Chapter 36
Adrian
Ivan’s fists find me again. The blows blur together until I can barely see, each one landing as if he’s trying to hammer the thought out of me. My skin stings, then burns, then goes numb. The metallic taste of blood coats my tongue.
Apparently, Nikolai thought I deserved more punishment for touching Ace.
Or Aurelia.
I never know which name to use anymore. She told me “Ace,” but she softened when he called her “Aurelia.” The sound of it turns her from steel to glass.
I want to protect her from him, but who am I kidding? I can’t even protect myself. Nikolai has the power, always will. All I have is the ache in my ribs and the memory of her eyes—those brief flashes of something human in a place that’s forgotten what that looks like.
Still, I feel close to her, even when I shouldn’t.
Ivan cuts through the ringing in my ears. “What did she say to you about her brother?” he spits, his breath sour and hot.
It’s almost funny—he thinks I answer to him. To any of them.
This cage isn’t for Nikolai’s benefit. It’s for Viktor. The Bratva’s idea of justice. But what they call justice, Ivan treats as sport.
He hits me again, harder this time, and a flash bursts behind my eyes.
Ivan has hated me since we were kids, back when we both still believed Nikolai’s power was real. Maybe that’s the joke of it all: we both know his control is smoke and mirrors, but Ivan still kneels to him. Maybe it’s easier than thinking for himself.
I might be bleeding, but I still think. I still want.
And what I want right now is to keep Aurelia out of their reach. Out of his reach.
If I can get her to trust me—just a little—she might tell me enough to clear her from this death order. I just need her to look at me the way she did before Nikolai touched her.
Ivan steps back, panting. My head hangs forward, sweat dripping from my chin.
“You’re wasting your time,” I tell him, my words slurred but steady. “You’ll never get her to submit to him.”
His knuckles tighten, and for a moment I think he’ll hit me again. But he doesn’t. He just stares—eyes cold, jaw clenched—and for the first time I see it: fear. Not of me, but of what she might become to Nikolai.
And all I can think is that I have to survive long enough for Aurelia to give me something—anything—to make this mean something.