14. Thorne
Chapter 14
Thorne
I stare at my computer screen looking at a picture of Gustave Bershov, Ivy’s father.
Ivy— Annika —only has a few similarities in her face to him, but she looks exactly like her mother.
Ivy.
Annika. It’s strange for me to think of her with that name but then again, I haven’t known her long enough to have gotten used to her being Ivy either.
This has been one hell of a ten days.
And now this thing with her real father. The disgraced Knight, Gustave Bershov.
The picture I’m looking at was taken before he went to the Hallows, a prison set up by the Knights to house the criminals they want to keep alive for one reason or another.
The Hallows is situated on an island in a secret location that only the leader of the Knights and his elite know. The laws there are above everything else, so they can keep you there and torture you until you beg for death.
The Knights don’t take prisoners unless they need you.
Death is the only way out. When we take the Oath and vow to live and die by it, that is what we agree to. And that agreement extends to those who become our family—like wives and children.
I’m perhaps the only reason Gustave Bershov was allowed to live.
It’s because of what I saw on the night my family were attacked. A night I’ll never forget as long as I live on this earth.
It was just after Caspian got taken. I was in the coat closet, hiding, and I was so fucking terrified I pissed myself.
On our way to finding a hiding place we’d already passed several members of the house staff who were dead. I thought we were going to die.
I was about to get out of the closet to get help for Caspian when two of our guards came rushing into the hallway. But they were shot. I didn’t see who shot them until they fell to the floor in a bloodied heap.
Through the keyhole I watched a man with a deep-set knife scar on his face walk over to them. He was a scary motherfucker. The stuff nightmares are made of. Sometimes that man still haunts me in my sleep.
He pulled out a knife from some old-fashioned sheath and stabbed the guards through the heart. Then the motherfucker carved out their hearts. It was like watching something from a nightmare come to life.
He muttered some strange, foreign words as he effortlessly harvested the hearts. Terror robbed me of everything that night, so I didn’t know what the hell he was saying. I couldn’t even try to repeat what the words sounded like. I still can’t.
At the time I only spoke Russian and barely any English. What he said sounded like Russian, but it wasn’t. I always knew, though, that if I heard it again, I’d know it.
The man put the hearts in a bag and walked away, never knowing I was hiding in a closet breaths away from him.
The only person to survive the attack was me.
Anyone else who could have been guilty or witnessed anything died.
When I told my uncle about the man, no one could identify anyone by that description. Aleksander and his men searched the planet to no avail.
The man became a mystery until years later when Gustave Bershov was found guilty of his crimes and reported seeing the same man at the palace he was working at.
My uncle kept Gustave alive because he was the only person to mention that man besides me.
The attack on the palace also mirrored what happened at my family’s home with men stabbed through the heart or missing their hearts. There was too much evidence that proved Gustave’s guilt, so Aleksander linked him to both attacks. But he was only interested in what happened with my father, which still remains a mystery to this day.
Gustave is alive because Aleksander views him as a link. A lead. Even if that lead is leading nowhere, he’s still alive because Aleksander is hoping that one day something will come up. He doesn’t want to go down as a leader who couldn’t even resolve his own brother’s murder. It makes him look weak.
I’d put it all behind me as a dead end, but the revelation about Ivy has taken me back to my nightmares. It’s made me wonder if Gustave truly had anything to do with my family’s deaths.
He’s always maintained his innocence. Always.
He was accused of being part of the plot to murder fifteen senior Knights and ten Bratva leaders. Such a massacre carried the death penalty for Gustave and his family.
Even though Gustave is being kept alive, his family would have still been executed without question. I saw the order for their deaths issued by my uncle when I was digging around.
I don’t know if Gustave arranged with Levgen to get Ivy and her mom out of Russia. Or if Levgen did that on his own accord. But they’re here now.
Their secret was well hidden and safe until the little deer ventured into the dark woods and ran into me. The Big Bad Wolf.
The question is: What do I do now?
The fact that I’m sitting here contemplating that question and haven’t called my uncle yet says a lot.
But it’s not a simple decision.
They’ve been in hiding for nine years, and the truth came out tonight.
It could come out again and if it was discovered that I knew, I could be killed, too. And my uncle has always been looking for a reason to eradicate my ass.
I have to think about this.
Two nights later my mind is still a fucking mess. I’m still conflicted and torn on what to do.
If I’m like this, I can just imagine that Ivy must be losing her mind over what I’m going to do with her secret.
For now, I’m putting the shit on pause so I can focus on having dinner with the man I need to keep the secret from.
