Page 23 of Midnight Sanctuary

“Good—”

“—as soon as Polly’s back home.”

“Goddammit,you’re stubborn.”

“Let me know as soon as you find out anything.”

I hang up before he can lecture me more. Then I decide to go to the kitchen and make myself some black coffee. At this rate, it feels like I’m made up of one-thirds anguish and two-thirds caffeine.

I’m halfway to the kitchen when I run into Svetlana in the hallway. She’s carrying a bowl of cereal.

“Lev?” I ask.

She nods. “He wakes up early these days.” Her eyes flit towards the basement door in the corner. “Sir… he’s still asking for—”

“No.” Her mouth snaps shut and she nods meekly. “If he asks again, shut it down.”

“Of course, sir.”

She ducks upstairs and I pivot in the direction of the basement. All the pain and hurt and suffering—it’s all because ofher. If it weren’t for Alyssa, Lev wouldn’t have been abducted and Polly wouldn’t still be gone; my brother wouldn’t be going through Alyssa withdrawal symptoms and my sister wouldn’t be facing sexual enslavement at the ripe old age of fourteen.

“Blyat’,” I growl as my body takes over, fueled by the rage burrowing its way through me.

Abandoning my coffee, I charge down towards the basement. The soldier on guard duty opens the door at the sight of me and I power through without breaking stride, ready to unleash my anger on her.

She’s lying in the fetal position on the bed, but I can tell at a glance that she’s wide awake and that she has been for a while. I would know—we’ve got matching dark circles under our eyes.

“Did you find Polly?” she asks the moment she sees me.

All that question does is fuel my fury. But she’s right—the onus is onmeto find Polly. It always has been.

“‘Find Polly’?” At the sound of my voice, Alyssa flinches, even though she’s still far out of arm’s reach. I keep my distance—if I get too close to her, there’s no telling what I’ll do. Kiss her, fuck her, throttle her… each option seems worse than the last. “How am I supposed to find Polly when you’ve given me no information?”

“I told you—”

“I already knew about the rings. Tell me something I don’t know. You were with her for almost two days and you’re telling me you didn’t pick up on anything while you were there?”

She pales. “I-I’m trying to remember… but the drugs he gave me—”

“Don’t hide behind excuses.”

Her eyes flare wide. First, there’s shock; then anger. She springs up off the bed, her slip sliding over her skin like butter. “You think I’m using that as an excuse?” She laughs hysterically. “You think I don’t want to get Polly back as fast as possible? You think I’menjoyingthis?”

“It’s your fault she’s been taken. I would think you’d be trying harder to remember—”

“Don’t you think I want to? I’m spending every damn minute in here going over and over it in my mind, trying to piece together what happened! I’mkilling myselftrying to remember, Uri!”

I grab her elbow and yank her towards me just so that I can snarl in her face, “Tryharder.”

I don’t know what to think when I look at her. I don’t know how to be, who to be. It’s not escaping my notice that she’s lost weight. Her slip hangs off her shoulders, the thin straps revealing her protruding collarbones. Her skin is pale and the arm caught in my grasp feels fragile enough to crumble if I push too hard.

“You coming in here and yelling at me isn’t going to help!” she cries out. “None of this is going to help. God, Uri, you can’t even look at me.”

“Because when I look at you, all I see is betrayal. I trusted you and you stabbed me in the back.”

A broken sob escapes her lips. “Do you really think I need you to tell me how badly I fucked up?”

Her warmth is rubbing off on me and I realize what a dangerous position I’m in. She’s going to lure me in with her siren’s eyes, her soft pleading words, her love for my siblings.

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