Page 67 of Cruel Promise

“I apologize if I’m overstepping. But I do think you need it. You need to understand why, every time you leave this house, I call Mr. Petrov and report to him about your absence. This is my life now.”

“Are you afraid of Nikolai?” I whisper.

Edmund smiles, dissipating some of my tension. “No. I’m not afraid of him. But I learned long ago to not make any men in this profession angry. I will never get on Mr. Petrov’s bad side. Not even, I’m afraid, for you.”

And there’s the rub.

Edmund and Mrs. Brown and Claude—they’re all on Nikolai’s side. He pays them, gives them a good life, and they don’t want to risk it. They won’t risk it for me.

I’m truly alone here. The only one I ever had was my mother, and I still need answers about what happened to her.

I need to talk to my father again.

NIKOLAI

My head is dangling, creating a kink in my neck.

When I lift it, all I see is a cement room. My hands are above my head, attached to cuffs in the ceiling. My feet barely touch the ground.

It seems The Knights have their own little torture room. I have to admit, I’m a little impressed.

There’s only one door in the room. It opens and in walks Maxim, holding a knife in his hands.

“I didn’t want to do this, Nikolai,” he says. “I wanted peace. But you didn’t want that. So now, I need to make you pay for all my men you killed.”

I smile. “Bring it on.”

AVA

I need a gun.

That’s the only way I can make my father take me seriously.

Maxim did shoot him, but I know my father. He didn’t die. He’s too much of a coward to do that.

Nikolai must have guns scattered throughout the house in case someone attacked. I just never bothered to look before, but now, I do.

I scour the living room but don’t find anything. I scour the library and don’t find anything. I try the door to his office, but it’s locked, and I don’t have a key.

Lastly, I try the door to his room, but it’s also locked.

So, I try once more to search for a gun.

And that’s when I find it. Taped to the underside of the couch in the living room. It makes me wonder how many other guns I missed out on in my search. The thought sends a shiver down my spine.

It’s been a day since Nikolai left the house and locked me up. I don’t know where he is, and I don’t care. I just need to find my mom’s body.

I approach Edmund with the gun. “Let me pass.” I don’t point it at him, but I know he can see it. His eyes widen, and he backs away from the door.

“I know you’re going to call Nikolai,” I say. “But I have to do this.”

He doesn’t say a word as I leave. I wait for Nikolai’s guards to follow me, but … no one does. Strange. Not my problem.

I use some of the money I stole from Mrs. Brown to buy another subway ticket and reach my father’s apartment. I bang on the door with the butt of the gun.

“It’s me,” I say.

After a long moment, he cracks the door open. “Ava, what are you?—”

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