt from my lashes and mingle with my earlier tears.
“For the hundredth time,” he grumbles, “I’m not going to kill you. And even if I were, why would I put you in my freezer? So fucking dramatic.”
“B-but… mafia…” Stupid lips still won’t move.
He snorts. He actuallysnorts. The asshole. “Right. I forgot. My apologies. I’ll be careful to meet your expectations next time.”
Again, I have no idea where we’re going. I’m too weak, too cold, too out of it to fight him or even ask him what his plans are with me. For all I know, he could pour me into some cement shoes and toss me into an ocean.
“Clara.” He gives me a slight shake and frowns again. “Stay with me.”
What is he talking about?
The next place he lays me down is low in the ground and covered in ceramic. Or maybe it’s not on the ground, it’s just… deep? Deep and white and… filling with warm water.
