Page 141 of Bratva Knight

Father and Autumn went to the wall and placed their palms against it, spreading their legs as if they were about to be searched. They clearly knew what was to come next, having obviously been through the process before.

A guard approached them each from behind and used a key to unlock their collars. Father stretched out his neck when the device was finally removed, Autumn doing the same. The guards kept their guns trained on all of us as they herded Father and Autumn over to the rest of us.

Apprehension bubbled up inside me. The roar of the crowd was so loud that the walls shook as the announcer continued his speech, riling them up more and more with every word he said. I shifted from one foot to the other, adrenaline surging in my veins. My siblings did the same, determination and anger burning on their faces.

I despised every bit of it. I hated that there was nothing we could do. The hopelessness. The helplessness. Either we fought or we died. There was no in between.

“Introducing the next competitors of the Til Death Games, The Crimson Death and the most notorious family in the Bratva, The Volkovs!”

Chapter Forty

Nikolai Volkov

Isteppedoutontothe field, hand up to shield my eyes from the blinding light bearing down on me. The crowd erupted, screaming, chanting, stomping their feet and clapping their hands.

“Volkov!”

“Volkov!”

“Volkov!”

The atmosphere was electric. The excitement was contagious. Having been on the other side, exactly where they were, it made being all the way down there slightly disorienting.

You could barely see a thing up there in the stands. The spotlights placed around the Arena made it almost impossible. The only thing I could make out was the outlines of the box seats all the way at the top, but they were way too far away to see who was inside them.

Lukyan and Illayana turned slowly in a circle, mouths open slightly as they took in the Arena. The field had been condensed into one terrain instead of being broken off into several.

Sand. They’d chosen sand. I wasn’t happy about that. Sand was harder to fight on.

Talon appeared on the jumbotron dangling above our heads. He had a smile on his face but his eyes burned with anger. I suspected it was from how loud the crowd was cheering for us, chanting our name.

Well, if it isn’t the consequences of your own actions.

“Wow! Aren’t we excited?!” He had no microphone, but his voice rang out into the air.

The crowd cheered again, louder this time.

“Ipresent to you, the Volkovs, the most lethal and dangerous family in all of the mafia.” He emphasised the ‘I’ in that statement, trying to make it clear thathewas the one responsible for capturing us. A feat not easily accomplished. “You’ve all heard of the Bratva Butcher. Allow me to introduce you to his children. All cut from the same cloth as their murderous father. All born and raised to be ruthless, violent killers. And all brought here to you byme,to fight for their lives in what promises to be the show of a lifetime!”

Roaring cheers erupted from all around us. Talon was really laying it on thick.

Lukyan raised his hand and waved to the crowd, like he was some kind of music superstar and everyone had come here to watch him sing, not be bludgeoned to death. Aleksandr slapped him upside the head, and Lukyan winced, rubbing the back of his skull.

“Now, I’m sure you’re alldyingto know what we have planned for the family tonight,” Talon smiled evilly. “As these are not ordinary people, I thought something special was in order, something different. Something to even the odds a little bit and ensure there is a good, brutal fight for you all to see. So, tonight, it will be a fight to the death between the Volkovs and me. Or, more specifically,allof my men.”

The relief I felt at finding out we weren’t fighting each other was short lived as the Arena flooded with soldiers, coming in from all different directions to surround us.

Five soldiers. Ten soldiers. Fifteen soldiers. The number just kept climbing.

“Back to back!” Father ordered. We quickly formed a small circle, standing shoulder to shoulder with our fronts facing outward. Father grasped Autumn by the arm and moved her into position beside him when the woman didn’t move.

Twenty. Twenty-five. Thirty.

“Aleksandr, with your sister.” My brother stepped back into the circle and moved to the other side to stand next to Illayana. We all shuffled along so he could fit, keeping the formation tight.

Thirty-five. Forty. Forty-five.

The soldiers just kept on coming, no end in sight. It was a mixture of the A-Team soldiers and the normal guards. Some were dressed in tactical gear. Some had knives. Others had bats. Batons. I think I glimpsed a mace?

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