Page 80 of Shattered Altar (Makarova Bratva Duet)

I roll my eyes even harder, then turn towards where my brother’s car is parked in front of the building.

I remember when he bought that car. He was twenty and he paid for it entirely with his own money. It’s a piece of shit now, but I know he’s going to keep driving it until it breaks down completely and nothing on earth will revive it.

I asked him once why he still hung onto it when the cost to maintain it was more expensive than buying something new.

“It was the first thing I ever did all on my own,” he told me.

Whenever he came home to visit for a few days, he and Dad would spend most of the weekend in the garage tinkering around with it. That’s probably another reason Rob has kept it so long past its expiration date. There are memories of our father baked into the metal.

Demyan raises his hand to his ear, and I realize he’s wearing a barely visible earpiece. He listens for a moment and nods. “On it.”

He turns to me. “We’re up. Let’s—”

“Coming.” I jump out before Demyan can even finish the command—and immediately fall flat on the ground with a yelp.

Demyan snorts as he gazes down at me. “That was graceful.”

“Shut up,” I snap. “My legs are asleep.”

He offers me a hand, but I bat it away and get to my feet on my own. My thighs are on pins and needles, but I shake them out to get the blood flowing again.

“This way,” he says, shepherding me forward. “And no funny business, got it?”

He adjusts his shirt, making sure I catch a glimpse of the gun in the waistband of his pants. I’m so used to being threatened at this point that it doesn’t really register.

“Yeah, yeah. Lead the way, cowboy.”

We set off trudging in the direction of the building. But as we approach, Demyan suddenly grabs my arm and pulls me around the back.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“We’re taking the back entrance in.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s Aleks’s side.”

“Sides? I thought this was a neutral meeting place.”

He chuckles again. “This world is going to be very cruel to you if you insist on being so damn naïve.”

I puff a stray lock of hair out of my face. “Excuse me for thinking we can all be rational adults about this.”

“The rules are different here, princess,” he says. “You need to learn that if you plan to survive it.”

“I don’t plan on staying in this world for long.”

There is something akin to pity in his expression, if a man like him is even capable of such an emotion. He sighs. “Like I said: cruel awakening in your future.”

I can’t ask him to explain because we walk through the back door just then and I catch a glimpse of Aleks’s back. Jesus, the man has broad shoulders. Like Superman, if Superman abandoned all sense of morality and decided to start wearing Brioni suits.

Then Aleks moves to the side and I see my brother.

“Rob!”

He looks tired. Dark circles burn around his eyes and he’s lost weight since I last saw him.

I move forward, ready to run to him, but Demyan grabs my arms to hold me back. “What did I tell you?” he growls in my ear. “No funny business.”

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