Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
“We have to go far back, not just a few years,” Steele reminded them. “Think in terms of Helena, or Mila, being a young girl, not the woman we’re looking for today. Mechanic, Transporter, you two might have better memories. You’ve been with Czar the longest of any of us. Think back to why a girl would have a grudge against Czar. Or Viktor. Let’s think of him as Viktor.”
“Maybe it was a young girl who fell in love with you and you ended the relationship,” Blythe ventured, turning to her husband.
Czar slid his arm around the back of the seat and dropped his hand on her neck. “I didn’t have time to flirt with girls, Blythe. No one was going to fall for me, not even in my teens. It was hell down there. I thought of it as a dungeon, a torture chamber, and it could be called those things. No one fell in love.”
Alena cleared her throat. “That’s not altogether true, Czar. Some of us needed to think someone down in that hellhole actually did care. I was one that needed that kind of reassurance, and I made up fantasies. When I was eight and nine, I was sure Destroyer, a much older boy, who at the time was kind to me, was going to be my prince. He betrayed me by saving his sister instead of allowing Ice and Storm to win the challenge so they could save me. That’s what a real prince would have done—thrown the race so I could go free.”
Alena blew Destroyer a kiss. “I held a grudge for a long time, the way children do. But then I did find love. Maybe it was teenage love, but Demyan was my hero over the next few years. I sometimes felt as if I couldn’t get through a single hour without him.” She swallowed hard, as if there was a huge lump in her throat as she turned her gaze to Absinthe. “I loved him so much. When he died, I honestly didn’t think I’d live through it.”
“I know you loved him, honey,” Absinthe murmured. “He loved you. You were his world. He told me often that his number one goal was to get us out of there so he could give you everything you deserved.”
Tears glistened in Alena’s eyes for a moment, but she blinked them away. “I just want you to understand, Czar, you’re a rock—you’re our rock. Demyan leaned on you too. All of us did. There may have been a girl you barely noticed who wanted to lean on you.”
“I’m sorry I’m having all of you bring up memories that hurt,” Czar said quietly. “I’d never ask you, but it’s Blythe and the children in danger, not just me.”
“Demyan is a good memory,” Absinthe said.
The others nodded.
Steele took a deep breath. “He should have made it out with us. We were so close. For years I blamed myself that I took my eyes off him, and they killed him. It’s the reason I hold Breezy too close.”
“Steele.” Absinthe’s voice was pitched low. “We put this right between us. You were a prisoner, just as he was. They tortured you both. You were tied up. The things they were doing to you—to him . . . That wasn’t on you. Sorbacov allowed them to kill him. I thought for years it was because I wasn’t strong enough to hold the bridge between us. Demyan broke the bridge. He knew he was dying, and he spared me his death. He would have spared you if he could have.”
Ambrielle could hear the raw heartbreak in Absinthe’s voice. She could see it on Alena’s face. Demyan had been loved by these people. All of Torpedo Ink had loved the man. They’d all been through so much, over and over and at such young ages.
Master leaned down and put his mouth against her ear. “You’re too compassionate, princess. You have tears in your eyes.”
His voice was so low and raspy. He shouldn’t be talking. Shouldn’t be reassuring her. She needed to be taking care of him, not the other way around. Did she have tears in her eyes? She blinked back the terrible burn and found herself snuggling deeper under Master’s arm. He felt safe.
“You weren’t there for a lot of this because you were at the prison, right?” she whispered.
He nodded. “During the day, but at night, I was always back with Viktor and the others. I was a bloody mess. We all were.”
“Czar,” Lana asked. “Could you have ordered a hit on the mentor? On this Dellicia? Or a member of the family? I mean when she knew you as Viktor? Someone this girl cared about?”
Czar shook his head and ran both hands through his hair. “I don’t remember sending anyone after a Dellicia.”