Page 26 of Emerald Vices

His eyes grow distant. “Usually, only three to four at the most. But for a while, Olivia helped me with the smaller kids.”

“Olivia?”

His knuckles are white. He bites his lip as though he’s regretting mentioning the name. “She was my… my friend,” he admits at last. “She was a year younger. Her mother was a mare, too. She also had a sister who had just become a filly…”

He trails off and I don’t have to ask to know what became of Olivia. If her mother and sister were already conscripted into Nikolai’s reprehensible skin trade, then she didn’t stand a chance.

“We used to talk about running away sometimes,” Misha confesses in a hushed voice. “Olivia used to come up with plans to escape.”

“Did you ever try?”

Misha shakes his head. “We were too scared. We’d seen too many fillies try to escape. They were always caught and punished. Our escape plans were just dreams.”

At a loss for words, I reach out and take his hand. He winces, but I just grip his hand a little tighter. “I’m glad you had someone.”

He shrugs, shaking me off as though physical touch is more than he can deal with right now. “For a little while. Then Olivia disappeared, too.”

Even though I’m expecting it, my heart sinks like a stone.

“It happens.” There’s a bitterness in his voice I wish I could override. Years of pain and heartbreak I wish I could take away. “Everyone comes and goes. Even the children. Olivia and I were the only kids who’d been around for over a year. Maybe that’s why I didn’t expect it to happen. But… you just have to move on.”

“But you didn’t, did you?”

I know the answer already. It’s laughable that anyone thought Misha could be a spy. He’s loyal through and through. Of course he looked for Olivia.

His chin sags down to his chest. “I asked her mom and sister, but neither one knew what happened to her. They said she was probably bought.”

“I’m so sorry, Misha.”

“I’m used to it. People always disappear.” His eyes snap to mine when he says it and guilt scourges through me.

I told him he was as good as my kid.

And then I tried to leave.

“I’m sorry, Misha. I’m so damn sorry.”

He doesn’t say anything and I don’t explain myself. I don’t really need to.

We both know what I’m apologizing for.

11

ANDREY

“The Black Brigade?” I nearly choke on my own disbelief. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“If I was gonna joke, I’d tell a better one than this.”

Shura is not wrong. Nothing about this is funny.

“The Black Brigade hasn't been active since the 1960s,” I say. “And even then, they didn’t cause trouble.”

“Maybe Slavik made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.”

“Fuck!” I pound my fist against my desk and rise to my feet. “It’s bad enough that the Halcones were brought in. Now, the fucking Black Brigade, too? What’s next?”

“Godzilla destroying downtown, probably.” I side-eye him, and he shrugs. “Maybe jokes aren’t for me. Should I inform the allies or…?”

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