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"Brother?" the giant asks, turning to me and assessing me carefully for the first time. "Vlad?" he asks and I nod, surprised to hear my name coming from his lips.

"Vlad," Katya's voice rings out as she continues forward. Slowly—ever so slowly she steps into my waiting arms as I stiffly embrace her.

Katya. My sister is alive.

"How…" I find myself speechless for the first time as I look at her.

She doesn't look bad. Certainly not how I would have imagined her to look if I ever found her.

But there's this bleakness in her eyes that's replaced the youthful vibe from before.

She looks worn, and jaded, and entirely too old for her twenty-six years.

"You're here to get us out," she breathes, a hint of hope sparkling in her eyes. "T," she turns to the man, "we're really going to be free," she says before she goes back to him, sobs racking her body as she closes her arms around his massive frame. "We made it."

"Ah,Bia mia," he gently strokes her hair, "we did," he whispers as he continues to hold her.

A soft hand slips into mine, startling me from the sweet scene in front of me.

Sisi lays her head on my shoulder, her fingers tightening over mine.

"You did it, Vlad," her voice is so full of emotion, and one look at her face tells me she's on the brink of tears, "you found her." She gives me a smile that could rival the sun in its intensity.

And for the first time I feel my chest expand, relief flooding every cell of my body.

"I did," I reply, "wedid," I amend, because she's been with me every step of the way.

Not wishing to risk their safety more than necessary, I call Enzo to send a team to evacuate them, telling him to take special care with them because they are family.

Once the men make it to our location, I hand them over with the promise that we'll catch up later, and that everything will work out.

Alone once more, we head to the arena.

41

SISI

My soul hurts for Vlad as I see his expression filled with confusion. The way I'm sure he's beyond happy to have found his sister, but unable to show the sentiment.

A myriad of emotions cross his face, as if he doesn't know which one to settle on, the feeling wholly unfamiliar.

My hand in his, I do my best to comfort him, let him know I'm there for him with my presence.

Everything we've seen so far has been gut-wrenching, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, and as I look at Katya, her features so like Vlad, I know that we'll get through this. She might be the last piece to heal his fractured soul.

After the people we'd found are handed over to Enzo and his team, we silently continue to the arena where Bianca and Adrian are waiting for us.

I don't even know what to expect anymore. Not after what I've witnessed since stepping off that boat, the torture and suffering housed in here beyond anything I could haveeverimagine. The images of those dead children being covered in flies and devoured by maggots had remained stamped on my retina, and I don't think I'm likely to forget them anytime soon.

For that reason alone, I hope that Vlad gives Miles what he deserves.

The worst death possible.

Taking advantage of the fact that my brother is ahead of us, I quickly lean into Vlad to whisper.

"You did great," I praise gently, knowing he hadn't exactly known how to react, the hug he'd shared with his sister was stiff and uncomfortable.

"She didn't look bad," he replies, almost mechanically. "She looked way better than I expected to find her."