Chapter 12
The Next Day
“Thank you,” I mutter in Arabic for the first time since Horus trapped me down here. The burner cell phone that he had snuck in for me is safely tucked away under the same scraps of bread that he had covered it with.
I can see pure relief on Horus’ face, the knot knitting his brows together seeming to loosen. It’s not forgiveness, not really. He is the one who put me down here in the first place but it’s something close to it. It’s gratitude, at the very least, for willing to put his own life on the line to get me the phone.
Horus pauses, squatting down next to me where I’m huddled up in the blankets that he has brought for me. It would have been kind to have at least given one of them to Alek.
“I knew Ms. Lilian,” he admits in Arabic softly.
Whatever I was expecting him to say, it wasn’t that.
“When I was only a soldier, I knew her. She was the first woman that I ever saw with Mr. Volkovich, even before his father passed. I have seen Mr. Volkovich in both ways. You and I know that he has done much for my family, and I will not undermine that as truth, but it is also truth that when she left, he could not allow it. I was not present when Ms. Helena fell from that balcony in Moscow, I know that she was pulled to safety by men who did not vilify her despite what she had done. Mr. Volkovich’s temper is legendary. It makes him very good at what he does, but there are always consequences. Every coin has two sides, Ms. Anya.”
Horus is speaking quickly and in Arabic. I don’t know if that’s just because he doesn’t want Alek to hear him, or whoever is watching the camera. I don’t say a word, he can’t have long to be in here.
“You are kind, Ms. Anya, and you understand. I do not wish to have you end up like Ms. Lillian or Ms. Helena. There are patterns that cannot be repeated. A healing needs to take place, and it cannot happen while you are trapped down here.” Horus stops speaking. There’s a sadness in his eyes that I’ve never seen before as he picks up my plate and slowly starts to exit the cell.
“Wait!” I say just before he closes the door. He’s given me so much to think about that I almost forgot the most important part. “I need you to render Alek unconscious, please. The pills that Nikolai gives me to make me sleep…”
Horus flinches. I guess he didn’t think that I knew about those, too.
“Put some in his food. Please.” I add just as quickly in Arabic. “Something warm, for a change?”
That’s probably pushing things too far, but I have to try.
Horus doesn’t say another word, but he dips his head in what I hope is understanding and agreement before the door closes and the screen above the door flickers back to life once more. I don’t know how he’s even managed to keep the screen on, but I’m grateful for it.
I know that when Daniel makes his move things are going to have to move very quickly. There’s not going to be time to gather my things or clothes. Everything that is in this house will have to be left behind. I’m okay with it given that everything I now own has been purchased by Nikolai.
I glance down at the ring on my finger. Horus didn’t take it from me when he imprisoned me here. I slip it from my finger silently, turning the large stone and band over and over in my hand. I feel nothing. I used to look at this ring and think about how much Nikolai loved me to know exactly the sort of ring that I would have chosen for myself and how proud I was to have something that marked me as his.
I set it on the concrete in front of me. Even in the dim lighting it seems to sparkle and shine impossibly.
I don’t think I’m going to have any regrets about leaving this behind, nor anything else in this house. I can feel it in my bones. The only thing in this house that I cannot fathom leaving behind is Alek.
I don’t like the idea of going behind his back and I know what it is like being drugged against one’s will but he’s made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t truly want to be saved. And I need him.
I need to feel the sunlight on my face soon, or I think that I’m going to go insane.
It can’t be much longer now. At least, that’s what I’m choosing to tell myself as I hug my blanket around myself as tightly as I possibly can. The plans that I made with Daniel have to happen soon. Nikolai has already been gone long enough. He’s unpredictable enough that I know for a fact if he hasn’t already guessed things are going wrong at home, he will come to check on me soon.
I glance up at the screen where Alek looks worse than ever. He hasn’t been able to talk to me as much in the last few hours. I want to check on him. I want to attend to his wounds and make sure that he’s alright…but he’s sleeping as best as he can. My heart breaks for his suffering.
Not much longer. I think I might have even whispered the words out loud, but he doesn”t seem to hear them.
I curl into a ball on the floor after eating my meal and do the only thing that is truly left to do - I wait.
I awaken to the slamming of my cell door.
Terror lances through my chest as I instantly imagine the very worst possible scenarios.
Nikolai is back. He must be. He is here to punish me again. The bruises on my legs and breasts have turned a disgusting shade of yellow but they are almost healed - and now they are going to appear all over again. I just know that he’s going to be furious. He’s going to whip me until I bleed. My mind flashes in panic to how strong I know that he is truly capable of being.
