Natalya
Present
The cold basement. Blood everywhere. Chains wrapped around his ankles and wrists.
I let my hair whip in the wind as I brace myself against the balcony railing, staring out at the barren autumn landscape while I fail to get the image of last night out of my head.
His normally fair skin is swallowed by blooming shades of purple, blue, and crimson.
And the stitches. Cuts so deep they’ve already been sewn, yet the damage to his face still makes my stomach roll, the gash beginning at his jawline before winding its way over his cheek, across his brow, and up his forehead, carving an intricate pattern into his skin.
I had to get him out. I can’t let him die. Just can’t.
My eyelids drift closed, our last conversation replaying over and over inside my head until the resentment coils tighter around my ribs.
“You knew they were alive,” I ask him.
He simply nods, apparently unable to force words through the injuries.
“They worked for you this whole time? Is it true?”
Another quiet nod.
“Was it worth it?” I grit out through the bitterness. “Letting me live in a lie just to keep me?”
His head lowers once again in silent confirmation before his lips finally part.
“But I’ll let you all go now,” he croaks, each word dragged painfully through swollen lips and torn flesh. “If your guys do what they’re told.”
My face twists with fury. Even though my body still remembers how cruel he is, how effortlessly he can make fear take root inside me, my curiosity still gets the better of me, and I can’t help but ask.
“Why would you suddenly let me go?”
He draws in a careful breath, visibly fighting through the pain radiating across his face.
“I had you for five years, all to myself. Kiara said his name once and you broke down all over again. Just his name. That’s all it took to erase five years with me.”
His words sink in, but no answer comes. He doesn’t deserve one.
“All I want from you now,” he whispers, each syllable strained against the fresh stitches. “Is to get me out of here and not hate me, okay? I’ll do anything. I just don’t want you to remember me with hatred.”
I let the request sit between us, unable to tear my eyes away from the cuts, the bruises, the damage carved into him. And the longer I look, the more the realization unfurls inside me.
I was freed from one madman only to be saved by another. They’re all the same.
Violence. Possession. The cycle just keeps going.
“How could you do that!” Kiara’s voice slices through the room, but it doesn’t startle me.
Slowly, I turn on my heel to face her, almost grateful for the anger in her voice since I’m tired of everyone treating me like I might shatter if they raise their voice.
“How could you let him out? He was our leverage!”
Her outrage hangs in the air for a moment before I answer.
“He needs actual medical treatment,” I say quietly. “His face is slashed up.”
Kiara comes to an abrupt stop in the middle of the room, her expression hardening. “What?”
I shrug, trying to disguise the way my hands tremble from frustration, anger, and confusion.
“It was Adrien,” I say. “No one else has that kind of sick sense of humor to carve a fucking snake into a face.”
Her brows lift in terror. “Snake?”
I nod absentmindedly, the image still stuck in my head. Then my gaze finds my knife lying on the floor. I dropped it the second the door slammed behind me, too disgusted with myself.
“He cut a...” Kiara trails off, still trying to make sense of what I’m implying.
“Yes, Kiara,” I cut in, my voice sharpening despite myself. “He cut a fucking snake through his face.”
Her expression falters, the color gradually leaving her features as she looks at me, waiting for me to tell her I’m lying.
When nothing comes, she lets out a resigned sigh.
“Okay, fine,” she nods, taking it in. “God, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but...” She trails off, pinching the bridge of her nose. “He had it coming.”
A humorless laugh escapes me.
“That’s so not the point,” I mumble.
“Okay, then what is the point, Nat?” she snaps, her voice rising. “Because I’m clearly missing it.”
“They’re all the same. It’s like war. Everyone chooses a side, but in the end, they’re all carrying the same guns,” I say, trying to make her understand.
“I hear you. But are they?” she asks, her voice tightening. “Are they really?” She takes a step toward me. “Because as far as I know, Lucien was hurting you.”
