Page 49 of The Harbinger
Exhaustion licked every muscle in my body by the time I slid the last book onto the shelf. My heavy eyelids bobbed, and my stomach rumbled with hunger.
“There.” My arms hung limply at my sides as I slumped into the chair beside Sacha, who watched me for the six hours I shuffled through the miserable task. I tipped my head back and closed my eyes. “Are you happy now?”
The chair crinkled as he shifted. Footsteps shuffled against the floor away from me. My eyes flew open, and I turned in my seat in time to see him button his suit jacket next to the door.
He’s leaving?“Wait, so that’s it?”
He turned. “Is there something else you needed?”
“How about a thank you?”
A smile spread across his lips. “Why would I thank you for fixingyourmistake?”
He opened the door and walked out, closing it behind him.
“Ugh.“ The irritated growl scratched my throat as I turned back and melted into the U-shaped chair. My chin quivered, but I refused to allow the tears to fall. He didn’t deserve them. “What a prick.”
Chapter 12
Mia
“Getup,”Katyasaid,nudging my shoulder.
I rolled away from her, shrugging her hand off. “I just closed my eyes. Leave me alone.”
Katya pulled the sheets off of my body, and I ripped them from her grasp and pulled them back up to my chin, covering my nakedness. “He told me to tell you to get up. You’ve slept long enough.”
“I haven’t slept at all.” I groaned and dropped the pillow over my face, willing it to suffocate me.
I’d tossed and turned all night, my muscles aching as nightmares of blood, darkness, and agony plagued my dreams.
“He said you’d say that and that I was to get you up at all costs.”
“Go away, Katya. Next time, tell him to do his own dirty work.”
“I’ll pretend you never said that.” Katya’s feet shuffled across the floor as she walked away from me.
“Don’t be mad at me,” she said, and I scoffed.
What was I supposed to be mad at her for? She only did what he told her, like everyone else in this household.
Katya pulled my pillow away, and a cold splash of water hit me full in the face, stealing my breath away and filling my nose with an icy chill.
I choked and gasped, the words tumbling from my mouth as I tried to form a sentence. “What the...?” I coughed, wiping away the stinging water from my face. “What the hell was that for?”
“He said whatever means necessary. This was the nicest way to force you out of bed.”
“No. The nice thing would have been to let me get up on my own.” I tossed the now-soaked sheet away and rolled out of bed, my hair dripping with each step I took as I headed toward the bathroom, leaving any modesty and shyness behind me. “What’s so important that it couldn’t wait, and I had to get out of bed right this minute?”
“You have your scan today, remember?”
My heart jolted in my chest, the memories flooding back of Sergei’s request for more tests. Two weeks had passed since I’d arrived, and since Sacha hadn’t mentioned it since last week, I had completely forgotten. I stepped into the shower, the heavy jets pounding into my body, and I couldn’t help but let out a groan. The perfect warmth of the water cascading down around me was like a soothing blanket I desperately needed.
“He didn’t like the bookshelf, did he?”
I turned my attention to Katya, who stood with her arms locked across her chest, her shoulder resting against the doorframe.
“No,” I mumbled, shutting my eyes as I arched my head into the spray and washed my hair, the feel of his hand on my stomach—an unwanted yet pleasant memory—burning through my skin.