𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑛

14

~ phoenix ~

"Come in."

I glanced quickly at Helena, wondering if I could somehow convince her to enter first. However, the agitated clench of her jaw banished the idea.

I curled one hand into a tight fist, swallowing every urge that urged me to run and used the other to push the door open. Naturally, my eyes found him first, despite how hard I tried to pull them away.

The man before me was both a familiar face and a stranger at once. I remembered that rugged stubble, but failed to recognise the hair that was now long enough to be tied haphazardly at the base of his neck. Those silver depths that were lowered to his desk were ice, an expression I hadn't seen in forever yet was vaguely familiar from the first days that I'd known him.

He still hadn't looked up.

Remembering myself, I glanced away, my eyes rapidly flickering between the bookshelves and the carpet.

"Please," came the sudden voice, "sit."

It was difficult to control how my face reacted to having heard him in so long so I simply pursed my lips and obliged, taking the seat furthest from him.

Helena remained standing, a few feet behind.

A large part of me was hoping that he'd keep his eyes trained on the desk, so when he did eventually meet my gaze, I couldn't help but feel utterly self conscious and even slightly nauseous.

Time passed excruciatingly slowly. I noticed his lips part before I heard sound leave them.

"What brings you here then Phoenix?" he smiled, coldly. "So unexpectedly."

I gritted my teeth at his term of address. Was he trying to put me off... or was it out of habit? Either way, I refused to take the bait.

"Lyra," I corrected simply, before adding, "I thought you'd already have an idea. The incident at the ball wasn't gone unheard by the ears outside of the palace, let alone inside it."

The fountain pen in his left hand screeched to a halt, spilling ink and staining his calloused fingers.

"Incident?"

"Don't play dumb, Dimitri. The people of our community have their opinions, their theories and I'm only here to either eliminate... or confirm one." I inhaled a deep breath. "Just answer this question—"

"Did I poison you?"

The biting edge to every uttered word felt like a sucker punch to my chest.

Ilya's eyes were piercing and the blue fire in their depths did wicked things to my heart. It raced so fast I was sure that Helena could hear it from behind me.

Regardless, my back straightened and I met his gaze unflinchingly. "Did the Bratva have anything to do with the Kolokol that was used to try and kill me?"

"If it was Kolokol," he mused, leaning forward with a shark smile, "you would not be sitting here—"

"It was Kolokol. I've seen the reports myself and only the Russian military produces it... which if I'm not mistaken, you have access to."

I didn't intentionally recall our past, my last trip to Novgorod, when Ilya was dealing with a military general.

His eyes narrowed infinitesimally. "Is this an accusation?" 

"It is a question," I replied just as coolly.

"I wonder, now that you are Dama, if you are searching for excuses to break this alliance, Lyra."

Clenching my fists, I stood my ground. "I am here, precisely for the opposite reasons. I am here looking for reasons why I should uphold it."

For half a second, Ilya seemed taken aback, jaw slacking ever so slightly. Then, a sinister chuckle left his lips.

I felt the hairs on my arms raise, and my throat tighten.

"You think I will beg for an alliance?" he mocked. "When the old man was in charge, I simply used you as a buffer to the итальянские сукины дети. Now that you insist on fucking around with that son of a bitch, you are of no use to me, Lyra... and so, you will fall." [italian sons of bitches]

"Are you threatening me, Dimitri?" I spoke calmly, over the thundering in my chest.

This man did not scare me. But I could not bear the repercussions of a crumbling alliance for my people.

"Do you feel threatened, Lyra?"

"Fine." I glanced down, releasing a shaky breath. When I looked back up, I hoped he would see the malice, the rage and the hate in my eyes. "I will take your twisted answers as a confession to your crime against my mafia. In consequence, this alliance no longer has any grounds to remain standing."

Helena's startled gasp rang loudly in my ears, but I could not tear my eyes from the wicked man before me nor could I stop my wrath from delivering my words.

"Ilya Dimitri Ivanov, you have declared war."

I would not give him the satisfaction of having the final words, so I stood calmly, took the doctor's hand and strode out of the office.

After the door clicked shut behind us, I could barely conceal the shaking. The pills were on the plane, I reminded myself, my pills were on the plane.

Thankfully, Helena did not speak as we left through the back doors onto the airfield. From the corner of my eye, I observed Aleksey mutter indistinct words to his men. A moment later, they marched into the doors we had just come through, no doubt to check with Ilya that we were okay to leave.

The likelihood that Ilya could very well choose to cancel our return, perhaps even finish what he failed to do at the ball, was pushing me to get to the plane faster.

We did take off safely, no less than five minutes later. Immediately, on the plane, Helena turned her hawk eyes on me.

"Co do diabła zrobiłeś?" she demanded, handing me my pill box. [What the hell have you done?]

I quickly swallowed one red pill with a gulp of water, barely hearing her over the chaos in my mind.

Don't fool lead yourself to the same fate as your mother with your foolish emotions.

Babcia's venomous warning rang loudly in my ears. She had warned me that my alliance with the Italians would be futile if there was another divide.

But I had gone and let my anger, my hurt, my wounded pride do the talking.

I needed to fix this.

I stood on my shaky legs and walked into the cockpit.

"Zabierz nas na Białoruś," I told the pilot.

"Białoruś," he repeated, for confirmation.

I nodded, "Yes, Belarus."

NOTE:
UGH IK IM AN ABSOLUTE WHORE!!!
BUT IM DONE WITH BEING A LAZY BITCHHHH.
I'll try and finish this series this summer, my lovely hoes. Don't wanna string you along for too long!!
xo, Rosavi