Anatoli
Everything is gray.
I'm not sure if I'm alive or dead, or in a dream.
My mind searches around the gray nothingness and the vast expanse of the void before me.
I feel nothing at first, then something warm caresses my cheek. My name is spoken, soft and sweet, and I wonder if it's her.
Avrora. Did I make it? Did I find her? Did I save her?
My wife.
My eyes flutter open, but the grayness that looks like thick smoke prevents me from seeing anything. Then a light that's far too bright shines down on me, and I blink rapidly.
At first, the ceiling of my living room comes into focus, then a man's face hovers before me.
It's Leif's on-call doctor, Dr. O'Brien.
Leif...
Avrora...
At the thought of their names, reality crashes into my mind and I bolt up.
"Easy, there," Dr. O'Brien says, laying a heavy hand on my chest and pushing me back down. I'm on the sofa, and a quick glance at the bandage wrapped around my body suggests I took a hit in the blast.
Gytha moves toward me, with worry in her eyes, and I realize it was her I heard. Not Avrora.
"Anatoli," she breathes. "How are you feeling?"
"Like shit."
"I had to remove some shrapnel from your back from the glass, and I've given you low dosage of adrenaline," Dr. O'Brien explains. "Other than that, you should be okay."
"How long have I been down?"
"Nearly three hours."
Fuck. Who knows what could have happened during that time?
"Do you remember what happened?"
"Yes. Leif is..." I can't bring myself to say the words, but from the looks on their faces, I can tell they know. They know Leif is no longer with us. It hurts my soul to think those words, but I can't lose my mind now. "I have to find my wife. She was taken."
"What?" Gytha gasps. "Isn't she supposed to be with Mira?"
"It was a trap. Mira or one of her lackeys killed Leif, then she drugged me and blew up the house. She's taken Avrora. I need to get her back."
Gytha's mouth drops open. "This is all so crazy."
"How did I get here?"
"Malik. He got to Leif's house and found you. Then he contacted us. He's in the sunroom, but there's something you need to see before you do anything."
"Gytha, I need to find Avrora. I have to speak to Malik and see if he has any idea where Mira could have taken her."
"Trust me, you need to see this first before you talk to Malik. I'm not sure you can trust him." The worry in her eyes intensifies, gripping me and beckoning me to listen.
"I'll leave you two to talk." Dr. O'Brien backs away and leaves the room.
Gytha walks toward her laptop on the coffee table, switches it on, then looks back at me.
"We didn't know what happened, but when we found Leif and the others dead, it was clear there was an ambush. The surveillance got wracked in the bombing, but I managed to salvage this part of the recording."
"Show me."
She presses the button on the keypad, and the image of Zakh comes on the screen. He's kneeling beside Leif with his hand around the hilt of the knife that's plunged into Leif's heart. Leif is still moving, crying out in pain. Then the image cuts.
I'm so shocked my body moves on its own accord and I don't even realize I'm standing until I am.
Zakh...
Zakh killed Leif?
No, that can't be right.
"Play it again." I walk over to the laptop, crouch down so I can get a better look because I think my eyes must be screwing with me.
Gytha plays it again, and I see the same thing.
On the third and fourth go, I press the button, and it's only after I've seen the clip four times that the truth of betrayal sinks in.
Zakh. He was working with his mother and Mikhail the entire time. He played me.
He fucking played me.
Even as I think of what logic is telling me and showing me, I can't believe the truth any more than I can that Leif is dead.
I look at the time on the recording and notice that Zakh must have gotten to the house just after I spoke to Leif.
And he killed him.
But it doesn't make sense. All this time, he helped me, and he was against Mikhail.
Maybe that's all it was, and Mira welcomed him back into the fold with a price that enticed him enough. Everyone has their fucking price. He murdered our uncle.
And what about Malik?
"Give me a gun."
Gytha hands me her Glock.
"Now get Malik in here."
I'm still staring at the screen when she leaves.
A few minutes later, Malik walks through the door.
"Fuck, I'm so glad you're okay," he says, sounding genuine. But so did Zakh when he played the part of a brother who wanted to get to know me. "Anatoli, Leif is-"
I don't give him the chance to finish. I stand and point the gun at him.
"Jesus, what the fuck?" He holds up his hands and looks at me as if I've lost my mind.
He has the haggard look of a grieving man, but I don't trust it.
"I'm going to ask you some questions, and if I don't like your answers, you're dead."
"What the hell is the matter with you? Our uncle is dead, and you nearly died."
"Your mother is behind everything."
"What?" He raises his voice and gives me and incredulous glare. "My mother?"
"She is the Mark. She drugged me and blew up the fucking house. But she had help." I press the button and replay the video for him to see.
He looks as astonished as me, and the blood drains from his face, leaving him sickly pale.
Despite me pointing the gun at him, he moves to the laptop, shakes his head, and does the same thing I did by replaying the clip again and again.
"This can't be. Zakh wouldn't do this."
"But he did. So, start talking, Malik. Are you in with them? Are you fucking playing me as well?"
"No, Jesus Christ, Anatoli. I rescued you. Why the fuck would I rescue you if I were with them?"
"Zakh looked like he was helping me, too."
"Think. You're not fucking thinking straight. If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead already. There'd be a bullet in your fucking head. What the hell have I got to gain from bringing you back here?" He slams a fist into the side of his leg and bares his teeth.
As I stare back at him, logic kicks in. He's right.
Mira wanted me dead. She immobilized me to make sure I died, and she thinks I'm dead now. Why would he keep me alive if he was doing her bidding?
I lower the gun and shake off the shock. Time is ticking by, and I'm wasting it acting crazy.
"She has Avrora. I have to get her back, Malik. Do you have any ideas about where she could have taken her?"
He thinks for a moment. "There are a couple of places we could check."
"Alright, let's go."
Grief and pain are pushed into the ether as we move.
I thought I had nothing left to lose, but Avrora is everything. I have to get her back.