Inizio (COMPLETED)

46. Russa

The sound of chains falling to the floor woke me up. The room rotated slowly until it came to a stop once I'd fully regained consciousness.

"Wake up, come on," said Cane. He lightly slapped my moms cheek and she jumped at the action. Her hair was frizzy from the humidity of the room and her hands were tied onto the armrests of her old wooden chair.

My cousin, Maïna, groaned to my left and sniffed before coughing violently. She turned to look at me with her chestnut eyes.

"Zhara? Ur ... menk' yenk'," she asked softly.(T: hi... where are we)

I asked myself the same question, observing the room and Canes seemingly calculated movements. He paced the room, counting his steps and stopped in front of the left wall.

Wait..

This room was familiar....I scrambled through my thoughts as I watched Cane place his eye up to the tiny hole in the wall. A soft ding sounded and a loud hiss erupted. Behind the now open wall was a cold room with blue lighting; frost spilled across the floor and nipped at my ankles; A shudder ran through Maïna and I.

Cane walked back into the room after having disappeared in the cloud of frost. In his hands was a large glass case with a keyhole in it.

"I'll keep this short and simple. We need the crown... in here," he said pointing to the case. "We know where it is, but we don't have the means to get it."

"Why not," I croaked.

"Well, we've been told the Fiorentinos don't have it."

"They don't," I stated matter of factly.

"That's what they claim. But an inside source has reason to believe that someone amongst them has been able to retrieve it and hasn't told anyone for their own selfish reasons."

"Who's your source," I asked, throwing a quick glance at my groaning mother to my right.

"You don't need to know. But allow me to rephrase my earlier statement: We know where the crown is, and we didn't have the means to get it... but now we do," he said smiling mischievously at me.

I snorted. "First of all you've got my fucked up," I said. "Why would I help you after you've done this?" I lifted my index fingers as far as I could and pointed to Maïna and my mom.

"It's for this exact reason that you will help us," said a voice from behind Cane. Pietro strode in, left hand buried in his pocket and his cobra headed cane with the other. He stopped next to Cane who had an unreadable look on his face. "They're our leverage."

I sat up straight and tried to calm down. If I could just angle my wrist...

"Aren't you curious as to who you'll be retrieving for us," asked Pietro. I clamped my fingers together and pushed my wrists outwards, then inwards.

"I think I already know," I grunted. They both narrowed their eyes. "Enlighten us," Pietro said.

My right hand slipped out and I held it still behind my back. "Enlighten me," I replied, staring straight at Cane. He took it exactly as I thought he would. His face was inches from mine in a flash; his breath fanned my lips as he spoke.

"I can do a lot more than enlighten you."

"Hmmm," I hummed in false appreciation. "Tell me more next time." His eyes met mine and he lifted a brow.

"Why dont I just tell you know," he asked.

"Idiota! Non abbiamo molto tempo. We leave in 17 hours," Pietro interrupted. Cane rolled his eyes and licked his lips. (T: Idiot! We don't have much time.)