20. Kira
KIRA
Sonya disappears down the hallway to get me a robe and slippers, and I sit at the kitchen table holding the ice pack against my elbow stupidly.
My elbow is fine. I'm not even hurt. Everything I told her was a lie stacked on top of the pile of lies I've been building since I got here, and the pile is getting so tall, I can't see over the top of it anymore.
I'm not even sure why I keep telling lies.
I could come clean and beg for mercy, and maybe that's what I'll do the very instant I see Timur.
By the time he gets home from his fights, he'll be able to see the bruising on my neck, because I feel how tender it is. Morin almost killed me, and he would have if I hadn’t been able to hurt him.
My eyes rake over the counter, still acutely aware of how close I came to death, searching for some self-defense in case he comes back, but instead of landing on the knife block, they land on Sonya's tablet.
It's sitting on the counter where she left it, still glowing and unlocked.
She was looking at recipes before I came crashing in.
I see a page open for some kind of fish stew with a photo of the finished dish and a list of ingredients down the side.
That means she has internet on that, and if she does, it means I could try a video call with my uncle—if I can manage to get to it before she gets back.
I set the ice pack down and tiptoe across the room, picking up the tablet.
My hands shake a little, but not nearly as bad as they were a few minutes ago.
Still, I steal a glance over my shoulder back toward my room where Sonya vanished to.
I close the recipe page and open the video call app and punch in Victor's number from memory and he picks up almost instantly.
His face fills the screen so close, I see his nose hairs.
"Kira?" he hisses, talking quietly. I see he's moving too, lights flashing overhead. And I see a bruise on his cheek.
"I don't have long. The maid will be back any minute... Uncle, I need out of here. One of them almost killed me." I realize I sound whiney, but after what I just went through, I'm terrified.
"Listen to me. There was an assault tonight.
The Kuzins hit three of our locations in the span of two hours.
They were coordinated strikes and if we weren't on our toes, we'd have lost a lot more lives than we did.
" His voice is controlled, but I can hear the fear in it. "Three of our men are dead."
"Who?"
He stops somewhere dark and leans against a wall, but I can hear his huffing and see the silhouette of his face. "Honey, don't worry about that."
"Who!" I demand, but I'm scared to know.
"A few lower-level guards, and well..." His lips compress in a line, then he sighs. "They took Baron. He had a bomb strapped to his chest, I heard, the last time Pyotr saw him."
"How?" I can barely get the word out as my throat constricts. Baron, my cousin, taught me to ride a bike when I was seven. We weren't horribly close now, but back then, we were like siblings. This is horrible.
"Honey, you don’t need details, okay? But if you have any leverage... I need you to use it."
"Oh, God." I press my hand over my mouth and close my eyes. Tears are running down my face shamelessly. "I want to come home," I say through my fingers. "Please, Uncle Victor, I need to come home."
"I know, sweetheart." He sounds more remorseful than comforting. It's like he’s given up hope that he can get to me. It breaks my heart. I can't stay here any longer. If I have to plead for my family, Timur will kill me too. They're killing everyone.
"I don't know if I can—"
"You have to try, baby." I imagine if this were my father, he would be on his way to get me right now, not trying to talk me into working harder.
"Talk to Timur. Make him see that Morin is the one driving this, not the Mirovs.
If you can get Timur to question even one thing Morin has told him, it could be enough to slow this down. "
"Uncle, I'm scared."
"I know you are. But you are strong and you are smart, and you are the only person in a position to do anything about this. Hold on for us."
The kitchen door swings open and Dryden walks in.
I lurch off the counter, frozen in fear as his eyes go from my face to the tablet in my hand.
Then he glowers at me and crosses the kitchen, ripping the tablet out of my grip so fast, I don't even have time to close the call.
Victor's face is still on the screen when Dryden flips it around and looks at it.
"Who is this?" Dryden barks at the screen.
"Kira, hang up," Victor says, and then Dryden ends the call and slams the tablet face down on the counter.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He turns to me, shouting, and trembling, I back away. I don’t know what his orders are or if Timur is close to here to protect me from this man. The last one tried to kill me. "Whose tablet is that? Who were you talking to?"
"Nobody. It was nobody."
"Don't lie to me. I saw a man's face. Who were you calling?"
"It was a wrong number. I was trying to call my father and I got the wrong—"
"You're not allowed to make calls. You know that. Timur gave me specific instructions and you just—" He stops himself and runs a hand over his face. "Do you even know who you're dealing with?"
The problem is I do know who I'm dealing with. An entire family of liars and murderers. And I don't want to deal with this anymore.
Shoving him back, I push past him and hurry down the hallway so fast, I slam into Sonya as she's leaving my room. The robe in her hand falls to the ground and drops to the floor at my feet, and I brush past her into the room.
"Kira," she sighs, "what's gotten into you?" But she sees Dryden stomping up the hall as I climb into bed and cover myself.
"Get out of her room," he snarls, and the maid stands her ground.
"Why are you shouting at her?" Sonya refuses to move, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Because she was using your tablet to make a call. Now get out before I tell Timur you were helping her."
I lie there trembling, watching Sonya oscillate between looking at me and then looking at him. She picks up the robe and walks over to the bed, lying it across my hips, though I'm covered with the blanket.
"I'll come back to check on you in a little bit, sweetheart. Try to rest." She smooths my hair with her hand then walks out.
After I hear the door lock click into place, I hear their muffled shouting as she stands up for me, and it's the first welcoming thing I've felt in weeks. At least one person is standing up for me.
But when Timur finds out what I've done, I'm not sure what he'll do. He may see my side of the story, or he may think Morin is right and that I'm a problem.
I pray to God that's not the case.