“Stand down,” Fyodor said. “I have no desire to kill any of you. I am not here to fight you guys, I am only here to take my sister back home.”
“Your sister does not want to go with you!” Ilana shouted, but none of it mattered to Fyodor. His mind was set.
The warehouse held its breath as Ilana fought him, but Fyodor was much stronger. I wanted to kill Fyodor right there and then, but I could not do that to Ilana. Not after everything else I had already done. They turned around and left, and Ilana turned to look at me one last time, her eyes holding a promise that was only meant for me.
I would not let her go.
Not so easily.
This wasn’t over.
***
“I swear to God,” I said hoarsely, slamming the door behind me. “I will burn the Romanovs to the ground.”
Iosif was already there, seated at the head of the long table like he had been waiting for the house itself to report back to him. His expression didn’t change when he looked up.
“Sit down, Avgust.”
“I don’t want to sit.”
“Sit,” Lukyan echoed from the wall, arms crossed, blood dried on his knuckles.
I paced instead. Back and forth. Like movement might shake her loose from wherever Fyodor had taken her.
“She was right there,” I said, voice rising. “I had her. And then that asshole decided to take her with him, even when she told him she did not want to go. I wish I could have killed him right there and then.”
“Why didn’t you?” Timofey asked, walking forward.
“Ilana wouldn’t have wanted that.”
Zhenya sat curled on the couch, knees to her chest, eyes red-rimmed. “They won’t hurt her,” she said quietly. “They won’t.”
“You don’t know that,” I snapped.
Misha leaned forward from where she sat on the armrest. “We do, actually.”
That got my attention.
“Be realistic, Avgust,” she sighed. “She is their sister, and no matter what happened in the past few months, they still want her with them because they obviously love her and care for her. Yes, she did not want to go with Fyodor, and he forced her, butthat only means the brothers will cherish her even more. They have always taken care of her in the past as well.”
“She doesn’t want to be a part of them,” I said. “That’s the point.”
“Avgust, she is no longer the scared girl you rescued from an auction. She has turned into her own person in these past few months, and she helped you dismantle an entire auction by acting like a plant,” Elisse interrupted. “That requires courage. If she can do that, she can do anything, even if that includes fighting her brothers. If she wants to come back to you, she will.”
“I turned her away, Elisse. What if she thinks I don’t want her back?” I asked.
“She knows you want her back, Avgust,” Iosif sighed. “Even a blind person would know. This love-sick look on you can be spotted from a mile away.”
Everyone chuckled, the tension dissolving for a few minutes.
“We need an address on the Romanovs. I will go get her myself,” I said after a few minutes.
“No,” Iosif shook his head. “I am not letting you go all alone to storm the Romanov house and rescue Ilana, especially when she doesn’t even need rescuing.”
“She will come back to you herself, Avgust,” Zhenya said, her voice soft. “Just you wait.”
“Avgust.”
