Blood of My Monster (Monster Trilogy #1 ) by Rina Kent

However, the couple’s deaths wasn’t the only thing that affected me. The fast-paced nature of the events that followed made me more conscious about what other tragedies await me.

Uncle Albert and I break after a hug, and he studies me. “You look…different.”

“It’s the muscles.” I flex my bicep, and he smiles, showing his straight, perfect teeth.

“No, it’s something else, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.” He leans against the wall beside the entrance to the warehouse.

Freezing air slips through the cracks as a charged silence falls between us. I called him for an emergency, and he’s waiting for me to spill. But I don’t know where or how to start.

“What’s wrong, Sashenka?”

My chin trembles, but I don’t give in to the tears. “I just came back from…uh, a mission, and it was kind of brutal.”

“Are you okay?” He studies me with new eyes, affectionate and full of compassion like those of Papa.

I shake my head. “I’m fine, but the unit lost a lot of men. So Kirill, the captain, decided to take what remains of the unit and go back to New York since he thinks his father won’t leave him alone otherwise. But the thing is, his father is someone you know.”

A crease appears between his brows. “Someone I know?”

“The man who came to talk to you guys in the main house before everything went down.”

“What man, Sasha?”

“The overweight man with a balding head. His last name is Morozov.”

My uncle’s expression darkens, and an incomparable sense of rage emanates from him in waves. “How do you know that man? Have you met him? Talked to him? Did he recognize you?”

“No to all. I only saw him from afar. He’s…the captain’s father, but he doesn’t really get along with him, so I don’t think he’s involved. No, I’m sure he isn’t. They’re just related by blood, but that doesn’t really mean they have the same character…” I trail off. What am I doing?

It definitely sounded as if I was defending Kirill. In front of my own uncle.

“You’ll stay away from that man and his son and their world, Sasha.”

“W-why?”

“You don’t need to know. Transfer to another unit and stay in Russia where I can look after you.”

“Can’t you at least tell me what that man had to do with the massacre? I can go to New York and kill him. I can—”

“You’ll do no such thing!” Uncle Albert’s voice booms around me with the lethality of a bomb.

The only other time he’s spoken to me in this harsh tone was when he told me to run while I was half dazed. When he pushed me out of danger’s way so hard, he broke my arm.

Just like then, it feels as if the situation is heading in a disastrous direction.

My uncle grabs me by the shoulders and lowers his head to stare into my eyes, his gaze firm, filled with the sternness of a parent. “Listen to me, Sasha. Those people are a pack of wolves who are only out for destruction. If you see them, you walk the other way. Got it?”

I stare silently for a moment, and he repeats, louder this time, “Got it?”

I nod once. “Can’t you tell me more?”

“No. It’s for your own safety.”

“How is it for my safety when I know nothing about the reason I had to lose my whole life? I lost my parents, my cousins, and almost everyone I know. Don’t I deserve to know why they had to meet such a fate?”

“It was just a bad business transaction.”

“What type of business costs a family their lives? Were we just in investment and stock exchange, Uncle? Or was there something else I don’t know about?”

“We are a law-abiding family.”

“Then do you mind telling me how such a law-abiding family was practically begging a mafia man like Roman Morozov for help mere days before their eventual ending?”

“Drop it, Sasha.”

“But—”

“Out of all the people who’ve known about Morozov and his shady methods, I’m the last one alive, and that’s only possible because I’m in hiding. Do you now understand why you can’t know?”

No. But I nod anyway.

“Good.” He reaches into his pocket and retrieves a small blue candy. “Mike sent you this. He’s been hiding it under his pillow for a month.”

I take it with both hands. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah. We’re hanging in there, but don’t worry about us. Just take care of yourself.”

After some catching up, my uncle reminds me to stay away from all the Morozovs, then disappears through the snow.

I spend the entire way back to the base thinking about his warnings. I’m ninety-nine percent sure that Kirill’s father had something to do with my family’s fate.

If I remain in the army, I’ll never find out the connection between that man and what’s become of me.

Uncle Albert said we wouldn’t meet or talk unless there’s an emergency. That means we likely won’t be in contact for months.

When I reach the base, I’m resolved to discover the truth. There’s nothing that can stop me from seeking revenge. Not even my uncle.

Despite the low morale I’ve suffered from since Nadia’s and Nicholas’s deaths, I feel a slightly different mood as I catch glimpses of everyone packing their bags. The badly injured will also be going since, shocker, Kirill has access to his own airplane.