Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 92957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Is he hiding something? It feels as if I have more questions than answers, and I don’t like it. He wants us to trust him blindly when I’ve never felt more confused.
“This way,” Rafail says, leading me to a car. Zoya gets into a car with her sister and brothers. I hardly see the others as everyone’s quickly leaving. “We’ll see them in a bit.”
Blindfolds rest ominously on the car seats, vivid reminders of our need to trust without question. “We’re going to the Popov safe house,” Rafail explains, his voice calm and controlled as always. “Even I don’t know where it is. We’re all blindfolded, no exceptions.”
My heart beats faster when he places the blindfold around my eyes. “I could have a lot of fun with this, Mrs. Kopolov,” he whispers in my ear, trying to keep things light.
I only swallow and shrug. Something tells me we’re on the cusp of a shift in our relationship. Something’s coming, and it will be big. Maybe even… catastrophic.
“What did he tell you, Rafail?”
Voices sound near us. “Wait. They’re checking to see if our blindfolds are in place. We’ll be recorded on the way in so no one peeks.”
I nod. My mouth is dry.
“And no, Anissa. I can’t tell you what he said, not yet. Please, just trust me.”
I want to trust him. But now, I have no choice. “Alright. Can you give me a hint?”
I hear the depth of his sigh in the silence before his hand reaches for me. Our fingers entwine. “All I can tell you is that we’re in grave danger… all of us. I have questions that need answers before I give you any more details.” The wheels of the car purr beneath us. I can’t see out the window, but I know we’re driving at a breakneck speed. My back is pressed to the seat, my feet glued to the floor.
I nod. “Okay.”
“Tell me this, Anissa.” I feel the reassuring warmth and weight of his hand on my thigh before he continues. “What can you remember? Tell me everything.”
My pulse races. I swallow hard. “Everything?” I ask him.
But what if what I tell him threatens… us? I don’t want it to.
What if I’m… happy being Anissa Kopolov?
And then he’s drawing me to him. In the dark, both of us blindfolded, we find each other’s hands. “Trust me. Please,” he whispers. “What you know could impact your safety, baby. Please, just trust me.”
Tears wet my blindfold as we careen toward whatever hideout we’ll be in next.
“I know my name’s not Anissa,” I begin in a whisper. “It’s Polina. I know it is. I can hear it loud and clear, and it isn’t just a dream anymore, Rafail. I had… have… brothers. Lots of them. And they were so good to me.” I blink and sniffle. His hand caressing my shoulder slows. “They were protective, yes, like you are with your sisters, but they loved me. I don’t know how I ended up here, and I can’t remember much more about my past. And I… I don’t know who Anissa is.” I shake my head. “But I’m not her.”
“What else?” he asks hoarsely. “I need to know.”
“But the doctor said that I can hurt my brain if I push—”
“You must push. You have to. There’s no other way forward.”
My hands are shaking when he holds me tighter.
“I know that I came to Moscow because I was in danger. I remember running from you, and I know that… when I ran from you, I didn’t know you. But here’s the thing, I…” My voice trails off. I’m afraid of giving voice to my fears.
“What? Say it.” His voice is a harsh whisper.
“I don’t know if what I remember is real or not. I can’t tell the difference. Because sometimes, I imagine I worked in a hospital, and sometimes, I imagine I know how to shoot a gun. Sometimes, I think I do have sisters, but when memories from my childhood come back, I’m the only daughter.”
I close my eyes, the blindfold soaked. “I remember being a little girl, alone, and I remember a kind woman. And I know that she’s my mother.”
It’s absolutely brutal, telling him all this without being able to look at him.
“I want to see your eyes,” I say with a big sniff. “Please, Rafail.”
“You can’t,” he says in a harsh whisper. “If you take off your blindfold, they’ll shoot you. Then I’ll have to murder them, and we’ll start a war in Moscow. The streets will be flooded with their blood, Anissa.”
He calls me that by habit now. I’ve adopted it as my name.
“Well, then. I guess I won’t take my blindfold off.”
He holds me in the quiet, stroking my shoulder with ease. “Tell me what else you know.” With a gentleness that belies the tight timbre of his voice, he kisses my cheek.