“Yes, I am happy,” I say.
Gavriil glances down as his fingertips graze the surface of his empty desk. “Right, you’ll be free of me one way or another.”
The words cling to me long after he looks away.
There are pictures of my brother holding me when I was only hours old. He’s the reason I’m alive. I always thought in the back of my mind that he’d be with me the day that I died.
None of this feels real.
Walking away from him feels…wrong.
But Alina and I deserve peace and stability and safety, and we can only get that if we’re far away from here.
Away from Gavriil.
“Good luck,” I say before slowly backing up toward the door.
Gavriil nods, not looking up at me. I don’t think that he can bring himself to.
I step out of his office and let the door close behind me. It all feels so damn final. It unsettles me, lighting every nerve of mine on fire.
Simeon glances over at me from where he leans against the opposite wall. “Come on.”
“Where am I going now?” I reply, my voice bordering on a defeated sigh.
“Shower in the guest room, then breakfast,” Simeon says as he motions for me to walk ahead of him toward the stairwell.
I want to see Alina, but I have a feeling that Gavriil is going to keep us apart until he can see her one last time.
I’ll give him that.
If I get to leave with her, then I’ll stand back and give him the chance to say goodbye.
Then, if things go the way he claims, they’ll never see each other again.
37
Alina
It’snice being able to shower in an actual bathroom with the door shut.
And my clothes for the day? They’re my own. My broken-in jeans and white tee. I even have my own sneakers that Gavriil must have removed from our things when Dominik and I were about to run.
For once, I feel comfortable.
When I open the bathroom door, returning to Gavriil’s bedroom, it’s no longer scary.
The familiarity should comfort me. Instead, it makes the shift in his mood impossible to ignore.
Gavriil is back. I never thought the sight of him would be so…soothing.
But when our eyes meet now, I immediately know that something is wrong.
He’s standing next to the cage, his fingers brushing the bars.
He isn’t gesturing for me to go inside. He’s…I don’t know what the hell he’s doing.
The cage used to be my punishment. Now it feels like something he’s letting go of.
