Page 69

"Good, I'm glad that we've ended this family un happiness chapter. Now we can focus on the more important stuff…" I trail off as we come to a standstill.

The entire atmosphere is different here, and as we stop before the glass door, I realize that we've just leveled up.

The door has biometric protection, so that confirms that it's not just an ordinary space. Bringing my smart watch into view, I try to tap into the framework, a little bummed when I realize it's a closed network and I can't access it as easily.

Not one to despair, I simply pull the panel from the door, quickly inspecting the wires. I have to admit that my engineering skills are rudimentary at best, but I've been known to hot-wire a few things in my life. And so a few minutes of trial and error and the door is broken—I mean open.

As soon as we enter inside, however, the difference is stark.

This room is sterile, the smell of bleach permeating the air. It almost looks lab-like in its immaculate condition.

White walls, white floors, and four electric doors.

"Dead end," I comment as I realize the doors are likely cages of some kind, each one of them having a tiny opening to allow for food.

"This looks like a mental ward," Marcello notes as he walks around.

Out of nowhere, there is a bang against one of the doors, followed by a few other bangs in each of the others.

"There's someone inside." Marcello goes to one door, returning the knock to let them know we are there.

"We need to figure out how to open these doors," I say as I study each one in part, noting they are opened by ID cards plus biometrics.

"I guess we'll have to do a repeat of the other door," I mutter dryly when I see there's no other way to open them without breaking them down.

And so I quietly get to work on the first door, taking out the electrical panel and playing with the wires.

Once I have a winning combination, it's all a matter of repeating it for the other doors.

"You never fail to amaze me," Sisi whispers as she raises herself on her tip-toes to kiss my cheek.

"You need to lay low with the skinship, hell girl. You know my mind can only juggle so many things at once," I murmur softly.

Truth is, when it comes to her, my mind can't take anything else but her.

"Vlad," I hear Bianca's voice in the comm. "I think we found the main area. There's a huge arena here," she continues, describing an arena the size of a football field, full with multiple levels for spectators.

"Damn," I mutter, realizing exactly what that's for.

Suddenly memories of the trials we'd been put through resurface in my mind. How Miles had pitted us against each other.

The winner takes it all.

And I'd become so addicted to getting his approval that I'd done everything to win those trials. I'd killed, maimed, and tortured. No one had been spared from my singular purpose.

Become the best.

Remembering the things I'd done just to gain his acceptance makes my skin crawl. Because I might loathe him with all my being now. But at one point I didn't. I looked up to him.

"We'll meet you there after we check something here," I tell her, briefly explaining what we'd found.

"Vlad," Marcello calls out, his brows pinched together as he looks from door to door. "We opened the doors, yet no one tried to come out," he points out and I frown.

"You're right."

Without any preamble, I yank the first door open, surprised to see a girl who couldn't be older than ten or eleven sitting at the end of the room, her back against the wall, her eyes wide as she looks at us in fear.

"What…" Sisi whispers as she gets a better view of the girl.

Surprisingly, she looks healthy. In fact, even her clothes are clean, which is not something I would have expected given what I know about how Miles conducts his experiments.

Curious to see who else is in the other rooms, I open the next one, and the next, until I'm at the last one.

All of them house prepubescent girls.

All but the last.

My eyes widen as I note a couple huddled together next to a bed. The male is obstructing my view of the girl as he places himself in front of her in a protective stance.

"Nero?" The name slips from my mouth, but even then I know that this isn't Nero.

Their faces are identical. Short black hair and blue eyes. But this man is bigger. His body is that of a professional body-builder, his muscular built dwarfing that of the girl behind him.

"You're Nero's brother," I state.

The one who supposedly died twenty years ago.

"Nero?" His voice differs completely from Nero too. There's a hoarseness to it as if he'd stretched his vocal cords to the extreme. "Nero…" he repeats, his features clouding as if he's trying to remember something long forgotten.

"I'll be damned," Marcello mutters when he sees the man, he too noticing that he's almost identical to Nero.

"It's his twin brother," I add grimly. "Sisi, please stay back." I stretch my hand to keep her out, recognizing the protective stance he has over his female and knowing he might be dangerous if he thinks we're a threat.

"It's okay," I start, giving him a quick outline of who we are and that we're going to get them to safety.

"Brother?" he asks, frowning. "My brother?"

"Yes, Nero is your brother. He thought you'd died years ago," I explain.

But then a small voice calls out from behind him.

"We're free? We can leave?" the girl asks, peeking slowly over his shoulder.

"Shh," Nero's brother turns to her, "I don't know if we can trust them, Bia mia. You know I'd never put you at risk."

His voice is completely different as he addresses her. Softer, warmer.

Full of love.

"Nothing will happen to you. I vow to you. We are currently evacuating the entire compound," I feel compelled to explain.

"Please, T," she continues, and I see her hand reach out to caress his shoulder, that one touch rendering him incapable of refusing her.

"If you think to cheat us, you will die by my fists." He turns to me, his gaze grave.

"Agreed." I shrug.

I'm already getting restless as I think of the imminent meeting with Miles, my temples throbbing as I imagine just how I'm going to drain the life out of him—slow and painfully.

The man helps the girl sit up, and the first thing I notice is the slight bump she's cradling with her hands, her stance protective as she takes a wary step toward us.

When the light hits her face I freeze.

Dark hair that flows down her back and reaching to her knees, pale skin that almost looks translucent in the stark neon light, and dark eyes that I see every time I look in the mirror.

"Katya?" My voice trembles as I utter that word. "Katyusha?"

She blinks slowly, her eyes focusing on me as if she doesn't recognize who I am.

Still, the features are identical to the Katya I used to know. The Katya from ten years ago.

Her lips quiver, her eyes glossy as she takes a step forward.

The man, noting the change in her, instinctively reaches forward to place himself between us.

"No, T. I know him," she utters softly. "I know him…" she continues, her voice breaking in a sob. "He's my brother."

"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, " we did," 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.