5. Viktor - In The Other

When the light clears from my eyes, I thought I would be in another memory but I found myself back in what I call The Other. Only this time, things were different…this time there was no darkness surrounding me. Instead, it was as if I was in a wall of one-way mirrors.

And I am currently seeing Caterina curled up in bed, crying. 

“Why am I seeing this? It’s no memory of mine!” I call out, only to be ignored again. This isn’t the first time I am questioning the Goddess and her decisions, and I doubt this is the last time. 

I swipe a hand over my face and breathe out a sigh before facing the weeping mess of a woman I grew so close to in such a short amount of time. She’s alone in what seems like Kai’s bedroom and she’s curled up in the fetal position, whimpering. 

My heart constricts as I can feel her absolute misery from here. Why is she crying? What happened? I can’t enter her space, it seems, so I’m just watching from what seems like the other side of a window. 

The bedroom door opens and Kai walks in; he looks miserable and there’s a cut going down the side of his face. Approaching the bed, his expression seems to match hers, but he slips a confident mask on before laying down next to her.

“You need to forgive yourself, little wolf,” he says, drawing a hand to her face and wiping away her tears. “It’s been weeks since it happened.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Caterina says in a small voice. “Even if I were to forgive myself, Nikolai would still be dead. I played with a power I wasn’t in control of and Nikolai died.”

I blanch at Caterina’s words, confused as hell because I clearly saw future visions of Nikolai with his mate and their children. What is Caterina talking about?

Kai wraps his arms around her and breathes out a long sigh. “He wouldn’t have wanted you to be miserable because of a mistake; he went along with us to rescue you because he cared about you. Let’s work towards our healing, okay? We can grieve for my little brother, but we cannot get lost in it.”

So Nikolai is supposedly dead? How is Kai keeping it together when I know how much he adored our little brother?

Caterina curls into Kai’s arms, and more silent tears roll down her cheeks. “So many innocent people died because of Vanya and her lies,” she starts, shaking her head. “Viktor, Ilya and now Nikolai! She got away with everything!”

My heart stills and a frown furrows my brow at her mention of Ilya being an innocent part in all of this, which overshadows her mentioning his death. The Goddess never showed me Ilya dying, so what the hell is going on?

“You still think Ilya was an innocent party after Viktor’s death?” Kai asks, mirroring my thoughts. There’s no way he was innocent. He knew everything from the get-go!

Caterina lifts herself up and shoots Kai a curious look. “You didn’t see what I saw in his memories, Kai. Ilya might have known about the plans his siblings had, but he loved Viktor with his last breath and they used that love against him,” she says. 

I shake my head, not believing her words - refusing to. “No, that’s not true! He’s the reason I’m dead!”

Kai crooks one of his arms behind his head and exhales. “He should have come to me with this right at the beginning; I would have protected both him and Viktor with my life.”

“I know, my love, but Vanya knew how soft her twin brother was, and in the end, she used it to get what she wanted. You don’t believe it, I know. However, I saw the way he looked at Viktor when he proposed. I saw the love in his eyes, but also the guilt because he knew what he was a part of…”

I step back, refusing to listen to any more of her words. There’s no way Ilya is innocent when his lies led to my death; he could have told me if his sister was forcing him into something. Instead, he chose her over me, and allowed me to die because I found out the truth about her. 

She was never in love with Kai; she wanted Xamnir to take over his body and complete the ritual so the witch Marle could be his second-chance mate. From the exchange between Kai and Caterina, I can tell they’re not aware of this yet. If only I could tell them, it would save so many lives.

“What’s the point in all of this? Why won’t you allow me to rest?” I say, sinking to the floor. I haven’t felt this exhausted in months, and I am so ready to just close my eyes and move on from this. 

But the Goddess is refusing to answer me; she’s refusing to let my soul rest because apparently, I missed something.

“Even if I missed something crucial, what difference does it make?! I will still be dead!” I growl and the vision of Kai and Caterina blinks to black and all I can hear is dead air. 

Something resembling fear creeps into my heart, and I take a step back, uncertain of where I would be sent next. I’ve been hopping along a timeline without rhyme or reason, and the only thing I picked up was a shadow slinking into Dimitri’s room when I was thirteen and seeing Ilya with fresh eyes. 

“Is this about Ilya? Is Ilya my unfinished business?!” I scream, only to get blinded when the ‘screen’ in front of me lights up to a view I am not familiar with. 

It’s dark, and even from here, I can smell the dust and derelict of the place, which I am assuming is a basement of some sort. I can hear footsteps echoing all around, and I see them holding a lit torch while they approach a hanging figure. 

The closer they get with the torch, the more I can make out who it is. The figure lolls its head to the side, and when the torchlight hits the person just right, I can make out the tattoo below their ear. 

An intricate crescent moon with the letter E interwoven in dips and swirls. 

“NO!” I exclaim, banging on the glass in front of me when I see a naked Nikolai strung up and bloody, the silver shackles searing his wrists. 

He has large gashes all over his chest, and I can catch the little glints of silver in between the cuts. His body is slick with sweat and his breathing is coming out in short wheezes.

Why is he here?! What the hell is going on?! 

I watch with a hammering heart as the person brings the flaming torch close to Nikolai’s face, and when he finally opens his eyes, they don’t even widen in shock. He just looks…defeated.

“Back for more?” he says in a hoarse voice and a put-on smirk. “Were my earlier screams not enough for you?”

The person chuckles, and when they step back, I see it’s a woman. She’s dressed in leather, with long blonde hair reaching her waist, but as I look closer, I can see a sickly green glow around her. Who is she?

“Oh, sweet baby, I am far from being done with you,” she says as she reaches out to stroke Nikolai’s cheek. “Your screams got me so wet, I just had to come back for more.”

“Sick fucking bitch,” Nikolai spits out, but I see the fear in his eyes. “Just kill me already!”

“A few more days of this, sweet baby. I want to suck you dry enough that you’d be willing to offer up your soul to my master once he arrives. Not only that, but you’re important to our plans, so killing you right now is not possible.” She says, as sweet as possible. “Now close your eyes so I can play some more.”

A haze of green fog rises up from her and the last thing I hear is Nikolai’s heart-wrenching screams before everything blinks to black again.