Page 115 of Deviant Need

“You’re lying,” Alexei says.

“Back off.”

“Or what? Why can’t any of you speak about anything truthfully? You are all cowards,” Lev screams.

“Oh, that’s rich coming from you,” Yulian fires back. “Mr. Perfect who’s been scrambling for Father’s approval his entire life. How’s that working out for you now that he’s dead?”

Lev’s face goes red. “Fuck you, Yulian.”

“Fuck you too. All of you are pathetic.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alexei asks.

“It means you’re all liars,” Yulian says. “Every single one of you.”

“Shut up,” Lev says.

“Why? Can’t handle the truth?”

“Stop it!” Mother shouts. “All of you, just stop.”

But no one stops.

Lev is shouting at Yulian about keeping secrets while Alexei shouts at Mother about the lies. The entire room fills with overlapping voices, everyone talking over each other, and then Yulian grabs Lev by his shirt and shoves him hard into the wall. Lev lunges back immediately, his fist connecting with Yulian’s jaw. Alexei curses and grabs both of them, trying to pull them apart, but Yulian shoves him off and goes after Lev again.

“Stop it, you animals!” our mother screams, but no one listens.

Lev gets another hit in, and Yulian’s head snaps to the side, blood appearing at the corner of his mouth. He spits it out and tackles Lev, both of them crashing into the chairs near the window. Alexei wraps his hands around Yulian’s waist and hauls him backward while Lev scrambles to his feet.

“Enough,” Mother screams, stepping between them, but Alexei pulls her back before she gets caught in the middle.

Suddenly the alarms start going off, loud and urgent, cutting through the shouting.

No, no, no⁠—

I spin around fast, and everything is flashing red, machines beeping wildly and erratically, the numbers on the monitors jumping and dropping in ways that can’t be good. Nothing looks stable. Then the room floods with medical staff rushing in, surrounding the bed, blocking my view of Daniil completely.

Someone’s hand clamps down hard on my shoulder, pushing me back toward the door. “You need to get out! Out! Now!”

They shove us out of the room and into the hallway.

“I need all of you to leave right now, and I don’t want any of you coming back here again,” I bark at them.

Alexei hauls them both down the hallway and they start bickering again immediately, their voices echoing off the walls as they disappear around the corner.

Mother hesitates, glancing back at the closed door where they’re working on Daniil, then turns to me. She steps forward and wraps her arms around me, burying her face against me.

The room spins, and I sway on my feet, gripping her shoulders to keep from going down.

“You need to see a doctor right now.” She pulls back and looks at my shirt, her expression shifting.

“I’m staying here.”

“No, you’re not.” Her hands tighten on my arms. “Daniil is going to be okay. They’re taking care of him. But you’re bleeding through your bandages, and you can barely stand. You need to let them look at you while they work on him.”

Before I can argue, everything tilts again.

“Please.” Her voice softens. “I’ll stay right here. I will not leave this hallway. The second there’s news, I’ll come find you. But you have to go now.”