Anatoli
I can’t remember the last time someone pushed me to this level of rage.
I’m furious Mikhail is here. And I heard what he said to Avrora.
He told her he loved her and sold her a vision of the future any girl would give her soul for. Dreams, children. A life.
A nomad like me who came from an unstable home, watched his mother die, and prefers the company of the sea couldn’t offer a girl like her anything of the sort.
I don’t have dreams, and I can’t see a future. When I try to, all I see there is darkness and doom.
I know, in whatever is left of my heart, that’s because his father-our father-took my mother away from me. She was my home.
Mikhail stands and stares at me head on, squaring his shoulders like he’s ready for the fight I want to give him, but he doesn’t know there’s no way back when you fight me.
“Like to see me try? Really?” His nostrils flare. “Well I already am trying.”
“She’s mine and you’re not getting her back.” I move forward and Avrora shoots up to step in front of him.
“Who the fuck do you think you are? Do you seriously believe I’m scared of you? I’m Mikhail Scarfoni!” He sounds like a lion staking his claim to the pack.
“I’m Anatoli Scarfoni and I don’t give a fuck who you are. I will fuck you up from here to Valhalla.”
“Think I’m actually scared of you? Or that fucking rune makes you a god?”
“How about we test how much of a god my rune makes me.” The fucking asshole really doesn’t know who he’s talking to.
“Anatoli, please.” Avrora’s eyes plead with me to calm myself, but I’m not backing down. “Please don’t make this worse.”
“Stay out of this.” I look away from her because she still wears that expression that tells me she loves him.
God, would I love to tell her about the vineyard and taint her perfect vision of him. I’m only fucking holding back because I still need to keep that secret, but also because it feels like grabbing for scraps in shit when you have nothing left and know your opponent has one over on you.
Regardless of what I think or what Mikhail stood to gain from marrying Avrora, he was telling the truth-he does love her.
I could tell. She could too.
Avrora steps closer. “Anatoli-”
“You heard me.”
“Why are you stopping her? She deserves to fight for what she wants too.” Mikhail seethes with blazing eyes. “What kind of man steals a woman seconds before she’s about to take her wedding vows?”
“This one.” I’m not about to sugarcoat who or what I am just because he’s trying to make me look bad. I know who I am, and I’ve never pretended to be anyone else. “This entitled motherfucker who wouldn’t hesitate to kill you.”
“You’re seriously threatening me?” Mikhail rushes me and makes the mistake of shoving me in my chest.
I’m like an unmovable wall of steel, so he doesn’t even move a hair on my head. But that little mistake fucking does it. I land a fist in his face that would have taken him out if he weren’t a Knight.
Avrora screams when he stumbles back.
“Stop it! You guys are brothers,” she wails.
Neither of us wants to hear her or cares for her words because we don’t want to be brothers.
When he recoils and comes at me, I’m ready for him and glad no one is around to stop me. Gytha, who helped plan this shit, is on a call that came through when she was trying to speak to me. Ehlga is out, and the staff who can hear the commotion know to stay the fuck away.
I throw myself at him and we crash into the wall, exchanging blow after blow, pretty much equally matched.
I grab him by the throat when he digs his thumbs into my shoulders, and Avrora screams again.
“You’re just a fucking asshole with mommy and daddy issues,” Mikhail grates out, and I see red. A wall of red fire covers my eyes and I’m like a rampant bull in an arena.
“What the fuck did you say to me?” I start, choking him, but he’s fucking resilient. He’s not backing down either.
“You heard me.” He coughs. “It’s a pity Father did such a poor job of taking out the trash.”
Trash.
In my flash of fury, I see the unforgettable image of my mother’s face staring back at me, her dying eyes still pleading with me to run and save myself. She died because my father thought she was trash. A mere loose end he was tying up, together with the bastard child he didn’t want.
His beloved son just echoed my thoughts.
I release him, but before he can blink, I grab my gun from my back pocket, hold it to his head, and cock the hammer.
At that moment, Avrora’s shrill scream pierces through me and the same dainty hands that made me bend my will earlier to allow this visit grab my arm.
“Anatoli, no, please don’t,” Avrora begs, but it’s best I don’t look at her. Not while I’m like this, in full-on berserker mode, ready to kill.
To my surprise, Mikhail laughs. It’s a haughty, holier-than-thou laugh that continues to mock me. A stream of blood runs out the corner of his mouth, making his bloody smile look as psychotic as he called me.
I don’t look away from him. I’m one breath away from ending him, and nothing short of a miracle will stop me.
“Go on, do it. Show us what a savage piece of shit you are.” Mikhail raises his voice.
“Mikhail, fucking stop it!” Avrora yells. “Anatoli, put the gun away.”
“No, go on, kill me.” Mikhail’s voice rises even higher. “Dig that hole deeper for yourself, motherfucker, because she loved me first. I can see what’s happening here, and she doesn’t want you. Force her however you want to, but you’ll still be trash.”
His words fuel my rage and I want to release my bullet right into his head, but he’s clever. He’s figured me out and knew exactly what to say to stall me.
He used her against me. If I kill him now, I’ll fall into my own trap, and she’ll hate me as much as I wanted her to when I first started this game.