Chapter 29: How Strong is my Love?

When morning arrives, we get down to the business of making sure that everything is set for my meeting with my brother. Maret and Sava are amazingly helpful at putting things in perspective for Yuuri and me, because first off, we don't have any experience in dealing with madmen trying to kill us, and secondly, they have access to a lot more information than we do. The first thing they do is to check out the ownership of the address Servil gave me. Then, Sava goes to reconnoiter the place while Yuuri and I dress and eat breakfast. When he returns, the four of us sit down to discuss everything we know, and to make plans for the meeting with Servil.

"The check we ran on the house," Maret says, "indicates that it's a rental home in a nice area that was rented a few days ago by Servil Nikiforov and Lena Nikiforova. The rental was for a week and lasts for three more days after today."

"I went and had a look at the property," Sava adds, "and it's set back slightly from the street. There are shade trees and physical features that close it off visually from the road. It isn't a place that can easily be watched, because of that. We will actually have to enter the property to observe."

"But on a good note," Maret says, "the same features that give the property this privacy will enable us to move around without being seen."

"As long," Sava interjects, "as we are cautious of the surveillance cameras, which I took note of, so that we can avoid being picked up by them."

"Did you see if my brother and his wife were there when you went there?" I ask.

"There was no one inside the house, that I could see," Sava answers.

"But, if they were visiting that friend Servil mentioned, they could have been out to do that."

"Maybe if they were having breakfast together," Sava suggests, "It's possible, given the presence of a new baby in the family, that they might be working with the baby's sleep schedule."

"We weren't able to find any information on who they have seen since arriving," Maret reports, "I ran a check on your brother's finances, and there were credit records of meals out, sometimes for three and sometimes for two, indicating that when it was two people, the baby could have been with the friends, or it could have been Servil or Lena going out to eat with one of their friends. There were no payments indicating your brother paid for any meals for more than three people."

"But," Sava adds, "if the other family was hosting, they could be providing some meals, and also some meals are probably being prepared here too…although I found no record of purchases from nearby grocery stores, which we would expect to see."

"So, what do you think?" Yuuri asks, "Do you think that this checks out? Is it safe for us to go there to meet Servil?"

"I don't know if I would call it a safe location," Maret answers, "We have a few concerns, mostly about how everything seems to check out in general, but Sava didn't observe any specific signs of who had been in the house."

"I looked in through the windows I could access without being picked up by the surveillance cameras, and I didn't see things like a stroller, a crib or supplies for a baby, although I couldn't observe all of the rooms from outside."

"Our concerns stem, not so much from what Sava was able to see, but from what wasn't immediately visible. The property, itself, checks out in general, but we feel we need to approach with some caution."

"With that in mind, we have contacted our team members who are guarding Mr. Feltsman and Mirra Nikiforova," Sava informs us, "We'll be going over there before proceeding to the meeting residence."

I nod in agreement, then steal a glance at Yuuri, whose eyes are blinking as he stifles a yawn. I meet Maret's eyes and he gives me a very slight nod.

"We should go to the car," I suggest, taking my fiancé's arm as we stand and he sways a little, "Yuuri, are you feeling all right?"

I already know he's not, and I'm the reason why. I am, after all, the one who laced his morning tea with knockout drops I got from Maret.

We leave the house and climb into the car. As we pull away from the curb, Yuuri yawns again and leans against my shoulder.

"I don't know why I'm so drowsy," he sighs, "I think I slept better than you did."

"Don't worry about it, solnyshko," I tell him in a soothing voice, as my eyes meet Maret's in the rearview mirror.

I pet his hair as his eyes blink sleepily, and he drops off, leaning against me. I wait until I'm sure he's out before saying anything to the men in the front seat.

"He's asleep," I tell them, "How long did you say those drops last?"

"He'll sleep through the meeting," Maret tells me, "and Sava will not leave him alone for a moment."

"Good," I say, petting Yuuri's hair and caressing his face gently, "I know he'll be angry with me when he wakes up, but by then, the meeting will be over and he won't have been at any risk. I don't want there to be any chance of Yuuri being hurt."

Maret drives us to Yakov's house, where he and I climb out of the car and Sava gets out to move to the back seat to sit with Yuuri. We get to the door and ring the bell, but there is no answer. Maret frowns as I ring the doorbell again.

"They knew we were coming," I say softly as Maret nods and places a hand on his weapon.

"Come with me, but stay behind me," he tells me.

"Are Yuuri and Sava safe where they are?" I ask anxiously.

"They'll be fine," Maret assures me, "but I am worried about Mr. Feltsman and Ms. Nikiforova."

