1. Dima

ONE

Dima

I could shoot Ana in the back of the head right now and make it look like an accident. Stasya narrows her eyes at me in warning as though she's aware of what I'm thinking. So, I click the safety back on while the infuriating shit beats a dead man, and use my voice to get her to stop, which is less satisfying.

"He's dead now."

She's too violent, which says a lot when I'm the person possessing that thought.And she's fucking strange. Proving exactly how fucked up she is, Ana turns and only the whites of her eyes and teeth are visible, the rest of her face is smeared in blood. Her bleached hair is tinged red, and her eyes freak me the fuck out. I blink to make sure I'm seeing correctly, and they go back to the dark brown, but for a split second there was a blue crescent. It keeps happening, in all the years she's been out on my group there'll be little instances where I could bet my life on that icy curve but then I blink, and it's gone.

Stasya goes to help her clean up, or to put a sticker on her psycho chart, as a familiar weight lands on my back. Katya bands her forearm against my throat and I move my head pre-emptively as her lips touch my cheek.

"Happy birthday, big brother."

I grumble something that sounds like thanks when I'm not grateful at the reminder of being an old fuck and she jumps down.She looks from me to the dead man and scrunches her nose up before she shakes her head with a sigh. I know that sigh, it means she wants me to do something. Staring straight ahead because I can never say no to her, she does it again. My sister looks like our mother, each day she gets closer to an age where she will have outlived her.

Unhappy with my avoidance tactic, she grabs my arm and starts pulling on it until we're at the back of the warehouse. She does that fucking sigh again and her face goes all sad. The one she'd get when her teddy would rip and its stuffing would come out because she'd use it to fight with Tali.

"I need a favor and you can't say no." I'll give her anything she wants and nod. "Ana has nowhere to stay."

Except that.

Trying to soften my tone doesn't work as I spit, "Fuck no."

She's annoying as fuck, a little ball of vengeance with a death wish. If Ana was cold, she wouldn't turn up the heat but set the world on fire so it matches her birthplace, the hellion.

Katya lightly stamps her foot, turning into a child and pouting up at me. "Please, Dima. She doesn't have anywhere to live and I'm restarting school."

Nowhere in her sentence did she give me a reason to give a fuck.

She nips my bicep and tries to go for charm as she smiles up at me.

"You train her anyway, don't make a girl sleep on the street. You wouldn't do that because you're my big brother and I love you."

She's not a girl, Ana is barely a fucking human. There's only violence in her flickering eyes, and I don't know what shit she's seen that would become my problem.Katya obviously thinks different as she continues smiling up at me and makes her eyes wider.

Growing up in a child brothel is the obvious reason for Ana's wiring being wrong. I'd have to make sure she doesn't see anything adult and that's too much effort for me to go through for someone I like, never mind whatever she would be classified as.

My vegan sister would rather be punched in the face than eat meat, so I give her my condition.

"Have a steak with me and I'll say yes."

Her jaw drops like it's criminal when she's been part of the Bratva for years and killed, but animals are off limits to her soft heart. She gets all whiney and her voice goes high pitched, not matching the woman who has beat the shit out of grown men.

"That's not the same, at all."

I lean down and cross my arms over my chest, proving her wrong.

"You want me to do something that's against my moral code."

Muttering to herself that I'm annoying, she gives up the argument and I don't have to experience the hellion as a houseguest.

I observe Ana as she walks out from the small hallway still with blood all over her, she pulls a knit hat over her head, uncaring about the blood, as I pick apart her features trying to work out what it is that seems wrong. She would pass for average but there's something about her face that doesn't fit, all sharp lines covered in a youthful softness. Her hair is dyed but countless people change their hair color, it's something deeper that looks fake as fuck. Like the uncanny valley, real and counterfeit at the same time.

The little hellion has wiped her face, leaving it tinged in pink and fucking skips over to me, ready for her fight tonight. She's like a baby deer, a murderous psychotic one, but a baby deer, nonetheless. I'm going to kick Val's ass for dumping her on me. The intention grows stronger legs when she opens her mouth.

"Do you want to swap opponents? Mine is smaller," Ana says without any conscious thought of the insult behind it.

Katya chokes on her laugh as I look Ana up and down. She's five foot nothing and I'd have to lean down just to use her head as an arm rest, for fuck's sake.

My ego stops me doing as she wants, and it overshadows the joy I'd feel at seeing her get ripped to shreds. Turning without giving an answer, she follows after me and has the sense to shut her mouth as we go to the warehouse for tonight. If she starts talking to herself again, I'm going to rip her tongue out of her mouth.

Her head falls back as soon as she gets in the car, and she closes her eyes, focusing on her breathing as I drive. Her meditation is weird as fuck. It doesn't matter how many times I see it, I'll always be creeped out knowing as soon as she snaps her eyes open there'll be no semblance of humanity and only an insatiable taste for blood.

Stasya and Katya think it's some misogynistic thing, that her psychosis is unnerving because she's a woman when I don't have the same reaction to the men. It's not. I've been around the Vartanovs for long enough to know they're nutcases, but they can play pretend at being human. Ana can't, her eyes are too dull. There's no light behind them as though she's already dead but she struck a deal with the Grim Reaper to keep one foot in this world.

Her lips begin moving. She's talking to herself again and I watch her out of the corner of my eye. There's no pause in the conversation, she's not only talking to herself but she's responding too.

