The smug satisfaction in his voice was terrifying.
It always had been.
I clenched my fists swallowing the fear clawing up my throat as Lucius signalled to his men, and they pushed us into a dim, cold cemented room.
Judas's sister was still lying unconscious on the floor though they hadn't bothered to tie her up this time and pulled off her blindfold and gag. My heart hammered in my chest as I glanced around the room and the immense hopelessness sank into my bones.
This was my fault. I'd dragged her into this nightmare, and now… now we were stuck, with no sign of an escape.
Sinking against the wall, I pulled my knees to my chest and buried my face against them. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting back tears, but they slipped down anyway, warm and bitter on my cheeks. What would happen to us now? What was he going to do to us?
And even if I somehow survived this, how would I escape Judas's wrath?
A soft groan sounded beside me startled me and I stiffened, holding my breath. Slowly, I lifted my head as Judas's sister began to stir, her brow furrowing as she regained consciousness.
Her charcoal hair cascaded down her back in rough waves and her eyes squinted around. Anya. She was Anya Romanovski as far as I could recall. I swallowed hard as she rubbed her eyes.
"Where the fuck...?" She muttered, her gaze shifting, unfocused until it landed on me. Her eyes narrowed and a steely familiar glint that reminded me of her brother in her emerald-green irises. "Who the hell are you?"
Before I could even stammer out a reply, the door creaked open, and one of Lucius's guards stepped inside. The dim light cast shadows over his hulking form making him seem even larger. He was bald, his scalp tattooed with strange, twisting symbols, the ink deep and dark against his pale skin. His muscles strained against his clothes.
I froze. My pulse hammered in my ears, drowning out everything else. He was looking at her-not just glancing, but staring, his gaze dragging over her body with a hunger that twisted my stomach.
A sick grin curled at the corner of his mouth and his eyes narrowed as he took his time. I could feel his gaze, invasive, sticky, lingering far too long. And I recognised that gaze all too well. His smirk grew as if he enjoyed the discomfort radiating off her and every inch of me screamed to shield her, to step between them, but I couldn't move, couldn't breathe.
The room felt colder as tilted his head, still staring, as if daring me to react.
But instead of recoiling, to my surprise, Anya tilted her head, a slow, sultry smile spreading across her lips. "Hey there, big guy," she purred and I stared at her as if she had lost her mind.
I blinked as my mouth fell open in shock. What was she doing?
I flinched as the guard took a step closer, his chest puffed out with self-satisfaction and his lips curled as he leered at her. Was as insane as her brother? Cause who in the right mind would provoke a guy-
But my jaw met the floor as soon as she twisted her body and rammed her elbow hard into his face just when he was about to touch her. He staggered back and blood spurted from his nose, a surprised, muffled grunt escaping his mouth before she slammed her knee up into his stomach, sending him crumpling to the floor.
"No one touches a Romanovski, you fucker." She hissed grabbing his gun and unloading the bullets before dismantling it. I was still sitting shocked on the floor when she threw a bullet at me. "On your feet, little girl."
I blinked. What… what did just happen?
I barely had any energy left to react as I wobbled on shaky legs. "You could've… used that gun-"
"It was locked. Useless and loud." Her gaze glinted with mischief, and she shot me a sly wink before lifting the hem of her dress. My jaw dropped as a small, sleek gun glimmered against her thigh, strapped snugly beneath the lace of her underwear. Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I quickly looked away pulse skittering.
Romanovski siblings were absolutely out of their minds-Judas wasn't an exception either.
"Let's go!" she hissed, snatching my wrist and yanking me to my feet. I barely managed to keep up as we bolted into the dimly lit corridor. Shadows stretched around us, flickering in the faint, buzzing light overhead. My heart thundered in my chest as we sprinted through this maze-like confusion of the place.
Ahead, the air grew stale and heavy, the corridor narrowed even more as we darted past a series of locked doors. I forced myself to keep my breathing steady but the cold sweat prickled down my spine.
Just as we rounded another corner, I glanced back, half-expecting guards to close in, my chest tightened with fear. But we were alone. For the first time, a flicker of hope lit up inside me. Maybe, just maybe, we'd make it out.
I was about to walk when Anya in front of me stiffened and I met her back. "Ouch!" I rubbed my nose looking over her shoulder why she stopped until a figure blocked our path with his broad shoulders and a gun pointed at Anya's head.
"Ivan," I breathed and my stomach twisted as his cold eyes landed on me. The warmth I saw earlier today was gone.
"Well, well. What do we have here?" he drawled, his gaze sliding over me, then to Anya.
Anya shot him a venomous glare. "Get out of the way, asshole."
