Butterfly

chapter seventeen

aponi

Where the fuck am I?

My head is pounding as my eyes flutter open. The base of my skull is throbbing, and I can barely lift my head up. I try to reach my hand toward the source of pain but am unable to because of what feels like rope around my wrists.

"Fuck," I whisper. "Nik. Oh, god. Nik. Nik!" I yell hysterically. "Ivan!"

No, no, no. This wasn't supposed to happen. What happened? My mind is blank before the vague memories come back to me.

Ivan was driving Nik and I back home from the grocery store when I noticed our protective detail was no longer behind us.

"Ivan, where'd our tail go?" I question anxiously.

I look in the side mirrors before climbing into the back with Nik. He was awake and his eyes immediately darted to me.

"Call Zeus, A. Let him know what's going on."

I pull the number up on my phone before a car plows into my side of the car, knocking the phone out of my hand and knocking me out of consciousness.

"Hello, my love."

There he is–the fucking bastard of my nightmares.

"Nikhailov. You know, I always thought your name was annoying; quite a mouthful if you ask me."

I try to smirk through the pain, although I'm sure he can tell when he starts to laugh.

"Oh dear, you've got quite a mouth on considering your brother just died. Although, your mouth only comes second to that delightful pussy of yours."

Dead. My brother is dead. My only family. My eyes sting with unshed tears and I can feel my chin quiver.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?"

"Love, your brother is dead. I ki-"

That was my last straw; I cut him off before he could finish his sentence, "You piece of shit! I'll kill you! I'll kill you, you pathetic fucking monster! I'll kill you and your fucking family!" I scream, my entire body shaking.

I can see him flinch and his eyes widen just a bit. Put your walls up, Aponi, It's the only way you'll make it out of this fucking place alive.

"Yeah, that's right, you fucking coward. You should be scared. When my people come for me, you and your fucking empire will fall right along with you. You will never make it out of this alive."

I start to laugh, unable to stop myself because of the look on his face. My head rolls back and I can feel the chain from my necklace. I almost cry in relief, but remember that Nikhailov is still in the room, and I can't let him know that there's a tracking device in my necklace. I had the chip installed when I first settled into the club, asking their tech guy to keep the device on at all times. It was a precaution that I was thankful for; I knew he would come for me, I just didn't know when.

I lift my head once again when I hear the door close and a lock click. Nikhailov had left the room and I could finally breathe again. I put on a tough act but I was afraid of what he would do. I legitimately do not think I could survive if he did what he did to me last time. I couldn't survive his hands running over my body again. I could survive the bloody wounds but I couldn't survive a violation on my body again. I just simply couldn't.

It must have been only minutes later when Nikhailov walked in again, this time with one of his henchmen. The other man was pushing a medical cart that carried an assortment of weapons; all for torturing me, I assumed. And rightfully so because not even a second later, Nikhailov shoves a knife in my thigh.

I grunt, and take deep breaths, pushing myself to not give this asshole a reaction. Nikhailov does not like that, however, and balls my hair into his fist, pulling my head back so I'm looking him in the eye while he takes another knife and runs it down my arm, blood following the long cut.

"You son of a bitch. When I get out of here, I'm making sure you never see the light of day again. Hell will have gained another poor bastard to torture for eternity, you sick fuck," I whisper, laughing softly.

By now, it was only a matter of time before my men burnt the world down looking for me. I was going to savor the fact that Nikhailov would no longer be a problem. Nikhailov didn't like that I was speaking, so he rolled up a dirty rag, shoving in my mouth before putting duct tape over it.

"Shut up, you little bitch, unless you would rather have his dick in that sweet little mouth of yours, you ruined mine. I'll have to pay you back for that."

He must have seen the fear in my eyes because he laughed, squeezing my cheeks in his hand, spitting on my face.

"Yeah, that worked last time, too," he sneered, smearing his spit on my face. "Hang her from the ceiling. Give me the gasoline and the matches. Stand by with the extinguisher."

His buddy did as told, giving me an apologizing look while Nikhailov wasn't looking. I was trying to plead with him by my eyes, but I knew he most likely wouldn't do anything to help. I started to fight against the chains that were tying my wrists and ankles to the ceiling, whimpering and screaming, hoping he wouldn't follow through with his plan. He never did this last time. He said he didn't want to ruin my pretty skin. This time, however, he didn't have a dick to work with, leaving me useless.

He dipped my left foot in the bucket, and then stood back, flicking the match against the side of the box, lighting it. He threw it at me, but it missed, hitting my right thigh, where the knife wound was, which was also thankfully far enough away from my gasoline dripping leg, so I didn't catch fire.

"Damn it, I've never been good at darts, darling, so you'll have to excuse me if I miss a few times," he chuckled, waving his hand around.

"Go fuck yourself," I shout, my command muffled by the fucking rag.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't seem to hear you?"

He held his hand over his ear, laughing heartily before an explosion cut him off.

"What was that? Al, go. Report back," he yells at his helper. He turns back to me and grabs my face in his hand again, "You stupid bitch, what did you do? What the fuck did you do?"

His eyes ran over my body, instantly seeing my necklace. He grabs the necklace, yanking it off my neck, before letting out a yell of anger. He turns to me again, delivering a strong punch to the left side of my face, and then another to my left. He hits me again and again, sending me over the edge. I whimper and let my head fall, my pleas muffled by the gag. My eyes roll into the back of my head, his punch sending me into unconsciousness.

"Mama," Nik yelled.

"Yes, baby?" I smiled, the sight of his little face giving me immense joy.

He doesn't respond, only shoves his face in my neck, grabbing my hair and cooing gently. Anton approaches and his hand falls to my stomach, where Zeus' baby is growing.

"You're going to make a wonderful mom, sweetheart, you just have to fight a little longer."

I wake up screaming. My leg feels like it's on fire. I scream and cry in agony, my body flailing as far as it can against the chains. I can hear Nikhailov laughing, but I can't even see him through my tears. This is the worst pain I've ever felt, and probably will ever feel. He set my leg on fire.

I can hear the door burst open, and I can hear heavy steps running into the room. Gunfire sounds around the room, before it stops completely. It's silent aside from my crying. I can hear a click before a whooshing sound bellows through the quiet room. Something wet sprays onto my right leg, and I can't help but feel frustrated. It's the wrong leg! My left leg is on fire! Spray it! I try to flail my legs, but realize that I can't feel my left leg at all.

The gag is pulled from my mouth and I can see Ivan holding his hand out for me. Someone releases the my wrists from the chains and catches me, preventing me from falling, but all I can see is my brother, reaching out for me. I reach out for him, trying to grasp onto his hand but only falling through.

"Let's go home, sister."