by Ivy Clyde
“Miss Wilson.” A voice called out my name followed by a loud knocking.
Looking toward the front of the class, I found Dr. Turner, the Math teacher, waving at me.
“My next class will be here any minute,” she said. “You need to leave now.”
“Oh, right!” I squeaked, shoving my books in my bag. Stella had already left to use the bathroom just before class ended. My thoughts distracted me so much I wasn’t even aware of the students clearing the room. Getting to my feet, I hurried down the aisles and walked out of the room.
Oh no! As soon as I stepped into the corridor, I came face to chest with Dimitri. Before I could sidestep and walk by, he grasped my wrist and pulled me backward.
“Why are you avoiding me, Skye?” His voice was low but his amber eyes were narrowed at me.
He is a monster with the face of an angel. Christian’s voice rang in my mind as I looked up at his devastatingly beautiful face.
When I didn’t say anything, he tightened his hold on my wrist and began pulling me down the corridor. My heart raced as I struggled to get out of his hold. “Where are you taking me?” I asked, feeling the icy chills of fear creep inside me.
He came to a sudden halt, making me slam into his broad back. Leaning down, so he could be level with me, he said, “Why are you so scared? I am not even trying to kiss you right now.”
“Why do you have to drag me around like this?” I asked, doing my best not to let my voice falter. I still had to find a way to get close to him but I needed more time to get my head around the fact he’d already killed someone with the same face as mine. Did he hate Maria or love her? What could make him shoot her in front of a bunch of strangers?
“I want to talk to you,” he said. “Don’t you think it’s better we went somewhere else?”
“You can just tell me here,” I said, pulling my wrist away but he held on strongly.
“I’m afraid you’ll run if I let you go.”
He had a point. I forced myself to calm down. “What do you want to talk about?” I asked.
“Follow me first.” Turning around, he walked down the hallway. I followed after him even as he strode through the tall archways leading out of the academy building and into the grounds. He didn’t stop until we were far from the main campus, choosing a spot near the edges of the woods.
“Did Andrei say something to you?”
A cool breeze blew by, playing with the strands of my hair as I wondered whether to lie or be truthful.
“He told me about Maria.”
“And?”
My heart throbbed harder as I met the intense look in his eyes. “He told me you shot her.”
A wind picked up, blowing a flurry of dried leaves through the space between me and Dimitri. He stepped forward, never taking his eyes off me, keeping me enthralled with the predatory gaze in his gold-hued eyes.
“Do you know about our families now?” he asked.
I nodded. “You’re mafia.”
“Then, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to imagine what we do to those who steal from us.”
“You kill them,” I whispered, my throat dry.
He chuckled and shook his head. The sound sent a chill slithering down my spine. “Killing is too easy. People who steal from us pay with more than just their pitiful lives. Every crime has a specific punishment.” My feet stepped back as he moved closer to me. “Maria stole from the entire syndicate. If it was a matter of our family, we could have looked the other way and forgiven her, but she stole from others too.”
“Was the evidence that strong?” I asked, surprised by the challenge in my voice.
“Yes. The evidence was too strong to refute it.” He moved another step closer, forcing me against the trunk of a tree behind me. “Do you know what we do to thieves?” he asked in a deadly soft voice.
“Kill?” I hazarded a guess.
“We start by cutting off their lying tongues first,” said Dimitri in that same soft voice that chilled my insides as the image of the violence rose up in my mind. “Then, we proceed to chop off their fingers one at a time. Next, we burn away the tattoos that signify their ranks in the gang.” He took a deep breath. “None of those violations happened to Maria. I shot her through the heart with one single bullet, letting it all end before she could suffer further.”
The only sound around us was the rustling of the overhead branches. Silence settled between us as I considered his words while he watched me closely for my reaction.
“People call me a monster,” he said after a while. “Maybe I am one, but you can trust me not to hurt you.”
“How?” I asked in a choked voice. His explanation sounded good in theory but he still killed the girl he was supposed to be in love with, the girl who grew up with him. “You killed Maria just because someone planted some evidence against her.”
Closing his eyes, he shook his head. “She should have run away but she chose to be loyal and died for the charges placed on her.” Looking at me with a downward turn of his mouth, he added, “You’ll never understand. I don’t blame you. You didn’t grow up the way we did but Andrei should be more understanding and not poison you against me.”
He leaned into me, brushing the tip of his nose over my cheek. “You don’t have to fear me, Skye,” he whispered, his warm breath spreading across my skin.
My back scraped against the rough bark of the tree trunk. “How can I trust you?” I asked just as his lips brushed over the shell of my ear.
He moved away and stared at me with those beautiful amber eyes that seemed almost gold in the sunlight. “If I wanted to hurt you, I could have done so a long time ago. You were foolish enough to ride behind Andrei on that dangerous cliffside of the mountain racecourse. Weren’t you scared then?”
“I trust Andrei,” I declared, lifting my chin.
A soft chuckle escaped him. “Did you ever consider how easy it would have been for me to push his bike and throw you both tumbling down the cliff? Accidents like that happen all the time.” He grinned at the shocked look spreading over my face. “Instead, I chose to lose the race to you and him.”
