“Multiple attacks would stretch our forces too thin,” I say as I continue pacing. “Maybe that’s the purpose.”
“I didn’t realize you were so lonely that you had started talking to yourself.”
I whip around at Gavriil’s voice, adrenaline spiking when I see him standing outside my cell.
“Where the fuck have you been, asshole?” I bark out in Russian as I storm over to the door, wishing I could break through it so that I could get my hands around his neck to strangle him.
Gavriil doesn’t flinch. “Busy. Your wildcat has been… difficult.”
I grip the bars tighter, fury swelling in my chest until it feels ready to detonate. “What did you do to her? Are you making her sleep on the floor without any clothes?”
Part of me is afraid to hear what he’s done to her. I brace myself though, because I need to know.
Gavriil casually tucks his hands into the pockets of his pants, his expression remaining infuriatingly calm. “I had no choice but to punish her. She’s been refusing food. And water.”
My stomach drops.
My anger collapses into something worse—fear.
I know Alina is strong enough to survive Gavriil’s manipulation. I don’t know how far she would go to hurt herself after Archer’s death. “What do you mean?” I demand. “How long has she held out?”
Gavriil’s jaw tenses for a second before relaxing. “Since the moment she arrived.”
I slam my palm against the bars, making the door rattle. “Since she got here? It’s been fucking days! How could you let her do this to herself?”
“What would you have me do,Bratishka?” Gavriil asks way too calmly for the situation. “Shove food down her throat? Even if I tried, she would only spit it back in my face.”
Goddamn him.
It’s bad enough that Alina agreed to be his for a month, but it’s even worse knowing that he hasn’t been taking care of her.
“You have to do something! You can’t let her die, and you can’t fucking punish her for grieving!” I snap at him, my entire body growing hot with fear and rage.
Why would Alina do this to herself?
Unless she thought she deserved it?
Is that what she’s doing? Punishing herself over what happened to her brother?
Or is she trying to punish me?
What the hell is she thinking?
Gavriil narrows his eyes slightly before clicking his tongue at me. “I can see you still haven’t learned your lesson. You shouldn’t be so sentimental. Your only loyalty should be to me.”
“Don’t even start that bullshit,” I grit out. “You know how important she is to me. That’s not going to change no matter what you do to me!”
He exhales sharply as he looks away from me. “Yes, I’m aware of how youthinkyou feel about her,” he says, completely dismissing my feelings. “You betrayed me for her, a girl you barely know.”
“Because you weren’t fighting fucking fair!” I tell him. “You crossed the line when you made me kill Archer in front of her, and you know it!”
Gavriil’s eyes cut to mine. “I didn’t make you do anything. I gave you a choice.”
“You knew exactly what I would choose!” I say as I lower my hands from the bars. “You used Archer to prove a point, to drive us apart.”
Gavriil pauses in front of me. “You should always choose me first. Your brother. Your family.”
I can’t stop the scoff that leaves my lips. “No. I’m fucking done with you. I thought I owed you…but you went too far.”
