Otkroveniye Complex // Book 1 of the Takaryev Series

Chapter 102

penned by Birdmask. go find that one too. 

Ravil ran as fast as he could, but his feet could not carry him from the revelation he'd had. 

He had almost shot Artem. He'd almost killed his boyfriend. 

He threw open the main exit door and left headquarters, running out into sunlight and cityscape and noise. He dashed through the parking lot and down the street, shoving his way through crowds of passersby and shooting frenzied glances over his shoulder every few seconds to confirm that Nazar was not following him. He was dwarfed by skyscrapers, and when he looked up, he saw their tops cutting into the clouded firmament. 

His ears heard chaos. Footsteps, chatter, shouts, cars, a man on the corner strumming at a guitar.

He kept running. The revelation followed him. 

I was about to kill him, he thought. I was about to kill Artem. 

He'll never forgive me. But that wasn't me, it was Russia. This isn't who I am! 

He took a turn down another street, once again taking a backwards glance to see if Nazar was pursuing him. Nazar wasn't in sight, and Ravil assumed he'd lost him. 

Ravil backed into an alley, leaning up against the wall and dropping his gun, which hit the pavement with a clatter. 

"This isn't me," he whispered, voice quivering. "This isn't me!" 

He sank to the ground, the revelation hovering like a mighty storm cloud over his head. His mind flickered back to that moment, the moment when he'd been pointing a gun right at Artem, ready to pull the trigger at any second. Just the thought of it shook Ravil.

He had been so close to killing his lover. 

And he was tired of Russia messing with his head like this.

He was going to do something about it. 

"This isn't me," he murmured, almost as if to reassure himself.