Page 5

Ania

I stared into his cold blue eyes. They almost made me shiver because I had never seen such lifeless eyes. The man looked immaculate. There wasn't a hair out of place, not on his head or his professionally trimmed beard. He wore a dark navy suit with a deep burgundy tie, reminding me of stale blood. The crisp white shirt beneath the tie reminded me of how filthy I was in my current state. I was grateful for the fresh breeze coming from the open windows.

Adrik Ilyin was living proof of how monsters could reside within a pristine exterior. I made the mistake of looking into his eyes again. They were utterly devoid of light. This man had red flags written all over him.

He was evil and soulless.

“You will work for me,”

he said. “Your duties—”

“No,”

I said automatically without thinking, and I swallowed when his eyes narrowed on me, but looking at them, they darkened as his pupils grew.

“You are willing to die?”

“I will not work for someone who causes so much misery to others,”

I said, focusing on his tie.

“Throw her back in the cell. It might give her some time to reconsider,”

he said, standing up.

I closed my eyes because I almost begged him to kill me. The tears that I held back now coated my eyelashes and threatened to flood me. I felt the ropes being untied while I struggled to contain my emotions. Viktor dragged me back to the cell but didn't use my hair this time.

But that wasn't why I felt gratitude toward him. It was for the two bottles of water he tossed into my cell before he slammed the metal door shut—the metallic sound of my death knoll.

***

The misery of darkness began all over again, but this time, it was worse because the memories of my past demons haunted me. I wondered if I should have sold my soul to the devil to be rid of the torment. He would only let me live until I had something to offer. When I was no longer any use to him, he would eliminate me. I’d lived in fear before and refused to do it again.

“I refuse, Adrik Ilyin,”

I whispered in the silent, shit-infested darkness.

My back hit the wall, and I sank to the floor, uncaring of the dirt. He meant to break me. All I had to do was cling to my sanity and not descend into hell beside the devils and monsters. I closed my eyes and began to hum the first song that came to my mind.