Their Vengeance: Siren's Revenge Book Two

2. Yana

Fyodor”s Rules #24 - It’s not paranoia when everyone is out to get you.

Have you ever taken a shower when you”re numb? Maybe after surgery or when you”re freezing? I could tell the water was hitting my skin, but if I hadn”t seen the steam billowing around the room, I wouldn”t have been able to tell you the water was hot. The water running down my face at least disguised the tears which flowed in tracks down my cheeks.

I didn”t know what to do; I felt hollow inside. Yet like the space was filled with wave after crashing wave of something heavy, trying to pull me under. Grief, maybe? It wasn”t anger—I knew anger—anger felt hot. It boiled my blood and heated my cheeks. My hands shook, and the years of Fyodor telling me not to slouch was the only thing which kept me standing. Good posture had unknowable benefits.

The shower was usually my escape, as being in water recharged the Siren part of my soul. The ocean was best, a bath would do in a pinch, but even the water from a shower was enough. Today I didn”t feel recharged. I felt both heavy and empty, like I wasn”t here. As if I had floated off and left a ghost of myself behind.

I wasn”t used to feeling like this, and I didn”t like it.

It could have been minutes or seconds since I walked into the shower, I wouldn”t be able to tell you. Though I was fairly certain it wasn”t hours, as surely someone would have collected me when Fyodor arrived. Or I hoped they would; I wouldn”t have blamed them for talking to him alone. Checking what little information I had given them against whatever they could get out of him.

Or maybe they wanted a private reunion. It had been more than a decade since they had seen Fyodor. More than that, they had thought he was dead. I could only hope he resisted joking about being the messiah now that he had risen from the dead.

I still didn”t have any of my own clothes or makeup, not even shoes. Alexei had them somewhere I was sure, but he had been avoiding me during my time as a prisoner. Not wanting to put on yet another of Lukas”s outfits, I snuck out of his room wrapped in a towel and slipped into Pasha”s. He was the closest to me in height and build, and from what I had seen, he was the most fashionable of my brothers. I needed something to help me look more like myself, as it felt as though my entire world had been stripped from me today.

My first stop was his wardrobe and a pair of thigh-high boots immediately drew my attention. Unfortunately, despite being similar in stature, his feet were larger than mine, so I would continue being barefoot. A pair of leather pants that must have been skintight on him were a little loose around my waist, but flattering. The waist was easily fixed with a gorgeous corset vest in a dark green brocade. After doing the front latches up, I tightened the laces as much as I could on my own. It felt nice to be somewhat supported again. I never thought I would miss a bra, but a few days without had proven me wrong.

My next stop was the bathroom. I brushed a wide-toothed comb through my wet hair before I used the hairdryer and straightener to smooth it into manageable waves. Thank the gods one of my brothers cared about their appearance. There was even some concealer and an eyeliner pencil. I was putting the finishing touches on my wings when a throat cleared behind me. I didn’t turn, instead I adjusted my view in the mirror to see Lukas where he stood behind me.

“Pasha”s clothes certainly fit you better than mine.” He stepped up behind me, and I lowered my eyes. It wasn”t a vision I could deal with right now. My breath caught as I felt his fingers against the fabric covering my spine. He undid the bow I had tied and tightened the corset a little further. My fingers gripped the sink so tightly my knuckles turned white, but if you asked me why, I would have claimed it was to brace myself, nothing more.

“Now you look more like yourself. Pasha is meeting Fyodor at the elevator. Are you ready?” There was so much concern in his voice as he tied the bow again, his fingers smoothing the strings against my back.

Raising my eyes, I looked at him in the mirror, and it was a mistake. I was a captive to the image of the two of us. His light hair to my dark, his tan skin to my pale. It was like looking at a golden retriever standing next to a black cat, but it worked somehow.

“I will be out in a minute. I want to finish getting ready.” My voice did not shake, which was an accomplishment.

He nodded and hovered behind me for a moment, like he was weighing something up. His face turned toward the top of my head for a few seconds, then he clearly thought better of whatever he’d been considering and he stepped back, hands sliding into his pockets.

“We will wait for you before we start.” He didn”t stay for my answer, just slunk out of the room like a puma or some other large predator. He didn’t retreat, rather he wandered off to be somewhere else.

I exhaled slowly and turned my attention back to the mirror. There wasn”t anything more for me to do. I was buying myself some time. Doubt filled me as my mind raced, wondering how Fyodor would react to all of this. I still wasn”t sure how I felt about it all. What were we supposed to do now? Did we return to Chicago permanently? Would the boys even want us around? Maybe we should go back to Europe and forget about this entirely.

I couldn”t keep procrastinating, I wasn”t the sort to hide from my problems and I knew better than to let a wound fester. This one had already festered for a decade. It was time to clean it out, bring the truth to light, and come up with a new plan. I always felt better when I had something to focus on.

The walk back to Nikolai”s office was short, but with each step I took, I pulled myself together further. While I may not have had my shoes to help me feel confident, they were just shoes. It was the mentality which was important. I was well dressed, my hair was done, and I was even wearing makeup. I may not have been quite up to my usual standards, but fuck it, I was putting on my game face.

As I stepped into the office, tension rippled in the air. Everyone had a drink in their hand, which wasn”t a surprise. I’d seen how much the boys liked to drink over the last few days. I was partial to wine, and Fyodor often had a glass of vodka when he relaxed or planned our next move. Pasha and Lukas gave me reassuring smiles as I closed the door. There were a few options for seats, but I sat beside Fyodor. While I wasn”t going into this with an ”us-vs-them” mentality, I wanted to support him, and selfishly, I needed his support as well.

