Chapter 14

Samara~

E verything hurt as my eyes struggled to open, but even if I'd wanted to sleep some more, the raised voices that were ringing in my ears would make that impossible. I didn't recognize who they were, but my mind was still a foggy mess of pain.

"Samara? Can you hear me?"

When my eyes finally opened, I saw Maksim on his haunches, staring down at me. His brow was furrowed, and his dark eyes looked hard and lifeless, but that was nothing new. Maksim always looked like he felt nothing but contempt for everything around him.

As I struggled to sit up, I noticed Alexei standing behind him, and when my eyes started darting around for Rurik and Vlad, I didn't see them anywhere. Still, that didn't mean that they weren't still here somewhere, waiting for me to get my comeuppance.

When I looked back up at Maksim, that's when panic gripped my mind in a painful hold. Instead of following the rules- regardless of whether I'd been aware of them or not -I had fought back, going against the bratva. Avgust had a guard with my sister, and all it would take was one phone call to the guard to end my sister's life or make her pay for my obstinance. My refusal to submit had probably cost my sister's life, and I no longer hurt with the beating, but with the swift regret that I was feeling now.

"Maksim," I choked out, my throat raw from my screaming. "I'm sorry…I'm…call Avgust and…and tell him I'm sorry."

"Samara-"

"Don't kill my sister," I begged, desperation making me grip his shirt. "Please…please…"

"Samara-"

"Call Avgust," I cried out hysterically. "Let me talk to him…let me ex…explain… please…"

"She's hysterical," Alexei remarked, sending me into a furor.

"I'm not hysterical!" I yelled, my voice cracking with pain. "I need to talk to Avgust!"

"Samara, I can call Masha-"

"No!"

Shame threatened to strangle me at the very thought of speaking to my sister. I had sworn to always protect her, and the first time that I'd been put to the test, I had failed miserably. I had promised her that she'd be safe from Avgust with my sacrifice, but instead of accepting the choice that I'd made, I had put her life in danger by fighting back.

"Samara-"

"Call Avgust," I begged again. "Please…please, Maksim…I…he can't hurt her. It wasn't her fault."

"Okay, calm down," he ordered, his voice even and in control. "I will call Avgust for you. Just calm down, yes?"

Though it hurt like hell, I nodded. "Yes…yes…"

As Maksim called Avgust, I looked down, and that's when I finally noticed that my torn shirt was giving them an eyeful of my bra and that my jeans were still undone. My ankle was a bloody mess from when I'd been struggling against the cuff, and as I took inventory of my injuries, everything started to hurt worse with each account.

"Samara?" I looked back up at Maksim. "I've got Avgust on the phone for you."

My hand shook as I reached out to grab Maksim's phone, and I felt the weight of what I'd done as I placed it to my ear. "Don't kill her," I begged. "I'm…I'm sorry, Avgust...I swear. Please, please don't kill Masha. Please…leave…leave her alone."

"Razh, I am-"

"Please!" I screamed into the phone. "Do not kill my sister!"

"Samara, stop it," he snapped, but all I cared about was Masha.

"I…look, I just…I wasn't ready," I said, desperate to explain. "I didn't know that I…that I was here for their use. I…you should have told me…you-"

"Samara-"

"Tell them to come back…I won't fight them this time…I…" I looked up at Maksim, and he was still hunched over me, his eyes regarding me carefully. "Here," I said as I handed Maksim his phone back. "Tell Avgust that I'm cooperating." Even though it hurt like hell, I whipped my shirt up over my head, not caring what they could see. "I'll be good…I'll…I'll even allow them both to…" While I couldn't utter the words, I meant every word of what I was saying.

I'd do anything to save my sister.

"Sukin syn," Maksim swore into the phone before Alexei immediately wrapped his jacket around my shoulders. "Get here now."

When Maksim hung up the phone, he removed Alexei's jacket, then replaced it with his own. "Pakhan will kill you if he sees your jacket on her."

"Sorry," Alexei muttered, taking back the garment.

Not caring about Alexei, I said, "Don't hurt her, Maksim…I know…I know that you hate me and don't…don't owe me anything…but Masha didn't do…she didn't do anything…"

"Samara, I need you to calm down," he ordered sternly. "Masha is fine. If you do not believe me, I can call Gosha to prove it."

Guilt made me deaf to what he was saying, and as my tears finally started to spill over, I said, "I'm sorry…tell those men that I'm sorry…I'll…Maksim, bring them back. Bring them back, and then I can show you that I can follow the rules."

"This is bullshit," Alexei cursed under his breath, and dread rolled around in my stomach.

"No, no…n…no," I stammered. "I promise…I'll…I won't fight them this time-"

"Samara, Avgust is on his way," Maksim said evenly. "Avgust is on his way, and Masha is fine. Hear me, Samara; Masha is fine."

I didn't believe him.

I couldn't afford to believe him.

While Maksim had no reason to lie to me, logic wasn't a part of this scenario right now. I'd been beaten until Rurik had decided to finally knock me unconscious, and I still didn't even know if I'd been raped or not. Though my jeans were still on, they were still undone, so Rurik could have easily pulled them back up when he'd been done. Now, while I didn't feel any pain between my legs, that didn't necessarily mean anything. Since my entire body ached, the truth might be camouflaged underneath it all.

Looking away from Maksim, I stared at my ankle, then absurdly wondered if I was going to die from infection. I seriously doubted that Avgust was willing to drive me to a real urgent care or ER to tend to my wounds, so I wondered just how long it'd be before any of them got infected down here, slowly killing me and saving me from my misery.

Was I going crazy?

I briefly wondered if my mind had snapped already, and if it'd had, then that hadn't taken long. Once upon a time, I had believed myself much stronger than this, but my love for my sister was the biggest weakness that I had, and it was being violently exploited right now. I honestly didn't know how I'd ever be able to endure endless rape, but I also knew that I had no choice. Still, I could live with rape more than I'd be able to live with knowing that I was responsible for my sister's death.

"Samara?" I looked back over at Maksim. "Do you want me to call your sister?"

I shook my head. "No," I whispered, shame swarming every inch of my body. "She…she'll be sleeping. I…I don't want to…to disturb her."

"Be that as it may, she would still welcome a phone call from you, I'm sure," he said kindly, immediately making me suspicious.

Maksim Barychev was not kind.

Like Avgust Kotov, he was a monster.

Before I could say anything to that, a door was banging open, and we all turned our heads to see Avgust storming his way towards the cage. My hands started to shake with the return of unwelcomed adrenaline at the sight, and it was ironic that I was going to have to beg the devil to help me again.

"What the fuck happened here?" Avgust snarled.

"After you called me, I brought Viktor here to give him instructions on his new charge, and I found Rurik trying to rape her," Alexei answered. "Vlad was trying to talk him out of it, but that wasn't working. As soon as I realized what was going on, Viktor and I pulled him off of her, then Viktor and Vlad handled Rurik while I called Maksim for direction. She was unconscious as he was attacking her."

"Get out," Avgust ordered, and his voice was harsh enough that I finally couldn't hold in my trauma anymore.

I turned my head in time to vomit on the concrete floor, doing my best to save Maksim's jacket from my shame. My body ached with the wretched heaves, but I couldn't stop myself as this entire situation spilled onto the floor.

When there was nothing left, I pulled myself up a bit, feeling completely empty inside.