Page 115 of Unveiled

“Eli! Stop!” My voice cracks. I grab for his arm, but he’s already swinging again.

Semyon moves, grabbing Eli’s wrist effortlessly. His expression is calm, but I know that cold look in his eyes. I want to pull them apart, to make them stop, but I can’t. Semyon shoves Eli back, sending him crashing into a dresser.

Eli comes up swinging, launching himself at Semyon, his fists flying. A roar tears through the room. I scream as they slam into the wall, grappling, their bodies colliding. A framed print crashes to the floor from the wall, glass shattering. On the otherside of the door, fists pound, yelling. Now I know why Semyon shut that door.

Eli swings again but misses, his aim off. Semyon lands a brutal punch to Eli’s stomach, but Eli recovers fast. He rams his shoulder into Semyon, and they both tumble to the ground, fists flying. They grunt and curse, rolling while they beat each other. Blood splatters on the floor.

I hate this. My heart is in my throat seeing the two men I love beat each other like this. “Stop it! You’re going to kill each other!” I scream.

Neither of them listens.

Eli is smaller and weaker after captivity, but he fights as if he’s got nothing left to lose.

And maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he fucking doesn’t. I swipe at the hot, fat tears that roll down my cheeks.

For once, Semyon isn’t in control… isn’t calculated.This is personal.

They crash into a nightstand, sending a lamp shattering to the floor. They hit each other again and again. They’re going to kill each other. They snarl and curse, fighting dirty, fighting mean. I’ve never seen them fight like this, and something tells me this one isn’t going to end.

I look wildly around the room for something to use to stop them when they roll right at my feet. I see Semyon’s gun.

I reach for it, cock it, aim for the ceiling, and pull the trigger. Chunks of plaster fall to my feet, dust and debris making me blink and cough. Semyon and Eli stop. Semyon’s instantlyon his feet, running to me. His hand shakes as he cups my face, fear in his normally placid gaze. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” I whisper, choked up at the obvious concern in his eyes.

Eli watches him, wide-eyed.

Semyon’s eye’s swollen shut, he has a bloody lip, and his wound is bleeding. He lost his glasses somewhere in the mix. He looks younger without them.

Both of them are panting, bloody.

“I’m fine. You fucking idiots!” My hands are planted on my hips. “You couldn’t talk like sensible adults?”

Semyon’s heaving air, wiping at his split lip. “You done?”

Eli breathes hard on his back, staring at the ceiling. His eyes land on Semyon’s shoulder, where blood seeps through the fabric. “Jesus. What’d I do to your shoulder?”

“Oh, just opened up agunshot wound,” I snap.

Semyon shakes his head and rolls his shoulders as if it’s nothing. “I’m fine.”

“Mygod.” I shake my head, my nerves completely shot. “Seriously. You two could’ve killed each other like absolute imbeciles.”

Eli’s eyes meet mine, narrowed and angry. “Did he hurt you?” He looks back at Semyon, his anger rising again. “That’s my fucking sister, you douchebag.”

“I’m well aware,” Semyon says smoothly. “And, of course, I wouldn’t hurt her.”

Semyon scoffs, but I can see the tension in his muscles. He lied. He’s definitely in pain.

Eli pushes himself up to an elbow. “Why Anya? Of all people, Semyon, mysister.”

Semyon’s eyes flash at him. “Because there are no other women for me, Eli, and there never was.”

I stare at Semyon as the truth crashes in on me.

He was waiting for me.

He’s planned every move in life just like he plans his moves on a chessboard. He waited until I was grown up—until I needed him—and he had a way to bargain for me.

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