Roman glances at my pocket. "Do you think you should check that?" His eyebrow lifts as his lips purse, and I sigh.
"It's her… She's the only one who has this number besides you guys." I don’t even bother reaching for my phone because I don'twant to piss him off. He's being controlled right now, but I'm walking on thin ice and I know it.
Roman's fingers drum on the desk as he flicks a glance at Timur. I don’t see what that expression is because Timur is behind me, but when Roman's eyes land on me, he is scowling. "I think you should answer it. Maybe she'll tell us why she did what she did."
It's not like knowing the "why" behind any of this will make it easier. It's obvious why she did it. They want to bury us, and they've succeeded. We won't be able to rebuild, and we may as well start searching the classifieds for a job.
"Ro," I protest, and he leans forward, glaring.
"Look at the texts, Kazimir." He isn't messing around now.
So I pull my phone out. The number on the screen isn't one I have saved, and I have several messages stacked up on the notification screen.
Unknown: 8:47 PM: Kaz, it's Zora. They took my phone. I stole my brother’s.
Unknown: 8:47 PM: They're putting me on a train to Novosibirsk tonight. Yefim arranged a marriage to one of their fighters. I don't have a choice in this.
Unknown: 8:48 PM: I know you hate me. I know what I did. But I'm begging you, please don't let them do this to me. I love you.
Unknown: 8:48 PM: Please, Kaz. Help me. They made me do this.
I watch the three dots scrolling across the screen and know she's typing. My heart feels so twisted up right now. I see these wordsand want to run and help her. I don't want her getting shipped off to Novosibirsk. I want her in my arms. But she hurt us really badly, and my family would never understand.
I glance up at Roman as the phone buzzes again, and he is still scowling at me. "What did she say?"
"Ro," I start, but I can't finish the sentence. When my eyes return to the screen, I feel my gut lock up like someone dropped a stone in it.
Unknown: 8:50PM: I'm pregnant, Kaz. I need you to understand that my brother is going to take this baby and use it against you. You have to help me.
She's having my baby?
My hands feel heavy, my chest pounding. As my eyes slowly rise up to meet my uncle's, I feel the color drain from my face. He sits a little straighter, a little less anger on his face.
"What did she say?" he asks again, more calmly this time.
"She said she's pregnant…" I want to stand up and run, get in my car and find out where she's at, take her back. But I'm so conflicted. I glance at Timur, then Stepan. They're both still livid. They lived through that blast just like me, and they wanted to kill her for it. But if she's to be believed, her brothers made her do this.
I don’t think I can trust a thing she says, but what if she's telling the truth? What if they forced her and she's in trouble now, carrying my baby?
"What's going through your head?" Roman asks, and then Stepan grumbles and moves forward. I hear his feet stomping up behind me.
"She's fucking lying. You fucking know it. She hasn't done anything but lie since the moment you met her. Now she wants you to go out there and save her? She's drawing you out with this ridiculous story." He's just as angry as ever, and I can't even say I blame him.
"Roman, if she's pregnant, it will be bad news…" Timur comes in as the voice of reason. I hear him approaching too. He's not wrong. If the Volyns have a Kuzin baby in their possession, it could show our allies we are weaker than we think, and if they make it look like they have something over us, our allies will pull back from us. Our enemies will attack and we'll have no one on our side.
"She said her brothers are sending her away tonight…"
Stepan leans over my chair, resting his hands on the back by my shoulders. "Let them."
"Stepan—"
"Let them ship her. She came here to tear us apart and she damn near did it, and now you want to go chase her down? You really think that baby is real?" He hovers over me, trying to sway Roman's opinion, and it pisses me off. "Wake up, Kaz."
I bolt out of my chair and whip around to face him. "You fucking listen to me. She got to that building and saved my life because she loves me. And you can say what you want but?—"
"Everyone in that building was a target because of her." He pushes the chair between us aside so we're standing toe to toe. "She's the reason the Volyns knew where to put the charges. She fed them everything. You invited the fucking devil right into heaven and gave him the key, Kazimir. What did you think would happen?"
"I know what she did."
