Chapter 23
Dimitri Morozov
There was a crowd gathered in the hallway like fucking vultures circling fresh meat. I did not give a shit what they were staring at. All I cared about was finding Rei. He should have been at his locker by now. Something felt wrong. That primal instinct in my chest was screaming.
Alexei appeared beside me, eyebrows raised. “What the hell is going on?”
“Go look,” I said.
But then I heard it.
A broken sob that tore straight through my ribs and clutched my black heart in a vise.
I knew that sound.
I pushed through the crowd like a fucking storm, slamming shoulders out of my way. One kid did not move fast enough, and I shoved him hard, sending him to the floor. Someone else tried to block me and I elbowed them aside.
When I finally broke through the wall of bodies and saw him, the entire world went black with rage.
Rei was on the floor, curled into himself like a wounded animal. Blood was smeared across his face, in his hair, dripping down his neck and soaking into his shirt. His hands were clawing at his cheeks, eyes glazed with pure terror.
My vision tunneled.
I dropped to my knees in front of him instantly. “Lyubimyy…”
He looked completely lost, trapped inside his own mind, drowning in whatever nightmare the blood had dragged him into. His fingers kept scratching at his face, trying desperately to wipe the blood away.
“I can’t get it off…” he whimpered. “I can’t— it won’t come off— please—”
“Shh, baby. Don’t do that. We’ll get it off.”
I gathered him into my arms as gently as I could, even though every muscle in my body was screaming to destroy everything around us. I pressed his face into my chest, shielding him from the crowd. “It’s okay. I’m here,” I murmured into his hair. “I’ve got you, little fairy. Breathe for me.”
Behind me, I heard Alexei’s voice.
“Give me those fucking phones right now!” The sound of smashing glass and plastic followed as he started ripping devices out of hands and crushing them under his boot. “If I see a single video of this, I will personally hunt every last one of you down. Scram, you worthless pieces of shit!”
Let Alexei handle them.
Right now, the only thing that mattered was the boy shaking in my arms.
I carried him inside an empty classroom, kicking the door shut behind us, and gently lowered him onto one of the wide desks.
He immediately curled in on himself again, hands flying back to his face.
“No,” I said firmly, catching his wrists. “Don’t scratch. You’ll hurt yourself.”
I grabbed a box of tissues from the teacher’s desk and started wiping the blood from his face. His skin was deathly pale, and his eyes were unfocused, still lost in whatever hellish memory the blood had triggered.
“Talk to me, Rei,” I whispered, wiping under his eyes. “Where are you right now?”
He choked on another sob. “Blood… there was so much blood… my dad… he was bleeding everywhere… his finger… it was on me… I couldn’t get it off me…”
My jaw clenched.
Whoever did this was going to die screaming. I would make sure of it.
“It’s not his blood. You’re with me. You are not there. Do you hear me, Lyubimyy?”
I tried to pull him into the present.
He nodded weakly, but he was still hazy.
I pulled him forward until his forehead rested against my chest, my arms wrapping around him tightly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” I murmured, pressing my lips to the top of his head. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
I held him tighter, refusing to let go.
Eventually, he calmed down.
I kept kissing his hair and hugging him.
“I don’t have it…” he said in a weak voice.
I pulled back slightly, cupping his face in my hands. His eyes were devastated.
“What don’t you have, baby?” I asked, brushing my thumbs under his eyes. “What do you need?”
His bottom lip trembled.
“My flower…” he choked out, new tears spilling down his cheeks. “I lost my flower.”
Fuck.
My little fairy lost his flower.
I rested my forehead against his.
“Let’s go home, okay?” I murmured. “I’ll get you as many flowers as you want. I’ll fill the entire mansion with them if you want.”
Rei’s teary eyes met mine. He gave me a tiny nod.
I lifted him into my arms, cradling him against my chest, and took him home.
When we reached the mansion, I carried him straight to the bathroom. I ran a hot bath and slowly undressed him. Then I lowered him into the water and knelt beside the tub.
I took the soft sponge and washed him, wiping away every trace of blood. Rei sat with his knees drawn to his chest, staring at nothing, looking heartbreakingly small and empty.
I moved so slowly, like I was trying to wash away the trauma itself, even though I knew I could not.
When he was clean, I dried him with a warm towel, dressed him in his softest pajamas, the ones with tiny white flowers scattered across pale blue fabric, and brushed his damp hair.
I found a fresh red wildflower I had picked earlier that morning and carefully clipped it into his hair, right where it belonged.
Then I carried him to bed.
I laid him down gently and held him in my arms.
We did not speak. He needed silence, and I gave it to him.
The next morning, I did not leave the room.
I stayed right there, sitting in the armchair beside the bed, watching over him, because something deep in my gut told me not to leave. I knew better than to think the demons were done with him.
I was right.
Suddenly, Rei woke up screaming.
