10

We left the casino at a brisk pace through the emergency exit. The car was already there for me, and Grisha, having provided his motorcycle to Chechik, got behind the wheel himself.

He drove carefully, but very fast. The night air rushing in through the open window greatly diluted his smell, making it almost unreadable, but in the rear-view mirror I saw the reflection of the darkness that completely filled his eyes, affecting even the whites.

Grisha was silent and literally gnawed on a cigarette, and this pressed me even more. Pain methodically drilled in my temples, sharply reacting to every bump that the wheels of the car hit, which had already left the city.

I felt nauseous, and when the engine stopped, my ears continued to hum as if we were still driving at high speed. It was not even a noise, but rather, the flapping of millions of gigantic wings, beating not only on the ears, but on all the nerve endings, already on the verge of being sensitive.

I was thrown into a sweat, and I