Ivan smirked visibly unfazed but my insides were crunching. "And miss the chance to see you two scramble like rats? I don't think so."
He stepped closer pressing the gun harder against Anya's head and his gaze pinned me in place. "Sera…" His voice softened with a calculated tenderness laced his tone as he reached out, brushing his fingers down my arm. I flinched. "You know, if it's freedom you want, you should come with me. I'd buy you from my brother. No one cares about you like I would."
I yanked my arm back and the disgust coiled in my gut. After everything he had the guts to say this? "I'd rather rot than go with you."
He laughed and the sound grated on my nerves. "Oh, sweetheart, you don't know what you're missing. I could give you so much more than Judas ever could."
Before I could retort, he snapped his fingers, signalling the guards who had followed us. "Seize them."
I kicked, twisted, and clawed, but there were too many, their grip too strong. Beside me, Anya fought just as fiercely with a string of curses pouring from her mouth, but it was no use. They overpowered us, forcing our arms behind our backs as they marched us back to another room until we were thrown inside the room and my head hit the floor.
A sharp pain rolled down my head and I groaned.
I blinked when a polished pair of black shoes entered my peripheral vision. I raised my head to find an amusing Lucius looking down at me. Anya's voice still echoes as she thrashed and cursed but Lucius's eyes made me wish to die.
He tilted his head. The long fur coat he wore brushed against my face and I recoiled back on my ass. "You're quite an amusing little thing, aren't you, Sera?"
I clenched my jaw. "You have no right to call me by my name. You're a disgusting man I loathe."
"And I care? Cause you hate me? Why should I?"
"Talk to an adult, Morozov. You started scaring little girls now?"
Lucius chuckled and I swallowed hard as he tilted his head at Anya who was pinned down by a guard. "A druggie calls herself an adult now?"
She spat at his feet. "Better a druggie than a coward."
Lucius's face darkened as he fully turned towards her. "Watch your mouth, or I'll have them shut it for you."
Anya's eyes glittered with defiance and her mouth twisted in a smirk. "Why don't you do it yourself, coward?"
My eyes widened as I realised what she was doing. Taking his attention away from me.
He glared at her for a solid moment before he muttered. "Strip her."
My breath hitched and panic crashed over me. "No!" I cried, straining against the guards' hold, but they tightened their grip and forced me back.
Lucius shot me a sharp, warning look. "Scream again, and I'll make it worse for both of you."
I bit my lip, forcing myself to swallow the scream building in my throat as a guard approached me and I cried harder as his hands reached for me.
Anya's gaze met mine and she glared at Lucius. "You're wishing for your own death, Morozov. You'll burn in hell."
Lucius's jaw clenched. "Hell?" he scoffed. "Little Romanovski, I own hell. And soon, I'll own your brother's life and everything you've ever held dear."
The guard's rough hands seized my arms, yanking me back as he forced me against the wall. My heart thundered and my body instinctively twisted away, but their grips were relentless. Panic surged, but my eyes darted to Anya, watching her face. She kept her gaze locked on Lucius. "No, please!"
"Touch her," she spat, "and Devil will tear you apart limb by limb. And I'll make sure I'm there to watch every last second, you traitor."
Lucius smirked as he took a step toward her. "Your brother isn't here, Anya," he sneered. "And neither are any of your pathetic family. I'll make sure I make his death as painful as Zayne's."
She laughed.
Throwing her head back and everything in the room stilled. The guard's disgusting hands on me and even the wind outside. And when she looked back at him, Lucius's eyes were narrowed. She tilted her head and bit on her lips. Looking devilish rather than helpless. And that's when I knew, Romanovski wasn't just a name, it was a brand. Brand of death. And destruction.
"And why do you think Zayne is dead, Morozov?"
"The fuck you saying. I killed him with my own-"
"Uh-huh. Rule number one, Morozov. What was it?" She smiled. "Always make sure, your enemy is dead."
A freezing stillness wrapped around the room and Lucius stared at her grinning face. I could saw the expressions on his face twisting. The realisation that whoever this Zayne was, was not dead. And I realised, this went beyond the power and control.
The few buttons of my cardigan were opened and my bra was exposed. I bit back a sob as the guard started unbuttoning the rest of the buttons when a loud knock on the door startled me.
Lucius turned his gaze towards the door.
Without any word, the door opened and a guard, panting and all sweaty in this cold rushed in. His eyes were wide and sacred. The familiar fear I could recognise anywhere. The fear of seeing death himself.
"Rom- Romanovski is here. And… And he wants to negotiate for his sister."
Anya chuckled. "Told you, you'll burn in hell, Morozov."