Something shifted inside me at those words. The fear I’d felt for him disappeared even though I couldn’t trust him completely.
“I can understand why you’d want to protect Andrei. You guys grew up together. But what about me? Do you like me just because I look like your dead girlfriend?”
“I’d like you no matter who you looked like,” he said, looking at me with a grim expression. “You saved my life, remember? No matter what happens, I’d always protect you. The debt between us will never be paid until then.”
He took a step back from me, allowing me to push off the tree trunk. “Think about everything I’ve told you and decide for yourself,” he said. “Just know that I have no intention of hurting you.”
“Give me some time. It’s all too much to process at once,” I admitted.
He gave a nod, turned around and walked back toward the dorm building in the far distance.
I took a deep breath, struggling to calm the raging emotions within me. Part of me wanted to trust Dimitri but the more logical part of my mind warned me against him.
Why do I have to make sense of this shit? I thought, kicking the roots of a tree in my frustration.
As another gust of wind blew by, I realized how alone I was in this part of the campus. With the arrival of October, the weather had turned cooler. The afternoon sunshine lacked warmth and was about to fade away.
Not a good place to get caught by Saxon’s gang, I decided, hurrying back toward the campus. The hour before lunch was free today but half of it was already spent during my conversation with Dimitri.
I entered the academy building, knowing no one could openly bully me in the halls with the teachers still around. Winding through the corridors, I reached one of the restrooms and went inside. Just as I entered a stall, I heard Miranda’s familiar voice followed by the giggles of her friends.
Darn
it! I sat tight on the toilet seat, hoping they wouldn’t care to knock on the door.
“That charity bitch is a slippery one,” said one of the girls. “She gets away from us every time.”
“We need to think of a way to catch her and that black whore in a place they can’t escape or avoid us easily,” said another.
“Look into their schedules,” said Miranda in a commanding tone. “It’s best to get them outside the Science Building. We can catch hold of them just as they are passing the grounds to reach the dorms.”
A moment’s pause later, a fourth voice spoke up. “They have a class there after lunch. We finish our Economics class then too. Perfect timing, Miranda.”
“Good,” said Miranda’s satisfied voice. “Let’s get done here and go out.”
The sound of the stall doors closing reached my ears. Someone kicked on my door and shouted for me to get out but I just sat tight. In my desperation, I made some farting noises by placing my mouth on the back of my hand and blowing on it.
“Eww! Gross!” the girl screamed, backing away.
The girls stayed behind for another five minutes before flocking out of the bathroom.
I exhaled slowly, taking my phone out of my bag. Stella had to be warned about the ambush waiting for us. I texted her about Miranda’s plan, telling her to skip the Computer Science lab session that afternoon. It was better to have the teacher frown at you than get beaten up and having your head forced inside a toilet.
Peeking through a narrow gap in the door, I made sure Miranda and her posse were gone from the bathroom. The area outside my stall was empty. Releasing a heavy breath, I walked out and glanced at the spotless mirror covering one side of the wall. My sky-blue eyes stared back at me, taking in the look of absolute relief on my face.
Everything seemed difficult at the moment. Dimitri was asking me to trust him. Even if I didn’t, was there any choice in the matter? Nikolai made it clear I had to get closer to him. To top it all, there was always the threat of getting mauled by the resident harpies of the academy.
Raking my fingers through the length of my dark tresses, I combed out a few stray strands. My stomach grumbled. It was close to lunchtime but I knew Miranda was out for my blood today. If she spotted me in the cafeteria, she would definitely come for me instead of waiting until the end of my classes.
Heaving another breath, I pulled the strap of my satchel higher on my shoulder and walked out. The corridors of the academy building were quiet and deserted as classes were still going on in some of the classrooms. Taking one of the stone staircases, I decided to check out the topmost floor. At least, I could enjoy the view from up there and wait until lunch hour was over to sneak back to the dorms.
Up and up I went, reaching the seventh floor of the building.
The cool fresh breeze flowing through the corridor here was refreshing. My legs ached but I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the fresh air. One side of the hallway faced the valley, giving a spectacular view of the hilly woods that surrounded the academy. From up here, I could see the first signs of fall coming our way. Some of the foliage had turned gold even though most of it was still green.
A few minutes later, I became aware of the sounds of a piano. It was a slow melody, something unknown but deeply touching. My feet moved toward the music.
Curiosity welled inside me. I’d never expected there to be a piano here. As I walked down the corridor, I realized that all the classrooms were empty. The only sound was that of the wind and the beautiful music.
Reaching a room at the far end, I peered inside a classroom that had the door wide open. A guy with spiky dark green hair sat at the grand piano. His back was toward me but I knew who it was. I’d seen that shade of green on only one guy. Mikhael Petrov continued to play the soulful tune, unaware of my presence.
I stood at the doorway, staying silent. Somehow, the music reminded me of my childhood days when life wasn’t so harsh. Dad had bought me an old piano on my sixth birthday and had taken it on himself to give me lessons. Visions of summer afternoons rose up in my mind, the smell of honeysuckle and roses wafting through the open windows, the sound of my father’s doting voice teaching me the keys.