“Adrien hurt me, Kiara,” I mutter, beginning to pace across the room. “My brother too.”
“You were terrified of Lucien, Nat. I saw it. I saw the bruises around your neck, on your hands.” Her voice cracks with frustration. “Lucien abused you.”
“Yeah, and guess what?” I snap, turning to face her. “None of it came even fucking close to hurting as much as them simply leaving me!”
She opens her mouth.
“But they—”
“Lucien could never hurt me as much as they did. Do you get it? Everything he ever did was so much more bearable than the pain in here.” I press a hand against my chest. “And last night, when I saw what Adrien did to him—” I swallow around the lump rising in my throat.
“I realized there really isn’t that much difference between them. ”
“But Lucien created all those lies. He made Bryan lie to them,” she blurts out.
“What? What about Bryan?” I throw my hands up in frustration. “Who cares about Bryan!”
She glares at me like I’ve grown a second head.
“He was feeding them lies about you because Lucien told him to,” she says, her eyes widening as though I was supposed to know this already. “To keep them compliant and away from you.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I shake my head in disbelief.
“They wouldn’t have just left you, Nat. They kept checking on you through Bryan. Every time they wanted to know how you were doing, he was the one feeding them information.”
I can physically feel my heart pumping twice as much blood as necessary.
“Bryan told them you were happily married.”
“What?” The word barely leaves my mouth. “To who!”
She shrugs lazily. “I don’t know.”
The information hits somewhere deep in the pit of my stomach, shattering every piece of bullshit that has come out of my mouth since this morning.
“Adrien didn’t tell you?” she asks in disbelief.
“No!” I squeak, my fingers curling helplessly at my sides.
“Well, then.” She plants her hands on her hips. “He’s an idiot.”
“Yeah, I know that!” I whip out, my palm settling against my chest as the realization crashes into me.
He thought I’d exchanged vows with someone else this whole time?
I would never do that.
Not in this life and not in any other.
“Okay, so,” Kiara says, forcing calm into her voice. “What would you do if someone kept you away from Adrien for all those years, hm? Wouldn’t you also have the urge to do some mild facial rearrangement?”
My gaze lifts to her as I’m finally coming back to my senses, and the realization hits with sickening clarity. I’m not the same as them.
I’m worse.
“No,” I answer quietly. “I’d probably cut his head off.”
She gulps before tilting her head ever so slightly, looking like she can’t decide whether that’s the most concerning thing I’ve ever said or the most romantic.
I drift toward the nightstand and slide the drawer open, my gaze falling on the little pile of origami moths he’d been leaving beside my plate every single morning. My fingers brush over the top one before my vision suddenly blurs, hot tears rolling down my cheeks.
“Nat?” Kiara’s voice softens immediately. “Are you okay?”
What the fuck was I even saying this morning? I didn’t mean it. Not really.
“I told him horrible things, Kiara,” I croak, my voice cracking around every word. “I saw what he did, and the anger, the betrayal...” I squeeze my eyes shut, shaking my head helplessly. “It all came back at once, and I...” My breath catches. “But I didn’t mean it.”
The memory of every single word I threw at him starts replaying painfully while the guilt sends me moving.
Without another word, I rush out of the room, wiping the pathetic tears from my face as I race downstairs.
“They’re not here,” Kiara calls after me.
I whirl around.
“They went to find old Devereaux,” she explains as she hurries after me.
“No. No, no...” I shake my head, panic beginning to drown out every coherent thought. “What if he does something reckless? What if—”
“They know what they’re doing,” she says, trying to calm me down, though I can see the fear lingering in her eyes.
“I’m going to find them whether you like it or not, so tell me exactly where they went. Now.”
“Fine,” she shoots back without missing a beat. “But I’m coming with you.”
Despite the terror clawing through my limbs, the corner of my mouth twitches into the faintest smile.
“Fine by me.” I nod toward the hallway. “Go get Kasien’s helmet. We’re sneaking out of here.”