Dinastiya Tested // 3rd Book of the Takaryev Trilogy

Chapter 9

A few hours after dinner that night, Nazar fell asleep on the couch. Ravil took note of this with stifled satisfaction, then took a chair from the castle dining room and carried it down into the underground tunnels. He ascended again and did the same with Nazar, tying him to the chair. 

Then he woke Nazar up. 

"R-Ravil? What the hell..." Nazar murmured.

Ravil kicked off the interrogation. "Were you with Artem when the Kremlin was bombed?" 

"Wh..." Nazar seemed to have trouble putting together a coherent reply. 

So Ravil asked again, with a bit of added gusto this time. "Were you with Artem when the Kremlin was bombed?"

Nazar shifted in the chair and looked up at Ravil with bleary gray eyes. "We were eating breakfast," 

"So you were with him." Ravil muttered.

Nazar overheard and nodded. 

"So what happened?" Ravil pressed. 

"We were eating breakfast," Nazar repeated, his voice a whistle that chilled Ravil to the core. "And then something exploded, and the wall fell apart, and I can only...can only remember being thrown against the table before I blacked out." 

"Then what?" Ravil absentmindedly tapped his foot against the concrete floor. 

"I...I woke up," Nazar began. "Artem was gone." 

"And you've got no idea what happened to him?" Ravil queried. 

Nazar shut his eyes wearily and shook his head.

"S lyubovyu iz Rossii," Ravil said.

Nazar snapped into complete alertness. "Awaiting orders." 

"Give me mission report: July twenty-third, 2016." 

"Allow the FSB to create a diversion and take Artem Takaryev captive." Nazar answered.

Ravil's gaze darkened. "Mission status." 

"Successful." 

"So you were in on it!" Ravil shouted. "You're just a spy! Nothing but a pawn!"

Nazar stared at him, unsure of what to do with the lack of orders. 

Ravil's voice lowered to a snarl. "I should've killed you along with Taras, you devil..." 

"Awaiting orders," Nazar prompted him. 

Overcome with vexation, Ravil shouted again. "Shut up! S lyubovyu iz Rossii! Conclude!'

Nazar shuddered and blinked. "Concluded." 

Ravil dealt Nazar a swift punch to the temple, knocking him unconscious. He locked the door behind him and left.