Page 78 of The Fire Beneath the Frost

The door to the bedroom opened.A pause.Then those same footsteps approached—closer, closer—until they stopped right beside me.

I didn’t move.Didn’t breathe.

I knew it was Dimitri.I could smell the faint traces of his soap that made my stomach flutter like a schoolgirl’s.

He exhaled loudly, a sharp, tired sigh that broke something in my chest.

The footsteps turned.Marched toward the front door.

It opened.

And then—

SLAM.

The floor shook.I flinched like I’d been kicked.

“What the fuck?”someone groaned.

I opened my eyes just enough so I could see what was happening around me.

Oleg, from the sofa.He dragged the blonde closer, her arm flopping over his chest like a dead fish.

Another voice muttered, “Is it already morning?”

The rooster answered for us, loud and triumphant.

“I swear to God, if that fucking bird doesn’t shut up, I’m going to kill it,” one of the guys grumbled, peeling himself off the floor.

I stayed flat on my back, eyes shut again, trying to will them all out of existence.

The man who’d stood went stomping off toward the kitchen, muttering something about tea.

Cupboards opened.Closed.Something fell.A loud clatter followed by, “Blyad!Where the hell is the tea?”

There was a collective groan from the room.A symphony of the damned.

“I could eat a cow,” Oleg groaned.“Hey, Katya, you think there’s anything left in the pantry?Bread, maybe?”

The guy in the kitchen returned.“Nothing.We finished it all last night.Even the pickled herring.If we want food, we’re gonna have to head back to Leningrad.”

Please go.Please.

Someone nudged my shoulder with their foot.

I cracked open one eye.

The blonde was towering over me, lipstick smeared and mascara smudged, holding her shoes in one hand like a weapon.

“You coming back to the city with us?”she asked, squinting at me.“We could stop somewhere, grab something to eat.”

I groaned.“No.Go.I’ll… I’ll stay.Thanks.”

She blinked at me, shrugged, and turned away.

A moment later, Larisa emerged from the bedroom, yawning and stretching like a cat in heat.She was wearing one of Dimitri’s shirts.

My stomach clenched.

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