Dance Of Devils

Chapter Eleven- Nadia

Nadia had, yet again, surprised herself and found the strength to stand, albeit unsteadily as four men surrounded her to walk to Ivan's office. The two meatheads they put in front of her tugged harshly on the chains clamped around Nadia's wrists. It was impressive to even them that she was walking, considering how broken her ankle was, let alone how fucked her hands looked. She had only had a brief look before a bag was tossed over her head and she was essentially dragged out of her cell, but it was enough to know her hands would probably never look the same again. She tried not to think about it, how it might affect her aim, her skill, the possibility of never feeling Leo's silky hair through her fingers if the nerve damage was as bad as she suspected.

To think of him was the hardest of all. How she left was the hardest and easiest decision she had ever faced. Nadia could deal with a few messed up fingers to keep him safe, even if it meant leaving him behind. It was the least she could do for him.

Petra's heals clacked incessantly behind her, whilst Theo led the charge from in front, his steps sounding all the more prominent as she focused on what she could hear, trying to get a sense of what was going to happen, if there was to be a swift attack on the way to the office, whether all of this was simply some diversion to stop her plotting. Nadia limped along, biting her tongue to hold back her hiss of pain, and took note of the directions she was led, the twists and turns of each hallway, the left, left, right, straight on, right. It helped focus her mind on the reason she was doing this, all that she had to lose.

Counting footsteps would have been pointless with her limp, the uneven pace and throbbing in her head making it impossible to be accurate, but she judged the difference in pace of the guards and Theo's strides and counted each clack of Petras heal on the hardwood— Petra was trying to match her pace. The hairs on the back of her neck stood as she listened out carefully to each step, for every one-and-a-limp of her steps was three of Petra's. Theo's were the same. The steady beat and steady strides were so prevalent. Purposeful. Like they had planned it. Like he knew what she would need, her ever-evolving plan.

Nadia didn't understand what that meant, not after all he had put her through, nor did she put the effort into figuring it out. There were more pressing matters to attend to.

There was a final pinch from where the cuffs on her wrists bit at her skin, then a heavy hand shoving her onto a seat, plush and soft and certainly fine leather. Then the bag was pulled off of her head and, finally, she was exactly where she wanted to be. After blinking away the bright spots in her eyes, Nadia let her face drop into a cold smirk.

Ivan sat behind his desk, hands folded on his lap, and waited for Nadia to settle.

"What a fine sight you make, Tsvetok."

"What are you hoping to achieve here, big man?" Nadia asked, her words inquisitive but her tone thick with mocking. She couldn't be bothered with playing any kind of game, she wasn't going to wait for him to dance around, she was going to get whatever intel she could, by whatever means necessary. And she was sat right in the epicentre. "some kinda ego trip?"

"Oh, I have many things to achieve, my sweet," Ivan responded, his voice smooth and lilted with humour. "The first is to put the Reaper where she truly belongs."

Nadia scoffed. "Good luck with that, buddy." Her body cracked as she leaned forward, the guards holding her chains tightening their grip, "You destroyed the only leverage you had over me. You're friend over here,"- she nodded towards where Theo stood looming in the darkest corner of the office- "killed the one thing I cared about. You cannot do a single thing that will hurt me in a significant way. You won't find a way to kill me that matters, no, I'm too useful to you. Break my bones, beat me, rip me into oblivion, whatever. I won't ever see you as anything but an annoying fly to swat away. And no matter how hard you try, you will always be one move away from your demise."