Dinastiya Tested // 3rd Book of the Takaryev Trilogy

Chapter 75

Ravil was escorted by a handful of FSO officers to the room where they'd taken Artem.

Artem was in a bed, unconscious, but the officers assured Ravil that he was alive nevertheless. He sat down in a chair beside the bed and waited for the officers to leave. They didn't. It was a painful show of the fact that they no longer trusted Ravil to be stable. Shaken, Ravil wept. He had killed Leopold, he had nearly killed Artem, the FSO no longer trusted him, and he was not so convinced that his existence was doing anyone any good at all. His heart felt heavy, as if it had been torn down the middle and pelted with rocks. His entire chest ached with a mix of fear, self-loathing, and a terrible melancholy. He found himself remembering the melancholy he had seen in Alina's gaze during his childhood. Was this the same thing? 

What if it had happened again? Ravil wondered if the world would be a better place if he just sealed himself away in oblivion and faded gradually out of the memories of everyone who had ever known him. He could definitely pull it off. It wouldn't be yet another "botched execution," as the FSB had always called them. Ravil cracked a grim smile at the thought. If he tried, he knew he wouldn't screw it up. He'd get the job done. 

Then he glanced over at Artem, and the very thought of the option of death was banished from his mind. He couldn't leave Artem. Or, at least, not yet. He sighed and peered back up at the officers, thinking to himself that there was no way in hell or on earth that they'd ever trust him again- and if they did, it would be a miracle. 

Artem returned to the realm of consciousness a few minutes later. Ravil immediately began to issue a volley of apologies, frantic. 

Artem wearily shook his head. "For the love of God, Ravil, stop apologizing. It's not your fault, what they did to you. I'll also have you know that as soon as I'm physically okay again, I'm going to kick Leopold's ass. You're welcome to watch."

Ravil blinked. "About that...I shot him after you blacked out." 

"Alright. Fine," Artem answered. "Just makes things easier on my end." 

Ravil laughed for what felt like the first time in an eternity. 

And for once, just a fleeting moment, everything in the Kremlin seemed to be perfectly alright.