He turned on his heel and pulled a kitchen knife from the block on the counter. “But first, you take the oath. Call Dmitri back in.”
Dmitri stood talking quietly with a blonde woman I didn’t recognize. His eyes flicked from the knife in Nikolai’s hand to me, and a parade of emotion crossed his face—grief, relief, regret.
He followed us up the stairs without a word. The woman came too, and Nikolai didn’t stop her.
Dmitri closed the door with a click, only for the blonde woman to enter. “Elena,” Nikolai said, exasperated.
“Baba,” she answered, taking a seat in one of the leather chairs in front of his desk.
“Fucking daughters,” Nikolai said with a smile. “Is this because of Irina?”
Dmitri slid into the seat beside her and elbowed her. “Your father recognizes another woman as head of her family, and now you think you’re part of the bratva?”
Elena elbowed him back.
“Children,” Nikolai said, and regret poured through me.How much had I missed? Dmitri had found family, and I’d never known.
He handed me the knife. The blade caught the light, sharp and clean.
I knew what this meant, what I was giving up. For Eva, it was worth it.
Nikolai took down a religious icon from the shelf behind him. Olga, who’d been baptized Elena. Games within games within games.
But if it would keep Eva safe, then it’d be worth it.
I pressed the blade to my palm and sliced. The sting was sharp and immediate. Blood welled up, dark red against my skin.
I swiped it over the porcelain of the icon’s robes, where I could see that countless men had done the same before me.
“I swear,” Elena’s voice rang out behind me. I repeated after her, and Dmitri and Nikolai join me.
“I swear, by my name, my life, and my blood, my loyalty to the brotherhood.”
The words tasted like ash—like failure. Sixteen years ago, I’d walked away from this exact moment, choosing legitimacy over vengeance. Now, I was swearing my soul to the devil, not for revenge, but for a slip of a girl who might never truly forgive me for what I’d done to her.
“I will die before I betray its secrets or my brothers. If I break these oaths, may my soul be damned forever.”
They each cut their thumbs and pressed them against the icon, and then, to my surprise, Elena did as well, casually, as she walked around the desk and opened a cabinet behind it.
“A toast,” she said, raising a fresh bottle of vodka and four glasses. “To our newest brother.”
Nikolai shook his head, smiling ruefully at his daughter. “Incorrigible.”
She grinned, unrepentant. “Welcome back to the family, Alek.”
I downed the vodka. It burned all the way down.
I’d just sold my soul, and I’d do it again, a thousand times, for her.
Dmitri’s hand found my shoulder and squeezed. “Welcome home, brother.”
27
COLE
Dad
Delaney will attend one of your games this weekend.
