We entered Anichka's room.
The girl hugged her knees as she gazed out at the view.
Her swollen eyes settled on us.
She rubbed her face, red from crying.
How desperate had it been to see Trix in that state?
"Are you going to hurt me?"
Her voice broke.
"Answer all my questions and I'll spare you."
The aura Kiara poured out, merciless, like a whip of flames, warmed the skin and rang through the bones.
Even used to her as I was, the warning of danger throbbed in my heart.
I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms.
Ah, yes…
I knew that expression well.
Anichka had terror installed in her eyes.
She swallowed hard.
Fresh tears rolled down.
Kiara sat on the edge of the bed.
The princess flinched.
"P-please…
I only wanted…
I didn't know she…
I only wanted to protect my… my sister."
"I know. I believe you."
Kiara's friendly tone.
The resemblance to Maia was inevitable.
They made us relax after piercing the soul with a silent threat.
"You believe me?"
The princess wiped her eyes.
"Of course."
Kiara rested her elbow on her leg, watching her for a moment.
Silent, analytical.
Then the sharp smile appeared.
"Now tell me what's going on.
Otherwise…"
"And my sister?
How will I know nothing will happen to her?"
Kiara smiled, ironic.
"The dog that threatened you only barks. It doesn't bite."
I held back a laugh.
The princess seemed to understand.
At least a little.
Her defensive posture eased.
"You're more than a princess, right?
You're also the Pakhan's daughter, aren't you?"
Anichka's eyes widened.
She looked from me to Kiara.
She didn't even try to hide it.
"Your face says everything."
"H-how do you know?"
She began trembling again.
Kiara gestured in the air.
"Since the moment I saw you, I knew something was out of place.
When we made the plan, I lied about the time I would rescue you.
I also adjusted Cloakify to inhibit the security nanosensors in the Pakhan's room."
Her gaze glinted.
"When I began your rescue, the scene I saw through the rifle…
You two look so alike."
"Enough! I get it."
Anichka bit her lip.
Kiara tilted her head and laughed.
Then she turned serious.
She projected her hostile aura like claws toward the girl.
"Good.
Now tell me… what did you say to him?"
Denden's words finally made sense.
The girl reeked of horror.
She squeezed her fingers, restless.
She knew her own situation.
Her shoulders fell.
Anichka gave in.
"I told him the truth:
that my mother hired mercenaries from São Paulo to protect me during the escort."
"You knew the Vorovskoy mir was trying to take you to your father, didn't you?"
The princess sighed.
"It was the only way.
They would take me to him, and the failure would be yours."
She lowered her head.
"But then you arrived.
And everything changed."
Her fists clenched.
"I tried to warn him, but all my father did was double the guard."
She scowled.
Kiara raised an eyebrow.
"Why did you do that?"
"I want to live with my papa."
Wow.
She really was telling everything.
Kiara smoothed her hair.
"Imagine a princess living with a Pakhan?
And the scandal of an empress having a daughter with a mafia boss?
Tsc. All good things."
Anichka looked away, blushing.
"I wanted—"
Kiara silenced the girl with a wave.
"Fuck, honestly?
I don't give a shit about any of that.
Once we hand you over, our mission is complete.
I don't even want to hear about you."
Anichka's eyes widened in fear.
"But when you attacked Trix, things changed."
The girl lifted her head. Desperate.
"W-what do you mean?
A-are you going to kill me?"
"For your own sake, pray Trix forgets all this when she wakes up."
Kiara's shadow darkened the room.
"Y-you can't do anything!
They know where I am, I have a—"
"Nanotracker?"
Kiara's voice turned sharp.
"Why do you think we did all this?
Before rescuing you, I stopped by the security room and destroyed your tracking code.
You're clean of anything that could reveal your location."
Kiara mocked her.
Anichka huffed and crossed her arms.
PLASH
Something shattered in the other room.
I looked at Kiara and ran there.
Glass shards scattered across the floor.
Trix was trying to support herself on the arm of the sofa, failing miserably.
Her movements were stiff.
Her eyes landed on me.
I stepped closer to help her.
"How do you feel?"
"What the fuck happened?"
Great.
She answered a question with another.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
"Dunno.
I was sleeping…
Feels like a rock fell on me."
Distressed, Anichka followed Kiara.
Trix pointed a finger at the princess, brows furrowed.
"You!
You did something to me, svoloch'!"
She tried to stand, but her legs gave out.
"Don't str—"
I swallowed the words.
I silently asked Kiara for help.
She took my place.
"Stay still.
Your body's still recovering."
Trix sat down.
Hatred stamped across her face.
Hatred aimed at Anichka.
The tension was palpable.
One wrong move would be an explosion.
One thing I had learned:
there were no barriers to the fury of these people.
A merciless rage with an address.
Whoever the target was, the wrath would be poured over them.
"I-I…"
The princess shrank under Kiara's gaze and lowered her head.
Trix's stare was a blade about to cut.
One more second and Anichka would be dead.
She relaxed, though the difference was minimal, sprawling back onto the sofa.
"What the fuck happened?"
"First, how are you?"
"I don't know.
It's hard as fuck to control my movements.
It's weird.
My head hurts like hell.
I'm dizzy."
Right.
Her cortex had suffered damage, but the detox had gone as it should.
She would need nanobandages to accelerate the healing.
Maybe within half a lunation, she would recover control of her own body.
I nodded to Kiara.
You'll be alright, Trix.
I'll do everything I can for your recovery.
"You'd better rest.
When you wake up, I'll explain everything.
Then you decide what to do."
"Ah, fuck it."
Trix rolled her eyes.
The truth?
No matter how strong they were, mercenaries got exhausted too.
Besides, she was mentally confused.
"Alright. Better lie down in bed."
Kiara took Trix gently by the arm and led her to a room.
Then it was just Anichka and me.
Uncomfortable silence.
The girl seemed to be holding back a sea of emotions.
Watery eyes.
"D-do you think… do you think she'll kill me?"
Her words unsettled me.
Her fear only brushed against me.
That apprehension toward death felt far from my heart.
How could I answer such a significant question with an empty expression to a girl of sixteen cycles?
How would she see me, so indifferent to death?
Of course I had been afraid since the beginning of this journey.
But I feared the unknown.
If death crossed my path, I would welcome its embrace, as part of the life-death-life cycle.
Maia must have gone through that one day too.
The moment she understood that death was just another cycle.
Anichka's question echoed something in me whose existence I had completely ignored.
Killing someone terrified me.
The cold-blooded execution of so many beings horrified me.
Thousands of deaths happening every day haunted me.
Worse.
The deaths that could happen by my hands.
Yes, I had already killed someone.
I had killed a person, yet it seemed legitimate.
The death of that volunteer wore the mask of legality.
That question awakened what had slept since Maia's death:
for me, life had lost its meaning.
I shrugged.
"I don't know.
I truly don't know."
Anichka bit her flawless nails.
I lowered my eyes to my hands, to the scars Burj had given me.
I remembered Maia's hands, full of scars.
Far more than mine.
I had always wanted to hear the story behind them.
I settled for the thought that we shared a pain.
I leaned into the sofa and rested my head.
I allowed myself the pleasant sensation of safety, even beneath a thin and fragile veil.
The fire in the hearth crackled softly, casting shadows over the walls.
For a moment, it felt like nothing could touch us.
I closed my eyes.
Relaxed my mind.
The memory of Maia warmed my heart.
Now, all that remained was to wait.