The journey from one crime scene to the other is thankfully short and I pull up outside the abandoned factory on the shore. She dramatically drops her chin, and her eyes do that maddening thing where there's a blue tinge under the brown. I'm going fucking crazy because it disappears when she blinks again.

Getting away from Ana before I pluck her eyeballs out of her head to see them closer, I leave her in the car to do whatever sacrifice is required for her to prepare. Val smirks, the prick, as he looks over my shoulder and sees whatever weird shit she's doing now. We've seen her slap herself across the face, hold the blade end of a knife without a single emotion on her face, and all manners of crazy shit. She's not doing that now though. She kicks the car door open like a child before jumping out of the SUV as she pulls her hat further down to cover the blood already staining her hair.

I don't give a fuck about being seen as weak and restart the same conversation with Val now that he has authority as a Vor.

"You need to put her under someone else, I'm going to end up killing her."

He's a little shit and I regret looking out for him when he was a teenager. He pats my shoulder, giving me a tight-lipped smile and keeps his voice low as Satan's mistress walks toward us.

"She scares the shit out of everyone else, and your husband will definitely kill her."

I push his hand off me at the stupid joke about Vlad and I being married. I wish we were if it would give me any authority to get the psychotic woman behind me to leave me the fuck alone. She doesn't acknowledge her surroundings as the other guards on duty around the perimeter all stare at her.

There are two reactions they have when seeing her, and it all depends on whether she is covered in blood or not. If her skin is free from the substance, they'll make comments regarding her status as a prostitute, but it is so they all take a step back and avoid her eyes.

The crowd boo as Ana makes her way into the cage. Alex, her opponent, easily has a foot on her and he's built a reputation for the crowd to cheer and believe he's going to win. Ana doesn't react, her steps are sure, and she doesn't even roll her shoulders as they wait for the clack. With the lights and the memory further away, her hair looks as though she's purposefully colored it pink. One side is the usual white and she must have tried washing it in sections because the other is a muted pink.

The other fighter strips down to his shorts, but she always wears a long-sleeved t-shirt and socks. There are little holes in the sleeves for her thumbs and intrigue has me moving forward as they start the first round.Her body is fluid, dodging each blow without hitting back. I'm too far away to hear but her lips are moving. It can only mean one thing: she's spewing some shit. Her shit talk works, and she gets clipped in the shoulder causing me to laugh. The hellion does the same and spends the entire round taking as many hits as possible. Even when she could easily avoid them, she moves her body so there's direct impact.

She maintains the same routine through each round and a presence lands beside me. Vlad nods his head towards the changing rooms, gesturing for me to follow. The twisted smile on his face tells me he's going to give me an order I won't like.

He lets his humanity out once we're far enough away that we won't be heard and lowers his voice. "Katya said pipsqueak is sleeping on the street, she found her the other day."

The worst thing that happened to him is his wife. She's making him be fucking kind.

I nod, playing dumb without offering to take in the stray. We get paid for fuck's sake, she could easily use that money to get a place to stay. He continues relaying shit I don't give a fuck about.

"She keeps sneaking out of Anastasia's. Take her home and keep her in line."

The only thing I can think of is to choke her, wrap both hands around her neck and squeeze. He drops his voice in threat. "Is it going to be an issue?"

I have to actively remind myself that the hellion has a use. Without her sick knowledge of the trafficking rings, our non-Bratva hobby is more dangerous and I'm not going to die because of a pervert. So, I reluctantly nod my agreement and go back to the fight as the final round comes to an end. There's less than ninety seconds left but Ana uses each one to her advantage and smiles widely as she disarms her opponent from the weapons he's picked up. Her hands move in a blur, a knife fisted in each of them, and Alex drops to the canvas. There's ten seconds left as she bends at the waist and crosses her arms, impaling the blades just below each of his collar bones.

The force has the crowd going silent and she slashes through his torso creating an X from shoulder to hip. This is the fucking person they want me to invite in my home?! She leaves a trail of red on her forehead as she swipes her hair off her face and starts fucking skipping again. The crowd moves back as she jumps down from the cage, and she doesn't just skip. She bops her head to music that isn't playing. A shiver works through me as she passes me, still skipping.

I follow the deranged murderer before she can disappear like she usually does after a fight, and she doesn't look at me as we enter the changing room.

"Why are you following me?" Ana asks as she walks to the sink and her nimble fingers are hypnotizing as she washes the blood away. It's the first time I've seen anything close to gentle come from her and I focus on that.

"Get your shit, you're coming with me."

She's just finished killing a man, his blood is still warm on her skin, but she fills with excitement and has the sense to speak quietly. "Another nonce?"

I wish it was a predator. Popping her psychotic bubble, I shake my head and grab her bag. I've barely touched the strap when it's ripped from my hand and her entire body weight is pushed behind her shoulder, hitting my chest.

"Don't touch my things, you ugly ogre."

I'm going to kill her before she even steps a foot inside my house.

I can feel her teeth through her cheeks as I grab her jaw and push her back, allowing my anger to gain some relief.

"Normal people say thank you when someone helps them."

Her jaw twitches, readying to spit whatever bullshit she's not given any thought to and I tighten my hold. My voice is harsher, and I keep my other hand down, so I don't choke the shit out of her.

"There will be rules. First one, shut the fuck up."

Knocking her knife away before she can dig it into my side, I raise one brow and she relaxes enough to give me a curt nod in agreement.