Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
ALEKSANDR
London Outfit
I hated being here.
My parents always forced me to be someone I was not when we came to the Ellsworth estate.
To the posh palace. Their house was just as stuffy now as I remembered it had been the last time I was here.
Full of butlers, servants, and waitstaff preparing for this feast we were supposed to have, but that I planned on not attending.
“Aleksandr, behave tonight,” father grunted, holding Dimitri’s hand like the little shit couldn’t be trusted on his own.
Which, at six, was a valid thought. The boy was a menace and had a penchant for fire.
“I have business to discuss the don. If all goes well the Outfit will supply us with everything needed to expand.”
“Da.”
My sullen reply was lost to the chaos building in the air as the twins appeared.
Daughters of dark and light. The little Ellsworth princesses were a study of opposites.
Audrey and Elena had bright eyes, pale skin, and gangly limbs.
The world bowed when Sloane Ellsworth had birthed a female heir, one set to rule as pakhana, five years ago.
I hated them, since they were the reason, I was always dragged here for days of boredom each year.
Audrey stepped forward, bright blond hair swishing around her cheeks, a large, toothy smile showing she did not realise a boy training to become a monster had just stepped into her home.
At seven, soon to be eight, I learned there was a light within Audrey, an innocence her twin didn’t have.
One that drew people to it like a moth to a flame; ironic, since her sister’s name literally meant ‘shining light’.
Already growing tired with this display of behaviour and wealth, I turned my head, pausing when a sensation dragged across my skin like a razor blade.
Little Elena Ellsworth stood on the bottom stair of her parents’ grand entryway.
A glare adorning her cherubic, childlike face.
Slitted, angry eyes, sharp and calculating, were directed not at me, but my father.
Much more intelligent than a child of five had any right to be.
She reminded me of a vampire—of the old legends I had been raised on back home in Moscow.
Skin so pale, her veins were almost fully visible underneath.
Hair so dark, it would blend into the night.
But her eyes. Her eyes had this light. An inner fire that flickered and burned, capturing my interest and stirring a beast I had learned to keep chained down deep.
Oh yes, little Elena sensed who—or what had come into her home, proving to me that she was not everything her parents portrayed her to be.
“Am I excused?” Flicking my pocketknife open and closed, I looked at my father, not really caring what his answer was, since I was leaving either way.
“Da, be back by dinner bell,” he responded brusquely. Dismissing me, he turned to meet with the men of the house.
I continued into the house, calmly and quietly making my way to the door that exited out back, hoping the sounds of feet would follow. I quirked my lips when a hushed, “Go back up, Audrey,” was heard.
Sharp needles poked at my back. A sensation that I was being hunted had my spine snapping straight as I reached for the door. Turning, I found Elena just a few paces behind, a pleasant surprise that she was able to sneak around that quietly.
“Where are you going?” her sharp little voice demanded. “You cannot leave that way.”
“The woods.” Grabbing the handle, I pulled the door open. “Come if you want, Printsessa.” The moniker slipped out by accident but fit the little viper twin following me. “Or don’t.”
Alistair’s out there now, and mummy said we should leave him alone. He stays with us because bad things happened at home.”
I continued out the door and into the woods surrounding the expansive London estate.
Acres of forests surrounded this property.
Home, my mind whispered to me. The forest is home.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I walked deeper into the woods, becoming enclosed by shadows, halting when I found a boy.
He appeared a few years older than me, maybe ten or eleven at most. Sitting with his back against a tree, he was twirling a collar-like object in his fingers.
“Go away, Elena.” Stopping the collar mid-twirl, he opened his eyes, “I told you I needed space.” His voice sharpened as he realised Elena was not facing him.
Sitting up, bright golden eyes drilled into mine.
A shadow flitting over them, like he was haunted by whatever drug him out here today.
The boy, Alistair, I assumed, opened his mouth to ask who I was when a shadow darted forward, startling me.
Shoving her way between us, Elena hovered protectively over this boy, as if he were not one of the monsters here.
“Nyet! You are not welcome here, I told you. Stay. Away.” Amused, I looked over at Alistair again, seeing him begin to stand as he nudged her slightly out of the way.
Curious, these two. Actions of a bond shared between children who had things to hide.
I could practically feel it in the air surrounding them.
“It’s okay, little Vipera. You guys can stay.” Alistair sighed, like he was already done for the day. “Kellan should be on his way. No doubt he will find his way out here as well.”
“But Alistair…mum said…” Elena started as she was interrupted by the boy, those golden orbs of his now molten umber as he glared her way.
“It’s okay, let’s go down to the forge.”
It was like he ignited a spark in her soul. She glowed so brightly at his idea that you could likely see her from space. “The forge?” A hopeful gasp left her as she spun and blurred into the trees, running off in the direction I assumed this forge would be.
“Aleksandr Volkovitch. I recognize you.” Alistair voiced the answer to the question that laid unasked between the two of us. “Your life is bound by shadows, heir. I cannot wait to see you rise or fall.”
“A King only falls for his Queen.” I thought back to the lessons my father had put me through, and added, “Even The Guilda’s so called gods will bow to me. You will see.”
Turning, we both made our way into the trees, a silent truce between us. An agreement that the Little Queen would be safe with us, in our world, until she had to rise from the ashes of her family’s name.