“He is,” she confirmed, and I heard the love for her husband clearly in her voice, “as I am of him. So very proud.”
Nothing else was said for the rest of the journey.
But her hand remained holding mine.
21
ZOYA
“This is the place?”
I stared at what looked like a run-down gym. Kisa nodded. “‘The Dungeon.’ I’m the manager. Come.”
We entered via the private back door. Kisa led me downstairs until we came to a vast gym. Cages and training equipment of all descriptions covered the floor and walls. My eyes narrowed as I inspected the equipment. I swallowed hard.
Kisa must have seen my reaction, and explained, “We run a death-match enterprise. The men are mostly volunteers, or prisoners—rapists, murderers. Men that don’t belong in the streets.”
I stared at the bloodstained floors, the weapons on the walls, and I felt overwhelmed. I didn’t know life at all.
At least this life.
I had a feeling this would change very soon.
Kisa headed for the back of the gym. We walked past locker rooms and stopped at a barred metal door. A large man stood there, clearly guarding the entrance.
“Pavel, let us in, please?” Kisa asked. The man, Pavel, pulled out a ring of keys and opened the heavy door.
As a dank, dimly lit stone hallway revealed itself, I felt the name the Dungeon was appropriate. The lights randomly hanging from the ceilings were straight out of a gothic novel. Kisa led me down the hallway, then down some steps until we reached the mouth of a short hallway.
Pausing on the final step, she turned to me and said, “Zoya. You must understand this. Zaal saw the screens in the Mistress’s mansion. He watched Valentin torturing you and he snapped. Luka told me you were cold and pale in his arms. Zaal couldn’t contain his anger. He’d just gotten you back. You were unresponsive. Then he saw footage of you being tortured.”
My heart beat with a fierce rhythm, because I did understand. With mounting trepidation, I enquired, “What has he done to Valentin?”Kisa paled. “He hurt him, Zoya. Badly. As close as he could to like for like.” Kisa winced. “Valentin has been down here for days. You should prepare yourself.”
For a moment I closed my eyes. My heart pained for my lost man. “Why did no one help him?”
“Because Zaal commanded that Valentin be left to him, and him alone.” I frowned. Kisa laid her hand upon my arm. “Zoya, Zaal is in the Volkovs’ inner circle. The Bratva have always had three men leading. There’s always the Pakhan in the head seat, of course. But historically, there have been three, or even four, Bratva kings to rule the Red Brotherhood. It’s stronger that way. Luka is knyaz. Before Zaal became the Georgian Lideri, Luka had chosen Zaal to be at his side, as one of the future kings.”
A strong sense of pride filled my chest when I heard this information. “So—”
“So Zaal ordered Valentin to be left solely to him. And as he is a man in the inner circle, that’s precisely what has happened. No one would dare challenge a command that comes directly from him.”
Licking my lips, the cold air bringing a chill to my skin, I whispered nervously, “I need to see Valentin.”
Kisa handed me the ring of keys the guard had held and said, “He is in the cell at the end. There are no windows. Zaal cut the lights near his cell. There is a light switch outside of the cell. You’ll need it to see. This place is aptly named ‘the Darkness.’ It is designed for torture and extreme punishment of enemies, nothing else.”
I swallowed again. With a shaking hand, I took the keys from Kisa. As she turned to walk away, she instructed, “There are four guards in this building. I will tell them you’re down here and that you’re not to be disturbed. Ask Pavel if you need anything. He’ll get whatever you ask for.”
Kisa started to climb the stairs. I felt the need to ask, “Why are you helping me? Valentin did torture me. Shouldn’t you too be warning me off, too?”
Kisa glanced back, her face sympathetic. “Let’s just say that I fell for a man I shouldn’t have, either. Turns out he was the right man for me all along. Turns out he was, he is, my soul mate.” She nudged her chin in the direction of the cells. “You will know soon enough if you truly love that man down there, or if that obsession was prompted by your capture and eagerness to be free.” She shrugged. “Who are we to tell you what’s in your heart, no matter how extreme the circumstances in which you two met?”
“Thank you,” I said quietly after several seconds of not being able to respond.
“You’re welcome, sweetie,” Kisa replied with a smile. She left me alone. I turned to face the hallway.
My hands shook, rattling the metal keys, as I walked down the dimly lit hallway. Open cells with thick iron bars surrounded me on both sides. My footsteps echoed loudly on the hard stone floor, but I forced myself to keep moving. I had to reach the cell at the end of the hallway. When I reached the large isolated cell at the end, I could see nothing inside. The ceiling lights were out.
Valentin had been kept in total darkness for days.
Pulse pounding, I hurried the rest of the way, blind in the darkness. I pushed my hands out, feeling in front of me until I reached a hard slick wall. My fingers searched until they landed on the switch. I flicked it on—another dull light fighting a losing the battle to illuminate the darkness. I blinked, adjusting my eyes to see in the poor light. When I glanced through the steel bars, I sank to my knees.
Valentin.
Valentin was shackled to the wall, his face and body bloodied and beaten. My stomach lurched when I saw deep gashes across his stomach and chest.
He’d lost weight. His head was hanging low on his slumped body. His arms were holding him up and his feet were dragging on the stone floor.
I retched. The sight of this man so broken tore my heart. Spurred into action, I checked the lock of the door and sought to find the right key from the bundle in my hand. It took me five tries to find the right one. As the cell door swung open, I ran in. Valentin didn’t move. He didn’t lift his head.
My hands were trembling at the sight of him hanging from the wall. I had to look away from his broken body to stop myself from collapsing. Instead I focused on the cuffs around his wrists. I stared at the small lock and searched for the key that would fit. My fingers were clumsy, but I caught sight of a tiny key. It had to be the one.