Page 104 of Requiem
Alexei just laughs, like this is some kind of fucking show, and I’m exactly where he wants me. “Look at you,” he murmurs, stepping closer, his voice smooth. “Still trying. There's no good left in you, you know.”
Another set of footsteps echoes behind him, and Vlad steps into the light, his black hair slicked back, his eyes dark and hungry as they drag over Emma and me. Rage floods my system so fast that it burns through my insides like a goddamn wildfire through deadwood.
“You fucked up, little rockstar,” Alexei hums, stopping just in front of me. “You fucked up so badly not coming back when you had the chance.”
He gestures lazily toward Emma. She’s pushing herself up, her breathing uneven, her eyes wide and terrified.
“Because now…” he continues, almost bored, “Vlad’s going to have a very good time with her.”
My jaw locks.
“You know,” Alexei adds, tilting his head slightly, “he always tests the product before he sells it.”
My stomach drops out from under me.
No.
“You fucking touch her,” I snap, my voice ripping out of me, “and I will rip your intestines out and shove them down your goddamnfuckingthroat.”
Alexei doesn’t even react, because he knows that I can’t move. I’m trapped. And despite my warning, Vlad steps forward. His gaze sweeps over the woman I love as if I didn’t just speak. Like I don’t even fuckingexist. He moves over her, his hands finding her hips, dragging her back toward him like she’s just something to be used and broken.
And she screams.
My name.
For him to stop.
For me tohelpher.
Screaming, screaming, screaming…
I lunge again, every muscle in my body straining, chains cutting into my skin, vision going red. Nothing. I can’treachher.
Ican’t—
I bolt upright in bed. Air tears into my lungs like I’ve almost drowned, my entire body drenched in sweat, heart slamming so hard it makes my vision pulse with every beat. For a second, I don’t know where the fuck I am. My eyes whip around the room, searching. And when I realize I’m in the basement bedroom, in thecabin, my breathing stutters. I drag a hand over my face, shaking, trying to force my body to catch up to what my mind already knows.
It was a nightmare.
Just a nightmare.
But my chest is still tight, because my hands still feel like they’re wrapped in metal. I can still hear her terrified cries. And somewhere deep in my bones, the fear hasn’t let me go. Because it doesn’t feel like something my mind just made up. It feels more like a warning than anything.
***
I sit on the edge of the bed for a while, elbows on my knees, staring at nothing, trying to convince my body that it’s over. That I’m not thereagain and that those fucking chains aren’t digging into my wrists, and that Emma—
My jaw tightens. She’s upstairs.
Safe.
I repeat it, over and over again, until my brain fuckinggets it.Then I push to my feet and open my door. Thankfully, I’ve been able to walk around freely now. Especially since I’ve made the decision to sleep down here myself. I wouldn’t ever forgive myself if I hurt her.
By the time I reach the stairs, I can smell the comforting aroma of coffee, and I follow it. Micah is alone at the dining table, a mug in his hand, one elbow braced against the wood like he’s been sitting there for a while. The laptops are still scattered across one side of the table, cables and notes and whatever the hell Adela and the others were working on last night, left exactly where they were.
He looks up the second he hears me, and his eyes track every movement of mine. For a second, neither of us says anything. Then his gaze sharpens, reading something in my face that I probably haven’t hidden very well.
“Rough night?” he asks.
