13. Ivy
Chapter 13
Ivy
A kaleidoscope of colors ripples through my mind. They dance and sing through my soul until they finally settle on the color green.
Green grass in the meadow.
The meadow my mother and father used to take me to when I was little.
I know I’m dreaming. In this listless state I always linger between the edge of asleep and awake. As if my heart wants to hold on to a plane of existence where we can still be those people we used to be.
I see myself running through the meadow and laughing. My father is ahead smiling at me, with his arms outstretched waiting to take me.
Mom is behind me, running too. She’s laughing because I’m running so fast she can’t catch me.
“Idi ko mne, moy malen'kiy,” Dad says. In English it means Come to me, my little one .
I run to him, but the moment I touch his hand he disappears from my view and so does everything else.
Darkness fills the void in my mind. It’s all I can see for miles and miles, until a sliver of light pierces through and my eyes flutter, opening slowly.
A shadowy figure looms before me. It’s blurry, but as my eyes adjust I realize it’s someone standing over me.
And not just any someone. It’s Thorne.
I blink several times until his face becomes clearer, and with the clarity comes the memory of running into him down in the tunnels. Raventhorn Hall tunnels.
He told me I shouldn’t have gone down there, then he… did something to knock me out.
That was him. I’d seen stunts like that in the movies but I didn’t know it was real until tonight… or today. I have no idea what the time is or how long I was down for.
When I look away from him I realize I have so much more to worry about than him.
I’m on a bed, and from the look of my surroundings this must be his bedroom. But that’s not all.
The crazy psycho has my wrists handcuffed to the rails of his bed.
I swallow hard, blinking again, my mouth going instantly dry.
“Uncuff me,” I stutter, thrashing against the cuffs, which are too tight around my wrists.
“No.”
Again with that word. This man has told me no more times than anyone has in my life.
“You can’t do this. I was in the tunnels by accident. It was Tiffany. She sent me down there. Ask her.” The moment I say that I realize how foolish I sound. There’s no way Tiffany is going to confess something like that to Thorne. No way.
“Bambi, I truly wish that was all you were in trouble for.” His voice is too cool and collected. The almost eerie tone makes my stomach flip-flop.
“What do you mean? I didn’t do anything else. You have to let me go. You can’t handcuff me to your bed.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I already have.”
“You fucking asshole. Let me go!” I shout, fruitlessly trying to free myself.
Thorne smiles and moves closer to sit next to me. When he tries to touch my stomach, I flinch and kick out at him.
“Don’t touch me. Ever.”
“Little deer, it just so happens that my fascination with touching you is the only thing that’s saving you right now.”
“Stop talking shit. What?—”
He holds up my father’s ring and all the words I’ve ever known evaporate like mist from my mind.
Thorne waves the ring in front of me then holds it steady, as if he wants me to get a good look.
“You dropped this in the tunnel. It was in your bag, Ivy. Or is your name Annika ?”
My heart is beating so fast and loud I’m sure everyone in the world can hear it. Along with the sound of my soul shattering against the floor of reality.
Oh. My. God.
No…
This isn’t happening.
I accidentally left the ring in my pouch. I’d taken it out of the box again when I couldn’t get to sleep. I put it in the pouch just as a temporary measure and I totally forgot.
I forgot. Now Thorne knows. But does he really?
Maybe I can still turn this around.
“I don’t know who that is. You know my name is Ivy.”
He gives me a mirthless smile that says don’t fuck with me then he touches the curve of my waist, tracing the edge with his thumb.
“That’s just the thing you want everyone to believe, isn’t it. Your birth certificate, passport and other documents are very convincing. Just as convincing as the death certificates for you and your mother.”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“That’s okay. I wouldn’t crack either. You’re in some serious trouble. I’d lie like my life depended on it, too, to save my family.” He nods with conviction and in his eyes I see truth, like he meant what he said.
He holds the ring up and reads the inscription on the band, “To my daughter Annika, love you forever. This ring is a symbol of Heier. The Norse word for honor. Families like the Bershovs would have taken part in the tradition of passing rings to their children. This one is yours from your father, Gustave Bershov.”
“No.” Tears pull at the backs of my eyes and I try to keep them away. I have to be strong. I have to, even though it’s tearing me apart that I’m denying my father.
“I hate lies, little deer, and they don’t suit you. They taint you and everything I like about you. So don’t lie to me.”
“Let me go.” My voice is small but brimming with the anguish stirring in my soul. “You are mistaken.”
Thorne stares at me as if he can see deep, deep, deep into my soul to the place where my secrets are stored away.
He reaches out and I think he’s going to touch me again but instead he picks up something from the nightstand.
