I push up, wobbling to my feet. My balance is shaky, my body raw, but I force myself to stand. Shuffle.
Move.
My toes scrape against stone. Bare. No shoes. Of course. He must have taken them. Another lesson, another test.
I slide my feet forward, cautious, until pain spikes sharp through my sole. I hiss, jerking, but it’s too late—glass, maybe.
Or a rock jagged enough to cut. I press my lips together, step lighter, shuffle slower. I won’t give him the satisfaction of breaking here.
Finally, my fingertips brush something solid.
A wall. Rough, cold, real. I lean into it, breathe through the pounding in my skull, and follow it, searching.
My eyes strain, the dark thick around me, but eventually, shapes emerge—cracks in stone, the faint outline of a door.
I push it open, and the night air slams into me like a blade. Snowflakes drift against my skin. My breath fogs white in front of me.
“Damn it,” I whisper.
The world is still, dark, endless. He’s left me in the middle of nowhere.
Another test.
Always another test.
My throat tightens, the ache behind my eyes threatening tears, but I swallow it down. Crying won’t get me home.
I scan the dark, force my focus, and then I see it; a lake, frozen over, familiar enough to stir something in my chest.
Relief, faint but real. I follow the lake’s curve, each step sharper, colder. My feet sting, the snow biting deeper until my teeth chatter uncontrollably.
But then, pavement. A street. Civilization.
A dry, humorless chuckle slips past my lips. About a mile from home.
Not too bad. Not easy, either.
Not like this, without a coat or shoes.
The snow swallowing me whole.
I tip my head back, pull in a lungful of frozen air, and let it burn, let my ribs ache.
I’m not giving up.
I’m getting home.
Chapter 5
Maksim
21 Years Old
The pit stinks of sweat, smoke, and spilled blood.
Fists fly. Teeth crack.
A man hits the mat and doesn’t get up.
