Chapter 33
Dimiri Morozov
Kento had cut Daniel into pieces that day. Literally. Not just killed him. He dismantled him. Face. Limbs. Everything. The kind of work that even made my stomach turn when I pictured it.
Kento had always been cold, but this was something else. The body had been disposed of so thoroughly that Daniel Walker was now officially listed as missing.
Rei’s mother still did not know her son was in the hospital. All she cared about was her missing husband. She had been blowing up phones and contacts, frantic about Daniel, but not once had she asked about Rei.
She was high on my kill list too. The only reason she was still breathing was because I knew Rei still cared for her.
A few weeks passed.
Rei had thrown himself into physical therapy with a determination that both impressed and worried me.
He hated the pain. I could see it in the way his jaw clenched every time he tried to move his legs, in the way his hands fisted the sheets when the therapists pushed him too hard.
But he never complained. He just gritted his teeth and kept going, day after day, because he wanted to run again.
He wanted to chase flowers through fields like he used to with his father.
Yesterday, while I was sitting next to his bed watching him rest after a particularly brutal session, he started talking about a rare flower.
“It’s called the Comet Orchid,” he said softly.
“It only grows in certain parts of Madagascar. The flowers are white with long, graceful spurs that look like shooting stars. They bloom at night and smell incredible. I read about it once when I was a kid. I have always wanted to see one in person… just once.”
He smiled a little.
“Maybe one day.”
His wish was my fucking command.
Today, I went to get it for him.
The Comet Orchid was nearly impossible to find. It was extremely rare and only bloomed under very specific conditions. Flying to Madagascar would take too long. Rei was still recovering, and I did not want to leave him for days. So I did what I do best.
I found someone who already had one.
A private collector in a lavish estate just outside the city. An old, rich bastard who hoarded rare plants like trophies. I offered him a ridiculous amount of money. He laughed in my face and told me it was not for sale at any price.
So I killed him.
Oops.
In my defense, I did try the money route first. I even gave him a chance to reconsider.
But when he sneered at me and told me to fuck off, I stopped being polite.
I put a bullet between his eyes, then another in his chest for good measure.
His security tried to intervene. They did not last long either.
I found the Comet Orchid in a temperature-controlled case.
It was beautiful and delicate, exactly as Rei had described it.
But I was not going to give him the Comet Orchid yet.
Instead, every single morning I brought him a different flower.
Every day I woke up early, slipped out while he was still sleeping, and hunted through the city gardens, private greenhouses, or anywhere else I could find something worthy.
Bringing him a flower from a shop was too simple.
He did not like those a lot. He preferred the wild ones or the ones picked freshly.
So obviously I climbed every motherfucking fence near the hospital so I would not be gone for too long and brought him one.
And every single time, he smiled.
He would reach up to touch the petals and whisper “Thank you” like I had given him the entire world instead of just one small bloom.
It was the best part of my day.
Rei could walk now.
Not perfectly. He still limped. He still needed support for longer distances, and the physical therapists pushed him hard every session.
But he could stand. He could take steps.
He could move around the room without help if he was careful.
The doctors said he did not need to stay in the hospital much longer.
A few more days of observation and he could be discharged.
I could not wait to take him home.
I missed him in my bed. I missed waking up with him curled against my chest.
Kento had been showing up more often. Almost every day now.
He would sit by Rei’s bed. It was strange seeing him like that.
The cold, distant brother who had always kept Rei at arm’s length suddenly showing up like he was afraid to lose him.
I did not trust it completely, but I let it happen.
For Rei. And also because for some reason whenever I wanted to chase Kento away, Ilya looked at me as if he was going to plunge one of his knives into my fucking eye.
Marco, though, was weirdly absent.
He did show up, but not as often as before.
And when he did, he looked dead on his feet.
Something was wrong with that kid. Very fucking wrong.
The moment he stepped into Rei’s room, though, he flipped a switch.
He would light up, voice bright and sweet, laughing at Rei’s jokes and fussing over him like nothing was wrong.
I could see through it. Rei probably could too. But we both let him pretend.
In the meantime, Ilya and Alexei were handling all my shit.
They took over every meeting, every order, every problem my father tried to dump on me.
I had no time for any of it. My focus was entirely on Rei.
On making sure he ate, on sitting through every therapy session with him, on holding him when the pain got bad at night.
My father’s commands could wait. The empire could wait. Everything could wait.
Right now, my fairy was the only thing that mattered.
This morning I brought him a soft pink peony.
It was not the Comet Orchid, but it was delicate and beautiful. I clipped it carefully into his hair while he was still blinking sleepily against the pillow.
Rei’s eyes fluttered open, and the moment he felt the flower, that small, sleepy smile spread across his face.
“Morning,” he whispered.
“Morning, little fairy,” I murmured, leaning down to kiss his forehead. “Pink today. Thought it suited you.”
He reached up to touch the petals, cheeks warming slightly.
“It’s beautiful,” he said softly. “You always find the prettiest ones.”
I sat on the edge of the bed and brushed my thumb over his cheek.
“You’re prettier,” I told him.
Rei rolled his eyes, but the smile stayed. He leaned into my touch, letting me cradle his face for a moment.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “For doing this every day. You do not have to.”
“I want to,” I said simply.
He looked at me for a long moment.
“I’m taking you home soon,” I murmured. “The doctors said a few more days. I cannot wait to have you back in our bed. To wake up with you every morning. To bring you flowers from the forest instead of stealing them from other people’s greenhouses.”
Rei let out a soft laugh.
“You stole them?”
“Borrowed,” I corrected with a smirk. “Permanently.”
He shook his head, still smiling.
“You’re impossible.”