His body thrashed under the sheets, and his hands were clawing at the air as if he was trying to fight off something invisible.
“Rei—” I climbed onto the bed, pulling him into my arms. “Wake up, baby. I’m here.”
His eyes flew open. For a second he did not recognize me. Then something clicked, and he threw himself forward, burying his face into my neck.
“It’s okay,” I whispered into his hair, rocking him gently. “You’re safe. No one can hurt you here. Breathe, Lyubimyy. Just breathe.”
He cried, and I held him through every sob, pressing kisses to the top of his head and anywhere I could reach.
When the worst of it finally passed and his breathing began to even out, he pulled back just enough to look at me. “I’m sorry…” he whispered.
I shook my head. “Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”
He swallowed. “It’s been so long since I had those… the nightmares, I mean.”
I caressed his cheek with my thumb. “You used to have them often?”
Rei nodded. “Every day. Sometimes multiple times a night. But since I came here… they stopped.”
I pulled him closer again, resting my chin on top of his head. “What are they about?” I asked.
“My dad… and how he died.”
I already knew many details about him. I had stalked every inch of his life. But I had deliberately avoided digging into his father’s death. It felt too private.
“How did he die?”
“A car accident. In Tokyo. There was so much blood. It was everywhere. I still feel it sometimes.”
I remembered that night I drove him to the woods, the way his face had gone deathly pale when I sped up, how he had looked one second away from a full panic attack.
I had done that to him. I had dragged him back into his trauma that day too.
The apology sat on my tongue, but I knew it would not be enough. It would not erase what I had done.
So instead, I gave him a piece of myself I had never given anyone.
“I also sometimes dream about my mother.”
Rei’s expression softened. His hand came up to caress my face. “She died too?”
I nodded slowly. “She killed herself. She was always depressive… but my father didn’t make it easier for her. Their marriage was an alliance for money. He was cold to her, and when she got worse, he brought in doctors and pills, but he was never there. I was ten when she… when I found her body.”
Rei’s eyes were teary again, but this time I could feel they were for me. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “You didn’t deserve that.”
Neither did he.
“We’re both a little broken, aren’t we?” I murmured.
He gave me a sad smile. “Maybe… we can be broken together.”
I realized then that I wanted to be the man who kept the nightmares away from this fragile boy in my arms.
And I would spend every single day trying to be exactly that.
The next few days, I did not let Rei go back to school.
He did not argue. He was too mentally exhausted. Every time I suggested staying home, he simply nodded with that hollow look in his eyes that made me want to burn the entire world down. So I kept him in the mansion, safe, under my watch.
Right now, he was curled up in my bedroom, sitting by the large window. The orange blossom I had placed in his hair that morning still sat above his ear. He looked peaceful for the first time in days. I wanted to keep it that way.
I stepped out, closing the door behind me, and welcomed Alexei and Ilya into the private lounge downstairs.
We sat down, me in the large leather armchair, Alexei leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, and Ilya sprawled lazily across the couch.
“Did you find something?” I asked immediately.
Ever since that bastard had drugged Rei at the party, I had put Ilya on the trail. He was the best hacker in the country, maybe even the continent. Nothing stayed hidden from him for long. But this had turned into a fucking snake pit.
Ilya’s usual manic smile was still on his face, even now. He tilted his head, spinning a knife between his fingers like it was a toy.
“Well… I tracked down twenty different people so far,” he said cheerfully, like we were discussing the weather.
“It’s a beautiful mess. The guy who drugged Rei was hired by someone else.
That someone was hired by another. And that one was paid by yet another.
It keeps looping. Like someone really doesn’t want us to find the root. ”
Alexei shifted. “Before we go deeper into that rabbit hole… you should know your father—”
“No,” I cut him off. “Anything involving my father can wait. Nothing comes before this. I’m almost certain the same person who paid for the drugging is the same sick fuck who put those fingers in Rei’s locker. I want their name. Everything else is secondary.”
Alexei sighed, rubbing his jaw. “Dimitri, you’re in too deep with this boy. You need to—”
“Save yourself the speech,” I warned. “I don’t give a fuck how deep I am. He’s mine. Someone is trying to hurt him. I will find them, and when I do, I’m going to make their death last for days.”
Ilya let out a delighted laugh, clapping his hands once. “YAY! Honestly, I was getting bored with all the clean kills lately. This one deserves something special. Maybe I can help design it? I have ideas. Lots of ideas. We could start with the fingers, since they seem to like sending those—”
“Ilya,” I warned.
He grinned wider. “Too much? Fine. But I do need a little more time. Whoever’s behind this is smart.
They’re using layers upon layers of proxies, ghost accounts, and burner networks.
It’s actually impressive. Annoying… but impressive.
Give me three or four more days and I should be able to crack the final wall. ”
I leaned back in the chair. “You have two.”
Ilya pouted dramatically.