Page 106 of Phantom Flower

He looked shaken. His shoulders were slightly slumped. His hands were clenched at his sides like he did not know what to do with them.

He did not say anything at first. He just stood there in the doorway for a few seconds, staring at me in the hospital bed with all the tubes and bandages. Then he slowly walked over and sat down in the chair beside the bed, the one Dimitri had been occupying earlier.

“How are you feeling?” he finally asked, but he did not meet my eyes. His gaze stayed fixed somewhere near my shoulder, like looking directly at me hurt too much.

“I’m okay.”

Kento nodded slowly. His jaw tightened. He still would not look at me.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

I blinked, confused. “What for?”

He swallowed hard, fingers digging into his knees. His voice came out strained, like every word was being forced out.

“For leaving you alone with them.”

He pressed his lips together tightly. I had the impression he was physically stopping himself from saying more. It was hard to know him. I never understood him. I do not think anyone was capable of it. His eyes stayed glued to the floor, shoulders tense, like he was waiting for me to yell at him. To blame him. To tell him he failed as a brother, which he did because he was never one to begin with.

I looked at him for a long moment. Part of me wanted to be angry. Part of me wanted to ask why he was never really there, why he only showed up with warnings and then vanished again. But looking at him now, I could not find it in me to be mad.

“It’s okay,” I said softly. “It’s not your fault.”

Chapter 33

Dimiri Morozov

Kento had cut Daniel into pieces that day. Literally. Not just killed him. He dismantled him. Face. Limbs. Everything. The kind of work that even made my stomach turn when I pictured it.

Kento had always been cold, but this was something else. The body had been disposed of so thoroughly that Daniel Walker was now officially listed as missing.

Rei’s mother still did not know her son was in the hospital. All she cared about was her missing husband. She had been blowing up phones and contacts, frantic about Daniel, but not once had she asked about Rei.

She was high on my kill list too. The only reason she was still breathing was because I knew Rei still cared for her.

A few weeks passed.

Rei had thrown himself into physical therapy with a determination that both impressed and worried me. He hated the pain. I could see it in the way his jaw clenched every time he tried to move his legs, in the way his hands fisted the sheets when the therapists pushed him too hard. But he never complained. He just gritted his teeth and kept going, day after day, because he wanted to run again. He wanted to chase flowers through fields like he used to with his father.

Yesterday, while I was sitting next to his bed watching him rest after a particularly brutal session, he started talking about a rare flower.

“It’s called the Comet Orchid,” he said softly. “It only grows in certain parts of Madagascar. The flowers are white with long, graceful spurs that look like shooting stars. They bloom at night and smell incredible. I read about it once when I was a kid. I have always wanted to see one in person… just once.”

He smiled a little.

“Maybe one day.”

His wish was my fucking command.

Today, I went to get it for him.

The Comet Orchid was nearly impossible to find. It was extremely rare and only bloomed under very specific conditions. Flying to Madagascar would take too long. Rei was still recovering, and I did not want to leave him for days. So I did what I do best.

I found someone who already had one.

A private collector in a lavish estate just outside the city. An old, rich bastard who hoarded rare plants like trophies. I offered him a ridiculous amount of money. He laughed in my face and told me it was not for sale at any price.

So I killed him.