He slumps harder against me—not because he wants to, but because his body is giving out.
But he doesn’t stop.
Yulian keeps staggering forward with an unsteady gait, but his eyes stay fixed on the horizon, his gun sweeping the tree line like he’s daring the forest to come at him.
I’m keeping an eye on him and our surroundings, focusing on the trees and the bushes.
While this isn’t the first time I’ve been in danger, it’s definitely the worst. There was an attempt to kidnap me and my cousin on our way home from school when we were around seven, but my father’s guards saved us before we knew what was happening.
A couple of years ago, someone tried to attack me and my dad while we were at a horseback riding club, but with the guards around, Dad didn’t even flinch as he helped me rein in the horse. He just sighed as Uncle Victor and his men killed the attackers in cold blood.
Dad then proceeded to wipe everyone related to them off the face of the earth.
When Mom asked Dad if maybe he went too far, he said, “Of course not. They disturbed our father-son time. Evidently, I needed to eradicate their bloodline. Think of it as forced evolution of sorts.”
Point is, I’ve never been in this type of situation, where I’m completely isolated from my guards, and while I believe it’s a good experience to practice everything I’ve learned, it’s still dangerous and full of the unknown that I hate so much.
“Over there.” The words are strained, Yulian jutting his chin in the direction of some bushes.
I’m frowning, contemplating whether this is a good hiding place until we approach it.
Even though it looks like bushes and rocks, when we slide down, there’s an opening to a small cave, completely hidden from view by the plants surrounding it.
The cave’s entrance is so narrow that it brushes my shoulders as we slip in, the stone feeling cold and damp.
Inside, the air turns cooler, denser, carrying the faintmineral scent of earth. The space opens just enough to fit me and Yulian if we huddle close.
Water trickles from somewhere deeper, a rhythmic drip that echoes like a quiet heartbeat. The walls glisten with veins of quartz, catching stray beams of filtered light, and the silence is thick, only punctured by the sound of the water.
Yulian pulls from my grip while I’m distracted by studying our surroundings, but his hand lingers on my waist for longer than it needs to.
Almost as if he’s feeling me up?—
No. I’m imagining things.
As he sits with his back to the cave wall and places his gun to his side, I drop to my knees in front of him and neatly place the rifle and my gun next to his. I open my backpack and toss him a bottle of water since he lost his when we were shot at, and then I start rummaging through it.
“You’re not going to ask how I found this place?” He opens the bottle, wincing before he takes a large gulp. “It’s unlike you not to demand full details. Hmm, are you broken? Do we need a doctor?”
“It doesn’t take a genius to know you found this during one of your punishments.” I retrieve the bottle of antiseptic, pour some on my hands to sanitize them as best I can, then untie the bandage.
“Bingo! Had the best naps in this little nook. Not even the guards could find me in the beginning. If they survived, they’ll be here to get us— Fuck!”
He groans when I pour antiseptic on his wound, then punches the ground, releasing a shaky exhale.
“I’m sorry, but it needs to be cleaned. Who knows how long we’ll have to stay here.” I poke around carefully, hesitating every time he grunts loudly. “Probably need to remove the bullet.”
“Do you know how to do that?”
“In theory. I’ve never done it in real life.”
“You know everything in theory.” He rolls his eyes, the brown looking almost black in the shade. “Why do you even know stuff like that?”
“I had some first aid training, which was customized to focus on how to deal with bullet wounds. Dad wants me to be prepared for all situations.”
Yulian says nothing but drops his head back against the stone and stares at the ceiling of the cave.
I regret what I said immediately. I don’t really want to brag about my relationship with my dad when Yulian obviously has an abusive one with his.