Caspian and I just arrived at Aleksander’s new home for dinner. He lives closer to Raventhorn now. When we were younger he lived in New York, near Raventhorn Academy. It’s like he wants to keep tabs on us.
We used to do dinner once a week when Caspian and I came to Boston for college, then it went down to every other week, then once a month. I pray Aleksander doesn’t expect us to resume the weekly schedule because I already see him more often than I’d like.
Willow, Caspian’s wife, should be here with us, but she hates Aleksander with a vengeance. The feeling is mutual for him, so he’s okay with her making appearances only when she absolutely needs to. Like at Christmas.
I wish I could have stayed away tonight. It would have been easier on my mind, but with the added stress of my situation regarding the company I needed to see what’s happening with my uncle. His mood shifts like the wind.
Caspian and I head to the dining room where Alexander is already waiting at the table, which is covered with a delicious spread that reminds me of a Thanksgiving feast.
The maids surround Aleksander, organizing the dishes on the table to enhance the presentation. At least the staff here look more like those you’d find on the set of Downton Abbey as opposed to the Playboy bunnies he has running around at work.
“Great, you’re on time.” Alexander motions for us to sit.
We sit on his left and say nothing. The tension is higher than ever now that Aleksander has spoken to Caspian about the new changes in the company regarding me.
Of course, despite my caution, Caspian has tried to argue on my behalf and failed. So I’m still neither here nor there, and I’m forced to play out this shitty game my uncle has set up for me until I find a way around it.
Brigette, the head maid, brings out the wine and pours us each a glass before she leaves, taking the other maids with her.
When they close the door the room feels as enclosed and suffocating as a crypt.
Aleksander is the first to sip on his wine while we help ourselves to the food.
“I heard the elite trials are going well.” Aleksander sets his wine glass down and looks from Caspian to me.
“Yes, we do have a good lineup of eight,” Caspian replies. “They all have a good shot at making it.”
“That’s good to hear.” Aleksander cuts me a glance and I instantly recall our conversation about the guys he didn’t want me to choose. “I hope you choose wisely.”
“Rest assured Thorne and I will choose the best.”
“Of course. But it’s still my job to guide you. You have some good choices amongst the eight. Choices who will be highly beneficial to us. Like James Valmik and Paul Coleus. Their fathers are co-owners of a multibillion-dollar diamond mining company.”
“We will take that into consideration.”
“Good.” His thin lips spread into a smile before he focuses on me. “What’s the plan for their Reckoning trial?”
The prick wants to know because he wants to try and gauge who’ll make it through what I have planned. He knows neither James nor Paul is particularly strong-minded or strong-bodied. They’re businessmen, but to be a Knight you have to be able to fight.
“Something similar to ours,” I answer with pride.
His smile fades because he remembers how we barely made it out alive.
“Just be sure to do what is required and don’t fuck things up with your crazy stunts.”
“Sure.”
The Reckoning is hard as fuck but I’ve always thought that ours was set up by him as another attempt to try and kill me.
“Very well, then.” He keeps his gaze trained on me. “In other news, I thought I’d share that Aiden Sabioni will be transferring to Raventhorn next week.”
A flash of anger roils deep in my gut, rising to the surface like a tidal wave. I drop my fork and glare at him. “ Aiden Sabioni is going to Raventhorn?”
“It seemed appropriate if he’ll be working at Ivanov Tech.”
“Since when has that been a requirement?” Caspian challenges.
“It’s not written in stone, son. I’m just ticking all the boxes. His father and I have been friends and allies for a very long time. So I trust that once Aiden starts, you will welcome him on campus as your peer and equal.”
“I am a Knight. He is not my equal.” I glare back at my uncle. If I were in charge, I would have sliced out his tongue for putting me in the same category as someone like Aiden, then I would slash his neck and watch him bleed out with no hope to survive. “Are you going to make him a Knight, too?”
“Watch your tone, boy.” He points his steak knife at me. “This is the second time in a matter of days that I’ve had to give you the same warning.”
“I don’t give a fuck how many times you have to give it. That’s nothing to do with me. How dare you call Aiden Sabioni my fucking equal?” And this is where Caspian and I differ. Caspian would never speak to his father like this even if he weren't his father. He has that respect for authority that I don’t have.
“He will be whatever I say he is. And you will either accept it or suffer my wrath.” Aleksander keeps his gaze trained on me. “If I want Aiden to work in a senior position at the company it would be unreasonable to expect him to do so without doing the things we’ve done at Raventhorn.”
“So if I fail to secure my position in the company, you’ll have a ready-made replacement for me,” I fill in, deciding not to beat around the bush. I’m sick of pussyfooting around shit.
“We all have to have a backup plan, don’t we?”
