Page 105 of The Fire Beneath the Frost

He nodded again, pulling me to my feet.His hand lingered around mine just a beat too long before he let go.

Out through the cracked door, I saw a narrow figure down by the edge of the wooden dock.A man in a dark coat stood beside a small, green rowboat, swaying slightly in the dark water.No lights, no engine, just shadows.

This was it.

I looked back at Petyr, and he finally met my gaze.His eyes were so dark they looked endless.

“Are you ready?”he asked.

I didn’t even hesitate.“Let’s go.”

The dock groaned under our weight, old wood flexing beneath our boots as we stepped onto it.The wind coming off the water was colder now, sharper, and the fog wrapped around the port like it wanted to swallow us whole.

Petyr walked ahead of me, fast, focused, the muscles in his back taut beneath his coat.The boat bobbed a few meters away, and the man beside it gave no greeting, just a curt nod and a motion to hurry.

And then something prickled at the back of my neck.I stopped.My foot hovered above the last plank before the boat, and I turned my head slowly, a creeping chill spreading like frost over my skin.

There.Just beyond the shadows.A tall figure, still as a statue.Watching.Dressed in black from his boots to his coat, my father stood beneath a broken lamplight, face half-shrouded in darkness.

“Papa?”I breathed, too quiet to echo.

I didn’t understand.Why was he here?

Before I could move, Petyr’s hands were suddenly at my back, shoving me, urgent and desperate.“Get in the boat, Dimitri.Now!”

“What?”I stumbled forward, catching myself on the edge of the pier.“Wait, wait—what is Papa doing here?Petyr, what’s happening?”

“No time.Go!”he barked.

I climbed into the rowboat, confused and shaking, the water lapping at the sides of the narrow craft.I turned to help Petyr in after me, my hand outstretched.

But Petyr didn’t move.

God, his face was soaked.He was crying, his eyes glinting in the faint light, raw with anguish.

He looked at the man in the boat and said in a hoarse voice, “Go.Please fucking go.”

“Wait, what?!”I lurched forward, grabbing for him.“Petyr!Get in!C’mon, we have to go together.We planned this!”

Petyr shook his head, biting down on a sob.“I can’t come with you, Dimi.”

Everything tilted.

The dock.The water.The world.

“No,” I said.“No, no, no, you’re coming too.We’re doing this together!You said we’d be free!”

“I lied,” he choked, the words mangled by tears.“I’m so sorry.”

The boat had already begun to drift, the oars slicing into the inky water.I lunged toward the dock, trying to grab the edge.

Petyr reached out like he meant to stop me, but then dropped his hand.

“No!I won’t leave you!”I shouted, trying to pull myself up and out.The boat rocked.“I swear to God, Petyr, I’ll swim back if you don’t get in!”

Behind Petyr, Papa stepped forward from the shadows.He hissed, “Do it.”

Crack.

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