Page 26 of Broken Embers

My heart slams into my ribs. This sounds too good to be true. But something at the back of my mind tells me it’s not, and I let myself go over the brief time I spent with Valeska. There was something about her, not malice, more like pain, and for a few seconds, when I’d greeted her, she’d held her breath waiting to see how I’d respond. When I’d warmed to her, her eyes had lit not just with relief but hope!

After I finish a candy bar and find a place to stash the other one and the wrapper, I drift off to sleep wondering if what I saw in Valeska’s eyes was real or am I just seeing what I want to see in my desperation to get the fuck out of here.

But as my mind drifts to Oleksi, as it always does when I fall asleep, I know I’m willing to take the risk.

9

OLEKSI

Nadia sits in the back seat, quiet as stone. She’s barely said a word since we pulled away from Dragunov Village. Arms crossed, eyes on the window. Like she’s watching the mountains pass but not seeing them.

Nikolas keeps glancing at her in the mirror. Not just once or twice—he keeps doing it, like something’s itching at the back of his mind and he’s waiting for the right moment to speak.

I finally break the silence. “You okay, Nikolas?” I raise an eyebrow.

He flicks his eyes to me, then back to the mirror. “Nadia, something’s bugging me.”

That gets Nadia’s attention. She turns slightly in her seat, brows raised. “Something I can help you with?”

Nikolas doesn’t answer right away. He meets her eyes through the mirror, gaze steady. “Why won’t your brother approve of the person you’re in love with?”

She doesn’t even blink.

“Because of who their family is,” she says evenly. “And…” she pauses for a second, but her voice stays proud, unflinching, “because the person I love is a woman.”

Ah.

It clicks. Nadia’s family is traditional and wouldn’t accept a union like that.

I glance at Nikolas, who exhales through his nose like something just fell into place.

I turn in my seat slightly to look at Nadia as I ponder what he’s thinking. “The woman in the facility with Sabrina… that’s her, isn’t it?”

Nikolas fires off another question, “That’s your contact in the RMSAD as well, isn’t it?”

“One of them,” Nadia confirms with a nod. “And yes. That’s Valeska. The one who showed you Sabrina earlier.”

My jaw tightens. “Why is Valeska in the detention center with Sabrina?”

Nadia’s eyes flick to mine. “Like Sabrina,” she says quietly, “it’s due to a misfortune of birth.”

I don’t like the sound of that. “How unfortunate?”

She doesn’t hesitate.

“Like being Valeska Ergorov unfortunate.”

The name hits like a bullet.

I go still. Even Nikolas tenses beside me.

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter. “She’s the General’s daughter?”

Nadia nods. “His only daughter. Trapped in the legacy of her family.”

“Why doesn’t she just leave?” I ask, glancing back at Nadia. “She’s not a kid. She looks to be in her twenties.”

“Twenty-four,” Nadia says, her voice clear. “And she’s tried. How do you think we met?”

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