Page 121 of Nocturne

“You asked earlier if he always planned to be who he is. The answer is no.” Yuri’s voice dips lower. “When the boss first came to Roarfort, he was just a kid. Quiet, angry. No one really knows the full story—not even me. But he had a Ma, and she was gone. Dead. How? Only he and Iblis know.”

I feel a pang of something sharp and aching in my chest. I want to ask more, but the way Yuri’s voice trembles slightly stops me. I don’t want to push him too far.

“He didn’t talk much back then. Just to Iko, the man who took us in. Iko wasn’t warm, but he gave us something no one else would—a purpose. You’ve got to understand, kids in Roarfort weren’t given much to begin with. The world saw us as troublemakers, slum rats. No jobs, no trust, no chances. School? A joke. Most of us got suspended or stopped going altogether because no one cared enough to keep us there.”

Yuri’s jaw tightens, his fists curling at his sides.

“Iko cared, in his own way. He took us in when no one else would and trained us to survive, even thrive, in the only way Roarfort knew how. He turned us into Archers—Pietro Crescenzo’s hitmen. Skilled killers. We weren’t kids anymore; we were weapons. And our boss? He was the best of us. Even then, there was something about him. A relentless fury and sheer dedication to be the best.”

My throat tightens as I picture it, the anger and loss that must have driven him. I stay quiet, absorbing every word.

“Pietro treated us like animals,” Yuri continues, his voice hardening. “We weren’t people to him, just tools. If one of us died, he didn’t blink. Just sent someone else in their place. And we kept going because what else was there for us? Iko tried to fight for us, to demand better pay or safer missions, but Pietro never listened. So, the boss started taking on the deadliest missions himself. Over and over, he put himself on the line, not because Pietro deserved it, but because we deserved to come back alive.”

Yuri pauses, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles are white. The anger in his voice is almost palpable.

“Boss demanded more pay when some of us started our own families. Pietro agreed to pay us more, or so we thought. But his son, Amos, didn’t like the boss. And Pietro, for all his wariness, never had the guts to stand up to him. What happened next…” Yuri’s voice falters, his eyes clouding with pain.

My pulse quickens. “What happened?”

“Iko found someone,” Yuri says softly. “A woman. Rosie. She was everything he wasn’t—warm, kind, full of life. She was pregnant with their child. She cooked for all of us. The boss used to walk her to the market, carry her groceries, and stay close so nothing would happen to her. For a moment, it felt like we had something more than the blood and violence. Like we could be… normal.”

Tears sting my eyes, but I hold them back, sensing this story is far from over.

“Pietro’s men saw her one day,” Yuri says, his voice shaking with controlled fury. “Thought she was Boss’s woman and not Iko’s. Thought she was his weakness, so they killed her. And Iko. And all our men who weren’t out on a mission.”

My hand flies to my mouth, and the tears I’ve been holding back spill over. I can’t stop them.

“When the boss came back…” Yuri exhales sharply, as if trying to expel the memory. “I’ve never seen anything like it. He turned into the monster they called him. Even sent warnings to The Dark Accord brothers to stay out of his way. Shut down Pietro’s entire operation—casinos, trafficking, assassinations. Everything. Pietro had no money left to hire mercenaries to protect him. And then the boss went after him. Not just him—his whole empire. The Archers didn’t even hesitate. We followedhim because we knew he was right. He killed every last one of them who was responsible for our people’s deaths.”

My chest feels like it’s caving in. “And then?”

“When Pietro was gone, and Amos somehow escaped, we needed a leader. The boss didn’t want it. Tried to give it to Iblis, but we all knew there was no one else who could do it. He didn’t take the throne for himself. He took it for us, for the promise of a better future.”

Yuri’s gaze finally meets mine, piercing and intense.

“He’s not a good man, Ms. Ara. But he’s loyal. And he’s given us more than anyone else ever has. We’re not slum rats anymore. Our kids go to private schools now—schools we built for us. He pays us well. He’s turned us into something no one thought we could be.”

My heart races as I listen, a mix of awe and something deeper swelling in my chest. I blink back tears as Yuri looks at me again, his expression softer now but still heavy with emotion.

“You’re the only thing he’s ever asked me to protect outside of the Archers, Ms. Ara. The boss... he doesn’t ask for much. Orders? Sure. That’s duty. But this?” Yuri pauses, his gaze steady and unflinching.

“It’s different. I’m honoured to be here, guarding you, because it’s finally a chance to do something for the man who’s done everything for us.”

My chest tightens, my heartbeat quickening at his words.

“Why me?” I manage to whisper, my voice shaky.

“Because you mean something to him,” Yuri says simply. “And that means something to us.”

The weight of his words settles over me, leaving me stunned and breathless.

* * *

I sniff again, the tears streaming uncontrollably down my face. My chest tightens with each breath, a physical ache matching the turmoil in my heart. Yuri watches me with concern etched across his face, his earlier confidence in sharing the story now replaced by what looks like regret. But I’m grateful he doesn’t push me to speak—I couldn’t string two coherent words together right now if I tried.

Later, when I find the strength, I’ll thank him. Because without him, I might never have known this side of the man who stirs such confusing, relentless feelings inside me. A part of me always suspected there was more to Zagan than his cold, unyielding exterior. How could there not be, when he saved me time and time again, without any obligation? But suspicion is one thing—acknowledgement is another. And until now, I’d chosen to ignore it.

Zagan isn’t a good man. He’s far from it. But Harley was right—so much depends on perspective. No one should have to endure what Zagan or his people did. Yuri spared me the worst of the details, I’m sure, but even the fragments I’ve heard are enough to twist my stomach into knots. There’s more to know, more to understand, but I can’t bear it right now.

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