Page 17 of Blood Code

They weren’t real.

But… the evidence would suggest otherwise.

Fuck.

If they were real, what did that mean?

Could anyone become a ghost?

Could Xeniya? Would I see her again one day?

But then this Ghost wasn’t just a ghost. She also took a physical form. I interlocked my fingers over my head.

“Well, fuck,” Ilya said.

His accent was thicker than ever before. It was usually nonexistent because he was born in the States, but it became far more pronounced whenever his emotions ran high.

“Is this really not faked?” Dimitri asked his daughter, concern lacing his words.

“No.”

He nodded.

“I was there. I saw it with my own eyes. It wasn’t a trick. She was something paranormal.”

“So what you’re saying is that a vengeful spirit is back from the dead and hunting us and killing a large portion of the Bratva?” Maks asked, his tone half amused, half horrified.

“Pretty much.” I sighed.

“The better question is: why?” Nika closed her laptop and held it close to her chest once again. “Why does an evil spirit want to hurt you?”

“And why did she save you?” Dimitri added.

“What did she say to you?” Nika stepped closer to me, hugging her laptop even closer to her chest as if it were a shield and I were an opposing knight.

A snake coiled through the rungs of my ribcage, and I scrunched my face, struggling to remember the exchange. Nika stared at me expectantly, and pressure tightened further in my chest. I had no memory after falling, but before that, she’d said something about being raped and being held captive.

“I think she wants me to discover what happened to her… why she died.” I suddenly coughed and leaned against the railing of my bed, clutching it as I hacked up a thick plug of black soot, dead tissue, and mucus. This had happened far too many times to count.

It was disgusting, and all of my men looked away and pretended I wasn’t in such a weak state.

When I could finally speak again, I told them what Mirko had done to her and why she tormented and killed him.

“She said my father gave her to them. But I don’t know who they are or how it all relates. I want you all to find out. An organization held her in a prison cell for years. We need to find out who they are and how they’re connected to the Bratva and my father.”

“I’ll take a deeper look into Aleksandr’s accounts now that I have more context,” Dimitri said.

“I don’t think she is the only one who was taken. You need to look into any secret auctions, masked organizations, human trafficking cults, and any movement of money or people that seems strange,” I added, scratching at the skin next to the bandage on my wrist. “There has to be something that links Aleksandr to whoever took her, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if my father were one of the men who raped her. These are revenge killings.”

Nika winced and, if possible, seemed to fold further into herself.

“Nika, I need you to look into ghosts and any mythology, old wives’ tales, or urban legends that might fit what we all saw.” My throat tightened, but I continued my orders. “If ghosts exist, someone has to know about it.”

Nika nodded. “Will do, boss.”

“And Ilya and Maks, investigate Mirko’s associates, ties, and anything that might tell us how he got tied up in all of this.”

Both men inclined their heads and said, “Yes, sir.”