“I’ll ask around. It will be handled; do not worry. If I may ask, what is it you think they’ve done?”
If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have been willing to share. But Dimiv is more than a cousin; he’s been an ally through adventures thick and thin. “Polly’s been taken. She’s been sold into the rings.”
Another sharp intake of breath. “Fuck.”
“I have reason to believe she was sold to a man named ‘Dominik’ and now, I need to figure out which one.”
“What crazy mudak would have sold her to the rings?”
I rub my temples against the incoming headache. “Boris Sobakin.”
“That cunt?” Dimiv exclaims in shock. “Didn’t know he had the balls.”
“He’s got something better—a lack of weaknesses.”
“Everyone has weaknesses, cousin. It may not be obvious but there’s always one.”
His confidence is catching, which is good, because the initial excitement of Alyssa remembering the name is quickly fading away. I just feel fucking tired again. “Do me a favor and dig up whatever you can about Sobakin, too. Whatever you think might help me.”
“Got it. I’ll get to work immediately.”
He hangs up and Nikolai finally stops pacing, thank fuck. His dark undereye circles are getting to be as bad as mine are. “Is this it? Is that what brings her back to us?”
“I hope so,” I mutter. “If not, I might just have to kill that motherfucker in the shed.”
I notice the bruise on Nikolai’s neck from when I grabbed him earlier. We’ve given each other our fair share of wounds over the years. But we always come together at the end of the day when the stakes get high enough.
Blood is thicker than water. That matters now more than ever.
The sun is slowly creeping out of the sky as I get to my feet. “You need to get some sleep,” I tell Nikolai, slapping him on the back. It’s as close to an apology as either of us will ever get.
He eyes me for a while before he sighs and eases. “I will when you do.”
He heads back to his place and I take a detour to the kitchen to make a tray before going to Alyssa’s room. I walk in quietly, hoping not to wake her, but she’s conscious and sitting up in bed, clearly waiting for me.
“Hey,” she mumbles quietly, nervously.
I pause at the foot of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Anxious, worried, hopeful,” she rattles off. “Did you look into who this Dominik person might be? Do you think he has Polly? Do you know where you can find him?”
I put the tray down on her bedside table and force her to lean back down on the pillows. “You need to take a deep breath and drink some tea.”
She takes the cup I hold out distractedly, but she makes no move to sip from it. “I don’t want tea.”
“Drink it anyway.”
“Uri—”
“I’m working on it, okay? I’m not sure who this Dominik is but I’m going to find out. We’ll get Polly back, I promise you that.”
With that promise secured, she takes a sip of the tea. “You haven’t slept all night, have you?”
“I need to strike while the iron is hot.”
She sighs and puts her cup down so she can grab my hands. “I’m worried about you. You need to rest. This isn’t healthy, Uri.”
“When I sleep, I dream. So I’d rather avoid it.”
“Come here.” She pulls me onto the bed in front of her with my back to her face. Then she pulls off my shirt and starts massaging me, starting from my shoulders and working her way down to my back. Her hands are small and cool on my skin and not strong enough to make much of a dent in the deep-seated knots tying me up. But it feels good nonetheless. To let myself sit here and do nothing, to let my eyes flutter closed while she pours her love into me, one fingertip at a time.
Eventually, my eyes start to tire. She coaxes me onto my side and slips in front of me.
“Alyssa…”
“Shh,” she croons hypnotically. “You’ve been taking care of me. Now, it’s my turn to take care of you. Just rest. I’m here. I’m right here.”
27
URI
The few hours of sleep I manage to get after Alyssa’s hands work their magic does wonders. I feel the most alert, the most capable, the strongest I’ve felt in a while. My thoughts are clear and focused. My determination is as steely as ever.
We’re going to bring my sister home.