I raised my chin at the same time as my middle finger.
He simply laughed and took the seat beside Kirill, leaning over to peer at him. “He’s so vulnerable right now. It would be so easy,” he mused.
Ivan pulled his gun, and Nikolai laughed again. “Relax, unjolly giant. Kirill and I have a plan in case you’ve forgotten. He needs me alive for it to work, if you care to remember. Besides, I need him too.”
“Unfortunately.”The word was a dry rasp and startled everyone in the room.
My eyes snapped to the figure on the bed. Kirill’s eyes were barely open, and one of the monitors was beeping madly beside him.
“Wow, awake just for me, and without true love’s kiss,” Nikolai drawled.
I didn’t hear his mocking ramblings or Max and Ivan shouting for Doctor Petrov. My eyes were locked on the man in the bed, who was staring at me with an unfathomable gaze.
I approached, my heart was beating too loudly in my ears. Surely everyone must be able to hear it?I hesitated beside him, wanting to touch his hand, but oddly afraid. Everything had changed between us in that white hallway on the sea of his sacrifice. When he was up and about again, everything would be different. I didn’t know how to feel about that.
He stared at me, barely blinking. It was as if he was trying to see through me, to tell if I was real or not.
“Move aside, please,” Doctor Petrov said, bustling into the room behind me and taking my place at the bed. “I need to have a look at him. If everyone could leave us, now.”
There was no arguing with the doctor, so I went along with the rest, leaving the room. I stared at Kirill the entire way. His eyes didn’t leave me once.
18
KIRILL
Eight Years Ago
Black Hall Prep sat on a hill that overlooked the entire town. Fitting, seeing as it was for kids who held the world at their feet. Except for me. I didn’t belong there. The public bus didn’t go up the hill. No buses did. The kids who went to Black Hall Prep either drove themselves in flashy convertibles or were dropped off by drivers.
Ironically, if my father and mother were still together, I’d be one of those kids in the bulletproof cars. I’d be one of those soulless monsters who stalked the halls of the school and sucked the life out of anyone who crossed them. Being my father’s son would be enough to keep bullies away from me. They’d piss themselves if they knew who my father was. My real last name was uttered as rarely as Voldemort’s around these parts, and with the same terror.
A loud whistle cut through my brooding thoughts. A town car had pulled up at the curb, and the door was opening. Mallory stuck out a long, boot-clad leg, pulled herself out, and sent the driver off. She looked beautiful with the morning sunshine lighting up her blonde cloud of curls. For six months, she had been the only thing in my life that made me smile. My one distraction. Although, I had to admit she was becoming more than just a distraction. A lot more. She was my friend; the truest one I’d ever had. The only one.
“Wait up, loser,” she said, drawing closer.
I reached out and flicked the arm of her sunglasses.“It’s fall already, didn’t you know, Princess?”
She ducked her head from my touch, and the curtain of her hair slid forward to hide her expression.
“Style is seasonless,” she said, cheerfully enough, but I was learning Molly. I was learning how to read the things she said and everything she didn’t. I recognized that tone. Fury ripped through me, simmering beneath the surface after thinking about my father earlier. We left the sidewalk, and I pulled her across the manicured walking paths winding around the exclusive grounds of the academy. A huge old tree sat some ways off, and I dragged her all the way there, too far from the road to be seen.
She slumped against the tree and crossed her arms over her chest. Lifting her chin, she gave me a defiant look. That was my Molly all over. Blistering defiance and impulsive courage, overlaying a heart as good as gold. I was pretty sure I was the only one who knew the latter.
“What happened?” I asked, my tone hard, not out of anger at her, but the situation.
“I ran into the door,” she said with dry sarcasm.
I ground my teeth so hard I could taste the enamel grinding off.
“Show me,” I said, reaching for her glasses.
She turned her head, refusing me.“Why? Why do you want to see?” Her tone was brittle, hiding her upset.
“I want to bear witness. Someone should know.”
“Everyone in my house knows.”
“Someone who cares should know,” I clarified.