No one said anything and instead looked down at their glasses. Fyodor wasn”t one to interrupt a silence, it was a powerful tool. People got nervous in silence; their thoughts ran away from them until they said things they didn”t mean to, filling the silence with sound.

We didn”t have to wait long.

“You look surprisingly good for someone taken out with a sniper rifle, old man.” Trust Alexei to get straight to the point by being sarcastic.

I was worried Nikolai would choke on his drink the way his eyes bugged out of his head. Everyone else laughed, Pasha snickered, Lukas let out a soft huff, and Fyodor was laughing whole-heartedly.

“I always look good, moy mal”chik.”

As Fyodor responded to him, an odd look briefly crossed Alexei”s face. I would have missed it if I hadn”t been watching them both so intently. It seemed I wasn”t the only one who didn”t know how to respond to the situation. This was difficult for all of us.

Nikolai cleared his throat and straightened his spine. Clearly, he was about to take charge.

I turned my body toward Fyodor, and it only took the simple movement to get his attention. I wished I could tell what he was thinking, but for all my mental abilities, reading minds was beyond my power. He was putting on a mask to make it seem like none of this flustered him. We shared a look, and I knew I would be grilled about this later.

However, we needed to have this conversation, and it involved all of us. There had been too many secrets, and it had driven a wedge between us. We let someone control us like puppets, and I would not allow it to happen anymore. I had been unsure if Fyodor would show up, but since he had, I hoped he would listen. Though I would leave the explanation to Nikolai, since he looked like he was going to pop a vein if he didn”t get to speak soon.

“It has been brought to our attention that all of us were lied to.” Nikolai had changed little, especially in the way he spoke. He had always been so serious, even as a child. As if he had been born speaking in full sentences, all of them pretentious. I didn”t interrupt him, and neither did Fyodor, though I could feel the tension he was holding in his body. He leaned forward slightly, and it probably looked like he was just paying attention to what Nikolai was saying, but I knew he was ready to attack if he felt the situation warranted.

Part of me wondered if I should try to soothe him, but I decided against it. Right now, he didn”t have any proof I hadn”t been turned against him. I needed to give him enough space to listen to the information and come to his own conclusions.

When no one spoke up, Nikolai continued. It was a good idea, and made sure we were all on the same page.

“A decade ago, we were told we were all on a hit list. And they had already taken out yourself and Yana.” He motioned to Pasha, who handed his tablet to Fyodor to look over. I looked away, not wanting to see the images again.

Surprisingly, Alexei moved beside me and held out a glass, red wine swirling inside. He didn”t say anything as he shifted it closer to me, and I remained silent as I took it.

How did he know I like Syrah?

Fyodor studied the pictures, but Nikolai didn”t let it stop him from speaking. “We were scared, and didn”t know what to do. So we ran. The Bratva took us in and your sister gave us somewhere to stay while we got on our feet. We regrouped and, in one night, we eliminated every bounty hunter and contract killer we could in the city. A few were too highly connected for us to touch, but we were pretty sure we killed whoever had taken the two of you out. It also convinced the families we weren”t easy pickings with you gone.”

They would have seemed that way, as people always underestimated us when we were younger. It had led to a lot of fights, or people trying to corner me. It had always confused me when people seemed to think I was the weak one, or the easy one to pick off. As if I hadn”t grown up with four brothers who rough-housed and liked to play with knives. Did they forget I could also control people”s minds with my voice?

Fyodor finally handed back the tablet.

“Who told you we were dead? Who showed these to you?” I could hear the anger in his voice. He kept a tight lid on it, but it was there, simmering beneath the surface. I wasn”t sure if he believed what he had seen, but he was definitely angry about it.

Nikolai looked at Alexei, as if seeking his permission, but Alexei didn”t hesitate. “The Grandmother”s Children. One of my sister”s specifically.” Alexei had a few sisters, but I wasn”t sure how many were actually related to him. He didn”t talk about his family and when we were kids, he became violent any time we asked about them. All Scions of Baba Yaga called themselves Grandmother”s Children. Alexei was the only son to be born which I knew of but given the way they cast him out, there might have been others. It didn”t matter if they were all directly related, they acted as a tight-knit group. Much like us, really.

Fyodor leaned back in his seat. “If the Grandmother”s Children were trying to come between us, there must have been a reason. They don”t do things unwarranted, but they also don”t stop. If they find out we know the truth, they will come after all of us again. We need more information. You need to leverage your contacts in the Bratva. Find out what they know, without letting on that you know we”re alive.”

He looked at Nikolai as he spoke, but Nikolai had an almost pained expression on his face.

“We”ve been dealing with some attacks recently. Nothing too serious, minor things, but from what we”ve been able to gather so far, the Bratva is behind it. I am unsure we can trust a word they say?”

There was no expression on my face as I took a sip of my wine. I didn”t look at Fyodor, as I didn”t want to give away that we might have been behind some of those attacks, especially as I didn”t know if it was the truth. Fyodor was the only one who knew the entire plan, and he wasn”t showing his cards either.

A growl rumbled through his chest, and he drained the rest of his glass. “I have a few people I still trust who I can call on. But I need to keep out of sight, so you need to keep your sister here.”

He looked at me, his expression clearly said this was not a time for arguments before he looked back to Nikolai.

“Can I reach you on the number she called me from?” Once Nikolai nodded, Fyodor was on his feet. “You will hear from me in a couple of days. Keep her safe and out of sight. Go about your lives like normal and don”t draw any undue attention.” He didn”t wait for their approval or acknowledgment, just exited the room, and a few moments later, I heard the elevator ding.

As I lowered my glass, I saw everyone was looking at me. “I guess this means I will be here a little while longer.”

What else was to be said in this sort of situation? What the hell was I supposed to do?