Page 98 of Nikola
A tremor started in my hands as the memory lifted like a fog. The woman called me little Phoenix. Could Mama’s grandmother be the very same woman who?—
“She deserves whatever torture the Nikolaevs will put her through,” Mama signed, cutting off my thoughts as her eyes darted to the Nikolaev family. “She keeps hurting people, and it’s time she got hers.”
“Are they going to find her?” I asked.
“They already did,” Papa chimed in. “It didn’t take long for Alexei to locate her. She’s in their… basement now.”
Suddenly I knew exactly how to unleash my rage.
But first, I’d be here for Nikola when he woke up.
39
NIKOLA
My eyes burned when they finally opened, and it took several seconds for my vision to clear. The first thing I saw was Skye, her usually sparkling eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot and her cheeks puffy. She stared out the window with a thoughtful and determined expression.
I lifted my hand and put it over hers to get her attention, the gesture taking more out of me than it should.
“You better not have been crying.” My voice was hoarse and somewhat groggy.
She jolted upright, her wide eyes meeting mine, and then ran to the door, only to come back to the bed.
“You’re awake.” She signed so fast, her hands were a blur.
But it didn’t matter, because she kissed me. My lips, my cheeks, my nose. Her lips were all over my face, and I smiled.
“You better watch it, I see your papa glaring at me,” I warned her, but she didn’t care, and frankly, neither did I at this moment.
She flashed me a blinding smile as she signed, “Papa’s happy for us. He approves of us and has already told Marchetti to go to hell.”
I chuckled, not having the energy to tell her that we’d already come to a similar understanding before all hell broke loose. “I guess it only took me getting shot to get his approval.”
She winced but didn’t get to say anything else before my parents entered. She took a step back, allowing them space, but I snatched her hand and dragged her back.
“You’re not going anywhere,” I signed while rasping the words at the same time.
She settled in, and a myriad of emotions rippled through me along with a sense of peace I’d never felt before. It felt more right than anything else I’d ever experienced.
I scanned my body. I had a few bruises and scratches and my legs were wrapped in braces, but pain was absent, so it couldn’t be anything serious.
“How are you feeling, son?” Dad came around to my other side, Mom tucked under his arm protectively. He looked relieved, but she didn’t. There were unfamiliar emotions carved into her face, and they projected through the hospital room.
Maybe the drugs they’d pumped into my system were making me slow.
“I’m good,” I answered. “I’ll be up in no time.”
An emotion flickered in Dad’s eyes, but it was gone as fast as it appeared. “Good, good. That’s… good.”
I tried to sit up, but I barely moved when all three of them jumped to assist me. I chuckled, the sound coming out forced. “I can move, you know.”
“I know, son.” Mom’s eyes flitted to Dad before they locked on me. “Just let us help you.”
Once they helped me into an upright position, I glanced between the three of them, then to the window where more people lurked. Branka, Marietta, Skye’s mother—each of whom looked like they’d been crying a river—Uncle Sasha, and Dante Leone.
The expression in the latter two made me the most uneasy. There was an approval there, but also… pity?
“Okay, out with it,” I grumbled, pinning the three people in the hospital room with a hard stare. “What are you not telling me?”
