What if who you thought you were was only a drop in the ocean of time?
What if your existence was fated to follow a predestined path?
And you hated that path. And you fought fate.
Katya Luschkova longs to break free from the suffocating hold of he...
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I couldn't believe it at first. My mind couldn't quite grasp that the boy sitting in front of me was the same boy I'd once helped escape out of a prison cell —the same boy I thought had gotten captured and killed after our attempt at escape. But his features, altered by time and maturity, mocked me —Now that I had a memory to compare it to, the resemblance was uncanny.
Yuri's eyes stared back at me —hard and wary as I remembered them— the shape, color and familiar knowingness in them as keen as my memory of him.
Creeping forward, I leaned over to where he sat and whispered incredulously, "Yuri." His lips curved up at the appellation; he hadn't heard it in a long time I could bet. He nodded, watching for my reaction. I gripped his face in my hands, needing to actually feel him there. "You made it. You're alive." But for his surprise, he showed no discomfort similar to when Sean had grabbed him. I made a mental note not to touch him suddenly just in case. He shrugged and I laughed, letting go of him. "Why Sasha?" I asked, puzzled.
He smiled and replied, "My full name is Sasha Yuriel Arkadin. I am Dmitri's cousin by blood. My father was cast out of Wolf Blood before I was born. It's why we were rogues."
I just shook my head dazedly, still trying to absorb the fact that he was actually alive.
Staring at the older version of the boy I knew, I asked curiously, "So how did you go from hating Wolf Blood to swearing yourself to Dmitri Arkadin?"
An ambivalent mix of emotions passed over his face and I figured he was remembering something. He looked at me with dark, grim eyes and said matter-of-factly, "I never knew the whole story. Dmitri is not his father just as I am not mine."
Raising my eyebrows at that cryptic comment, I nodded. His secrets were his own to keep and tell. Though I had to admit, I was damn curious to know what he meant. Dmitri's father was known to be ruthless from what I'd heard (not much, but enough).
I sighed, and shook my head in wonder before breaking into a smile, "Who would have thought? Here of all places!"
Yuri grinned and shrugged as he said, "Fate is mysterious."
"This is the deciding factor – I will make my life here. I was still wavering before but now I know. I will live here for as long as I can, and be as happy as I possibly can," I declared, determination steeling my voice.
"Does Dmitri know?" Yuri asked quietly, his eyes concerned. He watched my face shut down and sighed.
"He will kill me, if I tell him," I whispered, realizing that if Yuri was bound by blood to Dmitri then hiding my identity would amount to treason.
"I will keep your secret. I owe you my life, Katya. It may have been stupid, fucked up and miserable, but it was my life anyway," Yuri said after a moment, his jaw set, eyes grim.
