But Kirill doesn’t wait to listen to the second part. He’s back between my legs, his expert tongue fucking me into oblivion.
He does it over and over until I can’t take it anymore.
Until I actually do faint.
24
SASHA
Mike’s little face slowly materializes in front of me. Young, sweet, and full of tears.
“Mishka, what’s wrong?” I ask, my voice breaking.
“Help me, Sasha,” he whispers. “Help us…”
I reach out a hand. “Slow down. Breathe. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
The moment I touch him, he falls to the ground, and blood explodes from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
The gruesome scene from four years ago slowly comes into focus. Mike’s body lies in the middle of all the others.
Blood pools beneath them, and the corpses become identifiable one by one. My father, my mother, my cousins, my uncle, and even my brother.
Anton lies on his side, bleeding from all his orifices like Mike. Uncle Albert walks in the middle of all the blood, expression downward and tears streaming down his cheeks.
I call his name, but no words come out. Not even a sound or a cry.
His eyes meet mine, blood tears soaking them. “Are you happy, Sasha?”
I shake my head over and over. We can’t be happy. I’m not allowed to be happy when everyone is buried six feet under.
And then my uncle falls down, joining everyone else on the ground, bleeding from all their orifices.
The blood pool gets deeper and colder, but I run in their direction.
I lose my footing and fall straight into the pool. “Nooo.”
White light blinds out all the red, and I startle into a sitting position. That’s when I realize I’m in a bed.
For a second, just a fraction of time, I think I’m back at home. I only had a nightmare, and Mama just woke me up because I’m going to be late for school.
But this is not home. And the nightmare wasn’t completely inaccurate.
“It’s ten in the morning.”
My head whips in the direction of the feminine voice. Anna. She’s the one who pulled the blinds, revealing the huge tree near the balcony, and is staring at me with those judgmental eyes that have never trusted me.
Her gaze bounces between me and the bed—Kirill’s bed.
Shit.
Memories from the sauna slowly come to focus, and heat rises to my cheeks and ears.
Holy hell.
What on earth have I done?
I stop myself from thinking about that, or more accurately, Anna’s unwavering attention forces me to.