Gavriil (Stepanov Mafia)
“What are you doing? Let me go.”
He yanked me forward, showing no sign of letting go. “This is our opportunity. Your security is stuck. Stop resisting.”
“Our opportunity for what?” I said with a hiss. I looked around for an employee or another shopper, but the back of the store was mostly storage and employee breakrooms, and at that moment, deserted.
“To escape,” Devin said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I dug my heels into the tile floor, but I couldn’t get any traction. Devin was able to slide me across the floor, and my resistance hardly slowed him down at all. “I don’t want to escape. I’ve told you already; I’m better off with Gavril. We are all better off with Gavril in the picture. He makes life better.”
Devin let out a bitter laugh. “He has you so screwed up in the head.”
“I’m screwed up in the head? You’re kidnapping me right now. What does that say about you?”
We reached the back doors, and Devin pushed one of them open with his palm. The door flew open, slamming against the metal side of the building, and a high-pitched fire alarm began to sound. I grabbed the metal bar between the doors to try and hold on, but it was too big to get a good grip, and Devin easily unwrapped my fingers. He wrapped an arm around my midsection and yanked me outside.
“Devin, don’t do this. Gavril will kill you. He’ll kill you, and all of this will have been for nothing. Don’t be stupid.”
He grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard, lowering his face to mine. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and there was an anger in his face I’d never seen before. He didn’t even look human. He looked like pictures of demons I’d seen in an illustrated Bible as a kid.
“Gavril has convinced you he is God, that he is unbeatable. But it’s not true. I can kill him, and when I do, you’ll realize that he brainwashed you. You’ll realize that you’ve been worshipping a monster, and then you’ll be disgusted with yourself for carrying his spawn.”
I laid my palm flat across my stomach. “I thought you wanted to support me?”
He laughed and rolled his eyes. “You’re the one who’s bad at lying, remember? I’ve never had a problem with it.”
Just then, a car whipped around the corner of a building and screeched to a stop in front of us. I didn’t recognize the man behind the wheel, but he had a scraggly red beard and deep pock-marks across his cheeks.
Devin pushed me towards the car, and I kicked out at him, the toe of my boot connecting with his shin. He grunted, and then slammed me against the side of the car so hard the wind rushed out of me.
“The baby,” I begged, holding my stomach.
Devin looked at me like he didn’t recognize me, like I was a bug that had fallen in his soup. “Get in the car, or I’ll force you.”
I wanted to fight him, I wanted to run away and try to reach Eric, but I knew Devin wouldn’t let me go easily. If he tackled me or slammed me into the car again, he could hurt the baby. And as much as I wanted to escape, I couldn’t risk the safety of my child. Plus, Gavril would find me. He’d figure out what happened and he’d find me before Devin could do anything. Gavril would save me.
“I hate you,” I spat, brushing dirt off my chest and opening the back door of the rusted-out Toyota.
Devin laughed. “You’ll get over it. As soon as I break whatever spell Gavril Stepanov has over you, you’ll forgive me.”
Devin slid into the seat next to me, placed a blindfold over my eyes, and then the car tore down the alley. I tried to keep up with the turns, but not being able to see made me feel nauseous, and I began to devote all of my energy to not being sick. My chest still hurt where Devin had pushed me against the car, and as we screeched around corners and accelerated through intersections, I prayed nothing had happened to the baby.
If Devin hurt my baby, I’d kill him. And even if he didn’t – even if I made it out of the situation and gave birth to a healthy child – Devin was wrong. This was it. The last straw.
I would never forgive him.
Chapter Sixteen
Gavril
When I got home, my second car wasn’t in the garage, and Sam wasn’t in the house. Neither was Eric. That was good, at least. Wherever she was, Eric was likely with her. I waited ten minutes and then tried to call her to ask where she was. Although I’d instructed her to always be waiting for me naked in bed when I got home, that hadn’t been happening for some time.