Tears seeped through my closed eyes, rolling down my cheeks.
All too soon, silence descended down on me. Opening my eyes, I found Mikhael staring at me from his seat at the piano. Surprise flitted through those pale gray eyes as they settled on me.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you,” I said quickly. “I’ll leave.”
“No, wait.” His voice called before I could walk away. “Come back.”
I turned around, looking at the soft expression on his face. He looked very different from his usual, carefree self. I walked up to him, wondering if this was the person he hid behind the uncaring personality.
“Why are you crying?” he asked, getting to his feet and standing before me.
“Crying?” My hand brushed over my cheeks and felt the wetness there. “Your music was beautiful,” I said after a while. “It reminded me of a happier time. These tears came from thinking of those days.”
Stepping closer, he ran the pad of his thumb on my cheek. “You could feel all that from listening to the tune.”
I nodded, looking into his clear gray eyes.
“Did you ever play?” he asked.
“I took lessons when I was younger. Doubt if I could ever play again.”
“Why don’t you give it a try?” He gestured toward the piano. My heart lifted at the offer. Anticipation and anxiety warred inside me as I wondered whether I could really play again. It had been years since I touched the keys of a piano.
Moving forward, I sat down on the bench. My fingers tapped the keys in a slow rhythm, remembering the tune I played the most.
“Is that ‘Let it be’ by The Beetles?” asked Mikhael, sitting on the bench beside me.
“Yeah,” I replied, increasing the pace of the song as confidence grew within me. “This was my dad’s favorite tune. We always sat down to play it together.”
Mikhael’s fingers hovered over the keys. A moment later, he started playing alongside me, turning the song into a duet. There were times when I touched the wrong key, completely offsetting the tune but Mikhael helped bring it back to the right one every time.
A smile stretched my lips. I hadn’t felt so happy in a long, long time.
When the song ended, I looked toward Mikhael. It felt like I was seeing him for the first time. Each time I met him before, he would either hide in Andrei’s shadow or behind the mask of his cheerful personality. He kept this side of him firmly closed off.
“I had no idea you could play so beautifully,” I said, my soft voice sounding too loud in the quiet room.
He shook his head. “This is nothing. I can’t play like I used to anymore.” He spread his fingers before him, gazing at them with a wistful expression. Looking closely, I realized the pinkie finger on his left hand was slightly crooked. Soon, I discovered more signs of injury. Deep scars marred the pale skin of both his hands.
“What happened to you?” I asked, my brows furrowing as I took his hand in mine.
“Egor broke my hands when I was fourteen,” he said. “I’d touched the brand new Lamborghini he’d bought and left a fingerprint. This was my punishment.”
“Egor? Andrei’s elder brother?”
He gave a nod. “You met him, right?”
“Yes. He’s kind of gone crazy now but I still can’t believe he could be so cruel.”
“You have no idea.” Exhaling a long breath, he pulled his hands away. Looking at me with a vulnerable expression, he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Skye…you can’t tell anyone about this. Not even Andrei.”
“Sure. I’ll keep your secret.” A soft smile lit up his features at my promise. “Do you come here often though?”
“Not often, no. This place is rarely used by the music students. This room is more of a storage area for them. I fixed the piano af
ter coming across it two years ago. If the music club finds out, they’ll take it away from here.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” I repeated my promise to him. “Also, thank you so much for letting me play today. I was awful but you made it sound good.”
“I was worse than you but practicing often has helped.”
“Does it still hurt?” I asked, gesturing toward his scarred hands, wondering what kind of monster Egor Romanoff had been to do this to a fourteen-year-old kid.
“It hurts more over here.” He pointed at his heart. “The pain is always inside me. Neither my body nor my mind can forget it even though the wounds have healed.”
“I’m sorry.”
He gave a solemn nod, accepting my sentiment.
“I should go now,” I said, standing up.
My heart ached for him and I didn’t want him to see the tears and pity welling up in my eyes. I walked out of the classroom, wondering how Mikhael came to be associated with the Romanoff family. With what right did Egor do that to him? The sound of the soulful tune I’d heard earlier started up again.
I stood in the corridor for a moment longer, memorizing it before heading back to the dorms.
28
Skye
It was at the end of the second week of October when I finally got the opportunity to look inside Saxon’s computer. My iPad kept receiving pings every time he switched on the laptop but I was either too busy or away from my dorm room to take advantage of it.
Tonight was one of those rare evenings at the academy when I wasn’t forced to work on assignments. If one of the teachers didn’t set us something tomorrow, we could be looking forward to a free weekend. I was watching the first episode of V Wars when my iPad pinged from beside me. Picking it up, I saw Saxon had opened his laptop too.
A mischievous grin stretched my lips as I got off the bed and moved toward my workstation. Firing up one of the PCs, I quickly opened the interface that would allow me to access Saxon’s laptop. Another screen opened, showing me the wallpaper of his computer. It was a nude photograph of a famous model posing on a chaise lounge wearing an incredible diamond choker at her neck. Her small breasts were completely bare. The mound between her legs was covered in coarse black hair. It was an unusual photo because most models would wax those off instead of showing them so confidently.