It’s some documents.
He takes the first one and holds it out for me to see.
“This is from the official Knights report: F ollowing the sentencing of Gustave Bershov for the murders of the members of the Russian Syndicate, the remains of his wife and daughter’s bodies were found in their home following a gas explosion ,” he reads. “ Their bodies were so badly burned they couldn’t be conclusively identified using forensic DNA recovery. The evidence, however, is strong enough to suggest the remains are theirs, so we are satisfied to list them as deceased .”
He looks back at me. I keep my poker face. I’ve never seen this report but Mom filled me in on everything Levgen did to save us.
“Levgen did this. He would have been the only person who could help you in this way. Your father was his best friend. I didn’t know that until I checked it out. He helped you and your mother escape from Russia.”
“No. Levgen met my mother at work here.”
Thorne flicks to the next document, which is a picture of me. Me at nine years old. He places it next to my face.
“Same silver eyes. Same silver hair. Same jawline, nose, mouth and the little mole on your left cheek. The computer generation thinks so, too.” He grabs another document, showing a computer-generated image of me next to my nine-year-old self on the right and on the left a picture of me now.
Anyone with eyes could see it’s the same person. Just nine years older.
“Do you still want to lie to me?” He searches my face as if he’s still checking to see that I’m the girl he shouldn’t know about.
“Let me go.”
He gives me a steely stare and stands. “Okay. I’ll let you go. But if I do so now without hearing the truth, you can deal with my uncle instead. You can lie to him with your parents in the room next to you and tell him you’re not Annika Bershov. Rest assured he will not be as gentle as me, nor would he hesitate to kill all of you. Considering you should be dead already, it would be no problem for him.”
“No! Please.” I push against the cuffs, trying to reach for him. “Please don’t tell him. Please, Thorne. Please don’t.”
I hate begging him but I would do it forever if it kept my mother and Levgen safe. I’m not even thinking about myself anymore.
I totally fucked up and allowed the worst person possible to discover our secret.
“Does that mean you confess, little deer?”
With all the reluctance in the world I find myself nodding and I can’t believe this is me. All the omens I sensed before leaving L.A. were right.
I shouldn’t have come to Raventhorn.
A lone tear tracks down my cheek. More follow even though I do my best to keep them away.
The time for bravado is gone. I don’t know where I stand now or what to do.
Thorne sits back on the bed and gazes at me. At what feels like my defeat again.
“What are you going to do to me?” I have to know.
“You’re not ready to hear that yet.” The sexual spark I’ve seen several times before flickers in his eyes.
It’s out of context to what is happening, and I don’t know how to take it or his comment.
“Are you going to keep me locked up in here? Is that what you’re going to do? Lock me up and get your uncle, who’ll kill me and my parents.” More tears come and I feel like such a fool.
Thorne just stares at me, watching me fall apart, then he reaches for my wrist and undoes the first handcuff.
Trembling, I watch him, wondering what he’ll do and say next.
He releases my other hand and stands.
“Get up.” He motions for me to stand next to him.
My arms hurt from being raised above my head but they are the least of my worries.
I get off the bed and stand next to him on shaky legs.
He seems much taller than usual but that could be because I feel like I’m shrinking away in the darkness of my worries.
He leans forward and I remember what it was like to kiss him. I must really have lost my mind if I can think of such a thing at a time like this.
“Go back to your dorm.”
“That’s it?” I dare to hope.
“No. That’s not it. I’ll let you know what I decide to do with you.”
“When?” I can’t wait indefinitely.
“I don’t know yet.” The ghost of a smile tugs on the corners of his lips. “Until then, do your best to not get expelled, and if I were you I’d keep this between us. As in, your parents mustn’t know that I know your secret. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.” I nod fast.
He catches my face and runs his finger along my jaw. Once again that stroke of attraction lights up inside me.
“Don’t even think about running away. You can’t run from people like me. I love to chase but if I catch you I might destroy you.”
My stomach knots into tight loops as I watch the emotions play out on his face.
It’s strange to accept that someone so striking could be so utterly terrifying.
He releases me, picks up my little pouch, and hands it to me. I take it, feeling worse when he slips my ring into his back pocket.
“I’ll be holding on to that. Go.”
I move, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.
I don’t look back at Thorne either.
Better if I don’t see his face.
What are the chances he’ll keep my secret?
Slim to none.
He wouldn’t implicate himself in such a way.
So I’m as good as dead.
Instinct tells me I should be calling Mom and Levgen to tell them what happened so we can flee, but I believe Thorne. I believe him when he says he may destroy me if I run.
It feels like he already has.