“Mother, you are interrupting.” Ivan is remarkably calm now, as if there isn't a woman sitting on his chest.
“Am I?” She acts like she's committed a faux pas. “So sorry Ivan, darling. I just thought I would come and see you. See all my boys again. It's been so long.” She may be pretty, but there is steel behind those words. They could cut deeply. She freaks me out, almost more than Ivan. That's saying something.
“What are you doing here?” This time it's Ivan asking. I feel like that's all anyone says.
“I told you. I came for a visit. To see how you are.”
“We are in the middle of something,” Ivan says.
“I can see that.” She looks at me like she is both disgusted and afraid at the same time. “Peter, dear? Could you explain your relationship with this?” Her hand waves to indicate me. I'm the 'this.'
She stares hard at him, like she's trying to probe through his thoughts via his eyes and root out all his secrets.
“What is your role in this Viktor, sweetheart?” Apparently everyone gets an endearment after their name. It's very old-fashioned. I wonder just how old she is. Peter never told me.
“I am here.”
“Yes, I can see that.” They share another silent communique. I'm seriously starting to think they can read each other's minds.
“Ah, loyalty. Such a valuable commodity.” She looks down at Ivan and strokes his face with one finger. He looks like he wants to bite it off.
“Viktor, sweetheart, what did you promise me, when I made you?”
“That I would always be there when you called.” He recites it like a prayer he memorized in Sunday school. I'm still trying to catch up.
“Ivan, darling, what did you promise me?”
“That I would never leave you.” There's so much venom in his words, I'd be afraid to be near him.
“Peter, dear, what did you promise me?”
“That I would never love anyone as much as I loved you," he says, quietly. I feel his despair as well as my own.
“That's right, which is why you have to kill her. You must keep your promise, Peter, dear.”
“I know.” He turns toward me and I plead with him in my head. I can't speak. After all we've been through, the Claiming and that kiss we shared... This can't be it.
“Ava.”
“Please,” I whisper.
I close my eyes.
Thirty-One
The pain doesn't come. I wait, but nothing happens. I squint my eyes open to find a pretty frigged-up scene. It must have taken less than five seconds, but when I do a quick survey, everything's changed.
Peter and Viktor are on the ground, only this time Di is under them. It takes one of them on each arm to hold her down. Ivan stands next to them, hissing through his teeth. The sound makes every hair on my body stand on end. Di hisses back, and I want to cover my ears so it will stop.
“What are you doing to me? You promised. All of you.” She glares at each of them, but they don't move.
“You took advantage,” Viktor says. “You tricked us. Took our souls and then our freedom.”
“I made you what you are. Without me, you would have died,” she says.
“Then so be it. The past cannot be changed,” Viktor responds. She smiles.
“Exactly.” Everyone seems to have forgotten me even Peter. Then I feel a tug in my mind and I know he hasn't. Even without his eyes on me, I can feel that same pull toward him.
“Now you are going to make a promise.” Peter finally speaks. I want to get up and run to him, but I'm not getting close to her. She wants to kill me.
“Never,” she hisses.
“You will make a binding promise or I will break mine.”
“As will I,” Viktor says. Di thrashes against them. I've seen videos of alligator wrestling on cable. This is kind of like that, only the alligator is a petite woman in a pretty dress.
“You can't,” she laughs, but she doesn't sound sure. The sound grates on my ears like broken glass.
“We will,” Viktor says. Her eyes ping-pong back and forth, looking for lies. I can picture Peter's blinkless eyes. I don't know Viktor well enough to know what he looks like when he's telling the truth or a lie. I'm sure she can.
“You wouldn't dare," she says, glaring at each of them in turn. “Ivan, help please.” Seems like now they've got a common enemy, they're working like brothers. Guess Ivan hates Di more than he hates Peter. Interesting.
Ivan takes Peter's place and Di makes a break for it, but they're too strong. Ivan punches her in the face and she hisses again. Not that I'm cool with men hitting women, but I'm kinda glad he did. I'm not sure she counts as a typical woman, seeing as how it takes two of them to hold her down.
Peter walks over to me. I'm still on the ground, not having been able to get up yet. My mouth is dry and gritty from dirt. I'm sure most of my exposed skin was scraped off when Peter landed on me. I'm in such a daze that I'm not feeling it. Yet.
“Here,” he says, taking my arm and helping me up. My legs wobble and he clutches me. I am once again grateful for his solidness. Once I think I can stay upright, I look up at him. Even though it's dark, I can see the white of his teeth. He's smiling.
“Why are you smiling?”
“You.” Everything around us gets a little hazy, and all I can see is his face. Finally, I reach up and push his hair out of his eyes.
“Peter!” The word cracks like a whip, but we ignore it. He just smiles wider, and I can't help it, but so do I. Despite Di screaming at him, he moves his face closer to mine.
“Fine! What do you want?” We finally turn and look at her. Everyone's staring at us. Normally, I'd be kind of embarrassed, but it's kind of a weird situation.
“A promise.”
“No.”
“That's what I want.” Her face breaks for a second, and we all see the fear. She knows he's got her hands figuratively tied behind her back.
“What do I have to promise?”
“That you will never hurt, or ask anyone else to hurt or in any way seek to harm Ava. Forever.”
“She's going to destroy you!”
“Then so be it.” His eyes go back to me and I feel a rush of energy so strong I think I'm on fire. This is both one of the best and one of the worst moments of my life. Strange how things can be that way.
“I won't do it. You can ask anything else.”
“No,” Peter says.
“I could release you. From your promise.” Wait, what? She can do that?
“That's not what I want.”