Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
My upper lip lifts in a snarl and I realize I almost let him into my head again. A blasphemy that shouldn’t happen in this lifetime.
“See you at home, son.” He pats my shoulder, then squeezes it before he’s out the door.
I grab the nearest object but stop myself before I haul it against the wall.
He will not get to me.
I already won my freedom and nothing will be able to take it away.
Nothing.
“Is everything okay?” Viktor asks after my father leaves.
I fling the rifle over my shoulder. “It will be. Let’s get this over with.”
7
SASHA
I can’t breathe.
My feet refuse to move, and my heart thunders in a rhythm so intense, I’m surprised it hasn’t ripped its way out of my rib cage and spilled at my feet.
Invisible hands claw harder at my throat the longer I stare at the man’s face.
I wouldn’t have missed it if I’d tried. I couldn’t. The sight of his round face, thick build, and half-bald head is engraved in my memories as if I saw him yesterday.
He was at our house a few days before the massacre. My brother and cousins didn’t know, because they were forbidden from the office area, but I snuck about with Mama when she was bringing them drinks.
I hid by the wall and saw this same man sitting on the chair with a nonchalant coldness while Papa and my uncles spoke heatedly.
The reason I could never forget his face is because of the psychopathic-like disinterest he held for the whole conversation. I didn’t hear much because Mama quickly shut the door and shooed me away, but I heard Uncle Albert ask in a supplicating tone, “Just one more chance…”
I remember thinking a man like that wouldn’t give whatever chance Uncle Albert was asking for, and I was right. I have no clue how involved he was in the annihilation of my family, but I know for certain that he played a role in it.
A major one.
It's no coincidence that he was at our house only a few days before it was transformed into a bloodbath.
It’s also not a coincidence that I’ve seen him here, in the Special Forces camp, of all places, now of all times. Civilians aren’t allowed inside training military institutions, so he must have some sort of link to the higher-ups. This is probably fate giving me a chance to avenge my family by so fittingly putting him in my path.
A red haze covers my eyes, and my muscles home in for action. I forget why I wandered here in the first place. My physical being slowly detaches from my mental being until only one thought beats beneath the surface of my skin.
Kill.
Shoot.
Revenge.
The man moves lethargically, walking with the speed of a turtle, probably due to his large build. A disapproving look covers his features, turning his face blue. There’s nothing of the nonchalant coldness he regarded Papa and my uncles with that day.
No aristocratic haughtiness that made me want to punch him in the face even back then.
I study my surroundings, forcing my bloodstream and breathing back to normal. In fact, they’re so low, I’m slipping into the category of camouflaging my existence. A technique I’ve learned since I joined the special ops.
Viktor, who’s standing by the door the man came out of, slips inside and conveniently disappears from view.
Since he was followed by an army of guards the other time, I’m sure they’re waiting for him outside. I only have this chance to get rid of the man.
My steps are inaudible, and my movements turn fluid as I slip forward in pursuit. Once I’m close enough to perceive the glistening sweat on the back of his neck, I lean down and retrieve the knife stashed in my boot.
The closer I get, the more I suppress my breathing, mentally preparing myself for the strike.
But the moment I’m about to stab him, a shadow appears from the opposite end of the hall.
In a second, I jump back behind a wall and glue my body to it.
The shadow is his guards. Not one, but three. Burly, tall, and with mean expressions written all over their features. If I’d killed him, I’d be in shreds about now.
My breathing heightens, coming out heavy and irregular. A tear clings to my lid as I stare at him being escorted out of reach.
There’s no worse frustration than lacking power.
If I were stronger, those three guards wouldn’t have fazed me, and I would’ve finally started getting revenge for my family.
But I’m not stronger and, therefore, will be stuck in this position of thinking ‘almost’ and ‘could’ve.’
“Here you are.”
I hide the knife in the belt of my pants and dab at my eyes as a body crashes into me from behind and wraps an arm around my shoulder.
Maksim has that usual joyful gleam on his face, but there’s the general wariness everyone brims with today. “Why are you here, Sasha?”