Viktoriya Sima walked back to her cabin as calmly as she could. She set her jaw, focused her gaze on the next car door as she passed through each one, tried to steady her breathing. But on the inside her heart was practically ready to burst from her chest. Her mind was racing. And it still hurt. Viktoriya felt worse than the hangover she suffered the morning after she had made captain.
It felt like miles back to her cabin. Car after car that held nothing for her. Door after door that didn’t belong to her. They all looked the same. Viktoriya start to worry that she had passed it. Her headache was growing worse.
Thankfully, she hadn’t passed her cabin, and when she slid the door open, Vikenti’s eyes were already upon her. His mouth opened, but she held her hand to silence him before her lieutenant could speak.
“I know we’re almost in Paris, but I need a nap.” She told him, leaving no room for argument as Viktoriya fell into the seat across from him. Sitting sidewise, she put her feet up, and tried to get comfortable. She only needed a little bit of rest, surely it would banish her headache. Sleep came quickly, and Viktoriya was grateful.
Viktoriya’s mind saw her pain differently. Her mind was four walls, grey, a little dirty, but standing. A small apartment with the barest of necessities. She stumbled in holding her side. Blood had set into her white tee shirt, staining it and her hand a rusty red. Viktoriya made her way to modest bathroom and opened the cabinet over the sink, not caring as she left bloody finger prints on the mirror. She let out an audible grunt of anger. She found the cabinet bare.
“Oh good, you’re asleep.” A voice came from the hall. Viktoriya turned, hissing in pain, to find Yuri Utkin standing feet away, in a white shirt stained worse than her own, and a pair of black pants. “You are hurt? What happened?”
“Elijah Coates happened.” She said gruffly, letting Yuri lead her out to the main room. They both took seats on the floor, and she let him examine her wound. There was nothing sexual in the way he lifted up her tee shirt or moved his fingers over her skin. He was too disconnected for that. Or she was too young. Or too masculine.
“No I’m not. And you aren’t. Maybe. But you aren’t too masculine.” Yuri said to her. He had that way about him. Yuri Utkin had been born a telepath of decent strength, the younger brother of a stronger telepath with ambition. Trauma seemed to constantly rock his life. His manifestations drove his father to suicide. His brother, Anton, pushed him into the service of the Prizrak Rytsarya. His captain, Mischa Sima, led him into danger, and got him captured. Yuri had been tortured and driven insane. That was when his telepathy evolved into psiony. That was when he first used his power to kill. He was generally regarded as dangerous, but Viktoriya trusted him. She had to trust him, just as he needed to trust her. She and Eli were his only hope of rescue.
“Thank you, sir. For the help, I mean.” Viktoriya said, belatedly remembering her etiquette.
“You out rank me, Viktoriya. You don’t need to call me sir. But you are welcome.” Yuri said, carefully treating her wound. The pain was already gone. “How did this happen?”
“I told Eli to scream out his pain. And he did, but… I think he broke into my mind telepathically instead of screaming vocally.” Viktoriya’s bitterness evaporated with her pain. “I don’t think he meant to hurt me.”
“No, I don’t think so either. He thinks highly of you. And fears his own abilities. He’s not a killing machine like me. Not yet. So, what is he in pain over?”
YOU ARE READING
Looking For The Light (Book 2)
ParanormalElijah's life has been thrown for a loop. His girlfriend left him, he's leaving his home behind, and setting off into the unknown. Doubting his mission and himself, the young telepath struggles with many of the great questions of life.