Caspian glances at me, then back at his father. “This is absolute bullshit, you know that. The position is Thorne’s. You can’t rob him of that. Aiden shouldn’t even be in the picture.”
Aleksander takes another sip of his wine and stares at Caspian. “The position is Thorne’s if he does what I tell him to do.”
“If Uncle Nicholai were around?—”
“Caspian, don’t,” I interrupt him and shake my head. It’s hard to hear my father’s name at the best of times, but it’s significantly more difficult tonight. Not because of this, but because of the new shit with Ivy. “It’s okay… It’s fucking okay. The situation is what it is.”
Aleksander smiles at my remark. “Exactly. It is what it is , and that is whatever I say it is. When last I checked, I was still your leader.”
Caspian closes his hand into a fist but doesn’t say anything more. Good.
It’s best he’s silent because we have nothing. Speaking without ammunition is like waving around a gun full of blanks. It achieves fuck all.
The news about Aiden is his second hit. What will be the third? Or the fourth? Or the fifth?
“My sources tell me you’ve taken an interest in the Yegorov girl.” Aleksander shifts the subject and my stomach tightens. He’s talking about Ivy. I’ve always known that he has his minions watching me, so I shouldn’t be surprised to hear about his sources.
“Like you, I take an interest in many girls.” I clench my jaw to mask my internal turmoil but this fucker knows me. He knows I’ve taken a genuine interest in Ivy or he wouldn’t be mentioning her.
“You know the girl I mean.”
“What about her?”
“Fuck her out of your system and get rid of her. I will never allow you to be with someone like that. She is Levgen’s stepchild and not of Knight descent. Try to remember that. If it were up to me, people like that would never be allowed to have any claim in the Knights. They wouldn’t even be allowed at Raventhorn.”
If only he knew whose daughter she is. The hatred in his eyes tells me he’d kill her with a song in his heart. He’d do it to punish her father. And me, too.
I’m not even sure what Ivy Yegorov is to me yet, but obsession must have its claws deep inside my soul because here I sit, still keeping her secret.
“You will not entertain anything serious with this girl and embarrass me,” Aleksander continues in that patronizing tone I loathe. “And you will not ruin your chances with the potential brides I have lined up for you. Is that understood?”
“Loud and clear.” Motherfucking asshole.
He shifts his gaze away from me and dismisses any further discussion by tucking into his food.
Conflict returns to haunt me.
I always know what to do but for the first time it seems that I might be way in over my head.
“What was that about with the Yegorov girl?” Caspian asks when we’re seated in his car.
Thank God and all the hosts of Valhalla that we’re heading back to campus. One more second of being in Aleksander’s presence and I would have torn my skin off.
“Nothing.” My voice is low and lethargic, as if my soul is being drained of energy.
Caspian starts up the car and drives onto the road, then he glances back at me.
“He wasn’t acting like it was nothing.”
“Trust me, cousin, it’s best I do as he says. She’s just a girl. There are plenty others.” I’m talking out of my ass. If I truly believed that, I would have forgotten Ivy after that first night I met her. We wouldn’t even be having this conversation now.
“Alright, if you say so.”
We’re silent on the drive back. When I return to my apartment I become more restless and unsettled as fuck.
Then madness takes me and I find myself standing in the shadowy grove of trees outside Ivy’s bedroom window smoking a spliff. I needed something stronger than my usual concoction.
I’ve never watched her from this close before. Up until now I sat by the river, which is several feet away from the dorm.
Tonight I’m in full stalker mode.
On this side of the building the kitchen takes up the entire ground floor, and Ivy has the top. Since hardly anyone has any use for the kitchen at this time of night, no one else would be able to see me out here.
And I’m staring right into her bedroom. The dorm windows all have opaque glass so you can’t see inside, but of course that becomes easier when the windows are open. Like hers is now.
Even with the AC on it’s too hot tonight to keep the windows closed.
My little lamb is home, and the lights are on. I can see her moving around inside the bedroom, but she can’t see me.
She’s wearing a camisole pajama top that shows off her gorgeous breasts, and a pair of shorts.
The poor thing has a haggard look on her face, and she looks like she’s lost weight in just the few days since I last saw her.
She’s still beautiful. Still a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.
And I’m still obsessed.
Since I tasted her, there’s something more alluring about her that I can’t un-fuck from my mind. And like before, I don’t want to.
Ivy stops walking around the room as if she just realized something, then she turns and sees me.
The blood drains from her face and I swear even her lips turn blue.
It’s a pretty sight. I meant what I said when I told her fear looked good on her. It does, and I’m conjuring one hell of an idea.
A very bad, twisted-as-fuck idea.