I nearly wet myself in fear before I see that the shape standing in the doorway isn’t Nikolai, or Horus. It’s not anybody that I know on sight. I blink blearily at the shape, not knowing if I should be scared or not as he swears in what I guess to be Italian under his breath. He approaches me like I’m a cornered, wounded animal.
Instinctively, I scoot away from the extended hand until he’s close enough to recognize.
“Daniel?” my voice is groggy from disuse.
“Yes.” He answers as I place my hand in his. I hate how weak my legs feel. If I feel this terrible after having been down here for only a week, how is Alek going to walk himself out of here? I can’t even fathom the atrophy. I have to be strong enough to help him at the very least. I have to be strong enough to try. I will walk out of this hell hole.
I groan in discomfort as Daniel pulls me up to my feet. I wobble slightly as he bends down on one knee to loosen the shackles around my ankles. Horus must have given him the key.
“Is there anything that you cannot leave behind?” Daniel asks me bluntly as the metal falls away from my ankles. I could almost cry in relief for being able to properly move my legs again. I just shake my head in answer as I leave behind the blankets that Horus brought for me, as well as my wedding ring. I won’t need it anymore.
“Then we have to move as quickly as we can.” Daniel says as he meets my gaze. “Do you understand that by walking out of this house, you will officially be considered a kidnapped prisoner of war? Even if you are coming of your own free will? That you will be used against Nikolai?”
My throat is suddenly dry, but I nod.
“I am a prisoner either way. At least this I get to choose.”
Daniel says nothing for a heartbeat, measuring the strength of my will before he smiles softly, just the hint of an upturn at the corner of his mouth and he nods. “Very good.”
I lean on the walls for support as we head next door. But the moment the door beeps open I suddenly find my strength as I nearly run across the room faster than Daniel can even step in. I slide to my knees in front of Alek, lifting his face in my hands. I don’t care how dirty it makes my pants or how I’ve likely just skinned my knees. It doesn’t matter. His lips are cracked and peeling, clearly dehydrated.
Daniel is frozen in the door, horrified at what he sees. I hear him swear softly before rushing into the room after me and unlocking the chains and shackles as fast as he can.
Alek’s bulk nearly knocks me over the moment that he’s released. He sags forward and I wrap my arms around him but he’s cold. So cold.
Daniel disappears for a moment and then returns with the blanket that I left behind, wrapping it around Alek who doesn’t seem able to wake properly.
“Take his arm.” Daniel commands as he slips under Alek’s other arm. It’s hard and my legs shake. He’s so much larger than me. Even more obvious as we step into the light of the hallway. I won’t drop him. Not on my life.
In the light of the hallway, I can see how pale he is. The marks and bruises and cuts that have been left on him by my husband, the tattoos and the scars that they cover. I can only imagine how handsome he would look properly fed and cleaned up. When was the last time that he had felt clean, truly clean? He needs a doctor, badly.
Soon, I mentally promise the both of us. Soon we will both be fed and warm and clean.
Better things are on the horizon. I swear it to us. We just have to get out of here.
Fast.
Even as we practically drag Alek up the stairs and into the main house, I have this paranoid fear that Nikolai is going to show up at any moment. That we will go to leave and he’s just going to be standing outside waiting for us. He would shoot them both point blank and ask no questions. I would not have the same fortune. No, Nikolai will destroy me for this. I know that he will. Inside and out, he will rip me apart. He will leave me in that basement as his sex toy forever. I can see it. Each thunderous heartbeat and every traitorous step that Daniel and I haul Alek to freedom only increases the fear.
If I stay they might get a head start.
I’m just not selfless enough for that.
I can’t stay here. I have to get out.
Horus made this happen. I’m certain of it. I wish I could thank him before I leave but there’s just no time. I have to go now. Daniel’s car is in the garage - another thing I don’t want to ask about. One of his men is standing, armed and ready as we turn into view. He pulls open the back seat and I climb in, pulling Alek in after me. His half unconscious form slumps over against my chest and I wrap my arms around him, smoothing his dirty hair down around his scalp and refusing to look at why I feel so deeply protective over him as the door shuts. Daniel hops into the passenger seat, leaving me and Alek in the back.
Horus is likely frantically deleting security footage right now.
For his sake, I hope that’s what he’s doing.
Daniel’s car’s tires squeal angrily against the garage floor as we tear out of there, leaving a dented and ruined gate behind us. It will look like an organized war attack. I’m certain of it. I can’t even feel bad about the damage as I look out the back window for a final time.
The mansion that Nikolai claimed was for me fades into the distance.
I turn, allowing that chapter in my life to close, for better or for worse.