My Russian Nightmare Read Free

isn’t bad enough, there is a constant hiss coming from the oxygen spout on the wall.
    The nurse warned me when she called that he’d been seriously beaten and his injuries were life-threatening, but I didn’t expect this . His face is so bruised, one eye is a dark blackish/purple and swollen completely shut. His entire face is swollen and distorted. And that’s only what’s visible. A large bandage covers the top right quarter of his face and runs up to his head.
    My knees are weak. I think they’re going to buckle. Tears obscure my vision as I reach out to touch my brother’s hand. I squeeze my eyes shut. Sobs I’m unable to control rack my body. Just as I allow myself to fall, to drop to the floor, strong arms wrap around my waist, lift me up, and pull me away from my brother.
    Seized by fear, I suck in a large gulp of oxygen. I can’t find my voice to scream yet, but I kick out and flail in the arms that are stealing me away.
    “Blyat! Stop!”
    A hand covers my mouth. I’m going to die. Each beat of my heart slams against my chest with the threat that it could be my last. My mouth is dry, I can’t formulate any sound, and I’m shaking like a weak tree in the middle of a Category 5 hurricane. I have no control of my body. All I know is I need to fight; fight for my life.
    “Kiera, quiet down. Now!” the deep voice orders. I manage to separate my lips enough to sink my teeth into the hand covering my mouth and kick his leg hard. The way he reacts, I think I got his knee.
    “Fuck!!” He shoves me hard across the room opposite the door, away from him.
    I face my attacker, taking him in for the first time. Dark hair falls to his eyes. I search his face and body for any visible marks that would distinguish him in a crowd. He has a strong square jaw, and his dark, almost black eyes are narrowed and focused on me.
    By the way his shirt is pulling across his broad chest, I can tell he’s got plenty of muscle beneath it. Under normal conditions I’d have no chance against such a formidable adversary, but right now I don’t care how the muscles in his arms ripple as he moves, I have to get away from him. I’m fighting for my life.
    “Stay the fuck away from me.” Although my voice is barely more than a whisper, it’s deadly serious. My eyes dart off to the side and back to him over and over again as I search for something, anything in the room I can use as a weapon against my attacker.
    “Listen to me,” he orders in a low but definitive tone. “You need to shut up and come with me. I will explain once I get you out of here.”
    I shake my head, circling around toward the chairs meant for visitors to sit. I don’t think I’m strong enough to pick it up and throw it at him, but perhaps if I keep it between us. Or if I go the other way toward my brother, maybe I can press the call button for the nurse before he can stop me.
    He advances toward me one slow step at a time, palms up. Fuck! I backed myself into a corner.
    “Listen, Kiera. I don’t want you to get hurt. Please, just do as I say.”
    Before I can answer, before I can tell him to “fuck off,” another two men enter the room. An older man, pudgy around the middle, and a young blond man that looks to be just as fit and toned as the man trying to accost me. Both sneer at me with a snide smile, like I’m their prey and they just honed in for the kill.
    “You know, there’s something to be said about having a room at the end of the hall,” the older man begins speaking in an accent I’m not familiar with. “So far away from everyone.” He claps his hands. “No one can hear what’s happening inside it.” His eyes trail up and down my body with hunger burning in his eyes. Threat understood. “And even better when like this one, it’s conveniently located right beside the stairwell.”
    He’s sending a message to stop fighting. Too bad. I have to fight. If I don’t, they’re going to grab me and force me into that stairwell to do who