Chapter 68 Nikolai
"She is already dead."
Viktor's words echoed in my head. Over and over.
Anya was dead.
"No." My voice cracked.
He had to be lying. My Anya couldn't be dead.
I would never forgive myself.
I looked up at the guards who Viktor had ordered to tie me before he left for what he called the execution.
Six men. Dangerously armed.
I had tried to fight. But there were too many.
They had dragged me to a chair, tied my wrists behind my back and bound my ankles to the legs.
I struggled and fought against the ropes. But they were too tight.
"Let me go!" I shouted. "Let me go or I will..."
"You will what?" The leader interrupted. "Kill us? You are in no position to threaten anyone.
He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. Then turned it toward me.
A live video feed appeared.
And there she was.
Anya.
Tied to a chair. Blood covered her arms, face and clothes.
Cuts were everywhere. Burns and bruises.
She looked barely conscious. Her head was hanging forward.
My heart froze.
Was she really dead?
"Anya!" I screamed. "Anya, can you hear me?"
She did not respond.
"She's barely alive. But she cannot hear you," the guard said. "This is just a live feed. You can see her. But she cannot see or hear you."
He set the phone on a stand and positioned it so I could see the screen clearly. “The boss said to make you watch him kill your whore.”
“You bastard!” I pulled against the rope, but it burned my skin. I screamed.
The guard hit my face hard. Blood dripped from my bursted lip. He grabbed my head and made me watch Anya go through pain.
Then Viktor walked into the frame. He smiled at the camera. Then he turned to Anya.
He grabbed her chin and forced her head up.
Her eyes were dull. She was barely alive.
"Look at the camera, little bird," Viktor said. "Say hello to your boyfriend."
Anya's eyes found the lens. And for a moment, I thought she could see me.
"Nikolai?" She whispered.
"I am here!" I shouted. "I am here, Anya!"
But she could not hear me.
"He is not here," Viktor told her. "He is far away. Watching you die. Unable to save you."
"Please," she sobbed. "Please stop. It hurts."
"I know it hurts. That is the point."
He pulled out a knife.
"No!" I roared. "Do not touch her!"
But he could not hear me either.
Viktor pressed the knife against Anya's arm and cut slowly.
She screamed. A raw, broken sound that tore through my soul.
"Stop!" I begged the screen. "Please stop!"
But Viktor just smiled. And cut her again.
Anya's screams filled the room.
I pulled against the ropes. Fought with everything I had. But they were too tight.
"Enjoying the show?" One of Viktor's guards asked. He was standing behind me.
"I will kill you," I said. "I will kill all of you."
"Big words for a tied-up man." Another guard walked over. He was holding a thick leather whip.
"Boss said we could have some fun with you too," he said. "While you watch your woman die."
"Do your worst."
"Oh, we will."
The whip cracked through the air. It hit my back.
Pain shot through my veins. The leather tore through my shirt and my skin.
I gritted my teeth, refusing to scream.
The whip came down again. And again.
Each strike peeled away more skin. My shirt was torn. Blood poured down my back.
But I did not care about my pain.
On the screen, Viktor was still cutting Anya, slowly. Making each cut last.
"Please," she begged him. "Please just kill me."
"Not yet. We have hours. And I want to make every second count."
He put down the knife and picked up something else.
A lighter.
"No," I whispered. "No, please, not that."
He held the flame to her skin.
Anya screamed louder than before. A sound I would never forget.
The whip hit me again. Harder.
My body was a mess of torn flesh and blood.
"You know what is funny?" One of the guards said. He walked around to face me. "We always admired you. The great Nikolai Markov. Feared by everyone. Powerful. Untouchable."
The whip cracked again.
"But look at you now," another guard said. "Broken. Crying. Begging. All because of a slave."
"She is not a slave!" I roared.
"She was. When you first took her as your blood tithe. And now you are willing to die for her?"
The whip came down. This time it wrapped around my chest. The leather stuck to my bloody skin. When they yanked it back, it tore away chunks of flesh.
I screamed. I could not hold it in anymore.
"There it is," the guard laughed. "The mighty Pakhan screaming like a child."
They hit me again. And again. Till I fainted.
Water splashed over my face. I gasped and choked.
"Stay awake," a guard said. "You need to watch this next part."
On the screen, Viktor had stopped burning Anya. Now he was doing something worse.
He had pliers.
"No," I begged. "Please. Please do not."
But he grabbed Anya's hand and started pulling at her nails.
Her screams were inhuman.
"Make it stop!" I sobbed. "Please, someone, make it stop!"
But it did not stop.
The guards kept whipping me, pulling the leather through my skin.
One of them spat on my face. "Pathetic. All this for a woman."
"Not just a woman," another guard said. "A slave. He is throwing away everything for a slave."
"She is more than that!" I shouted. "She is everything!"
"Then watch her die. Watch everything you love be destroyed."
On the screen, Viktor had moved to Anya's other hand. Pulling more fingernails.
"Anya, I am sorry," I whispered. "I am so sorry."
The whip came down again. This time it caught my face and tore a gash across my cheek.
Blood poured into my eye. I could barely see.
But I could still see the screen. I could still see Anya.
Could still see her suffering.
"Please," I begged anyone who would listen. "Please kill me instead. Let her go and kill me."
"Where is the fun in that?" A guard laughed.
They poured more water over me. It was so cold it shocked my system.
"Wake up, Pakhan. You are missing the best part."
I forced my eyes open and looked at the screen.
Viktor had picked up the knife again. He was standing behind Anya.
"No," I whispered. "Not yet. Please, not yet."
He checked his watch. "Five minutes until midnight. Five minutes until she dies."
He pressed the knife against Anya's throat.
"Any last words?" He asked her.
She lifted her head slightly.
"I love you, Nikolai," she whispered.
Tears streamed down my face. Mixed with the blood.
"I love you too," I said. Even though she could not hear.
Viktor smiled. "How touching. Now die."
The knife started to move.
And then something crashed through the door behind Viktor.
The camera shook and fell.
The screen went dark.
"No!" I screamed. "No! What happened? What is happening?"
The guards around me were confused.
And then the wall exploded.