He takes out his phone and sends a text message. We wait for a few minutes, but there is no reply. Maret looks more unhappy by the moment.

"Come on," he says, taking my hand.

We move carefully around the side of the house, and he looks in through the sliding door in the backyard. My breath catches in dismay as we spot three collapsed people on the floor. Then a jolt grabs my insides.

"Where is my mother?" I whisper.

Maret says nothing, and I gather I didn't really need to ask. The back door, we find, is ajar, so we slip inside and move closer. Maret draws his weapon and we move first to check that the people, who turn out to be Yakov and the two bodyguards, are still breathing. Maret sweeps the house and finds no one else there. But, checking the unconscious men more closely, I find a note stuffed into Yakov's hand.

"This is a warning," the note says, "Come alone."

"He's taken my mother," I say numbly, "but…if he has her, then why does he want me to still come?"

My heart beats harder and I feel a little weak as Maret gives me the cold, hard facts.

"You are being set up to die, Victor."

"But, he said that he was going to kill me if she didn't come to him."

"And it looks like she didn't go willingly," Maret concludes, "meaning that you can't trust those words at all. The fact that he's using her to lure you tells me that you have been his goal from the start."

"That makes sense," I agree, "He's never been able to stomach even the suspicion that I was fathered by Yakov."

Maret takes his phone out again and texts Sava to let him know what's going on, then we work on waking Yakov and two bodyguards. They move sluggishly and are starting to wake up, but Maret keeps looking at his phone, and even before they are awake, he motions for me to go with him outside.

"What's wrong?" I ask nervously.

"Stay close to me," he says sternly.

As we step out the front door, I freeze and stare in dismay at Sava's collapsed body that lies on the sidewalk and the fact that Yuuri and the car are both gone.

"Damn it!" Maret snaps, rushing forward to help his unconscious partner.

I suffer a moment of indecision, then while his back is turned, I slip back into the house and take Yakov's car keys. The garage is just far enough away that I have time to slip into the car and get out of the driveway before Maret can stop me.

"VICTOR!" he shouts as I pass him.

I head immediately for the house where I am to meet Servil. I know now that the meeting is a trap, and I know my brother is part of it. That is a shock, and part of me doesn't want to believe it.

But there is nothing else I can do. Whoever took Yuuri is probably going there. That house is where Modya will be waiting.

I guess we will see if I really learned anything from the self defense things Yuuri and I were taught. Although, it's unlikely to be helpful if Modya has hired thugs on his side. I wonder if he hurt Servil or just threatened him to make him lure me like that. I know the kind of person my brother is. If he is helping to lure me there, he's not doing it because he agrees with Modya. He's being manipulated…and by someone who just kidnapped my Yuuri to trap me into coming to the house. That means that he's not above abducting or threatening Servil. My brother has to be in almost as much trouble as me…the difference being that Modya just wants to control him. Modya wants to kill me. Servil is caught between us.

I wonder what it might take to get him to help me stop Modya. It depends on if Modya has just threatened Lena and the baby, or if he has also had them abducted. He seems to have put the proceeds of the house to some use, buying thugs to do his dirty work for him.

That makes me wonder if he plans for his thugs to kill me…or if he might want to do that with his own hands.

I think it's the latter. There is so much venom in what he's done already, and the fact that, even though he has Mother, he also took Yuuri. I only hope and pray that he doesn't hurt Yuuri. I think he'll keep Yuuri alive so he can taunt me as he carries out his plans, but what will he do after? Will it be enough if he kills me, or will he kill Yuuri just for being my lover?

I still have a million questions as I pull to the curb several blocks from the house. I pause for a moment to search the glove box, because I know that since my mother came to live with him, Yakov's had a gun hidden there. It doesn't take long to find. I know to make sure the safety is on, and I conceal it carefully as I set out for the house. I'm no detective or even a sneaky person, but I know not to walk up to the front door. Instead, I call up a screenshot of the neighborhood and I look for alleys or properties I can use to approach from another direction.

God, just don't let me be caught, recognized or just shot while invading someone's property!

I'm lucky in that I'm able to pass through several yards and use an alley to get into the pretty, but overgrown backyard of the house. I remember that there are cameras. I don't dream I'll be as good at avoiding them as Sava was…but then, Sava just got knocked out by people being paid by Modya, so who knows, right?

I move cautiously, squinting at the sides of the house. Luckily for me, the cameras are pretty big, so it's not hard to see them. What is hard is figuring out exactly how to get to a window or door without being seen. Of course, if Modya thinks I'm coming like a sheep to the front door, he might not be watching the camera feed. With some effort, I find a little bathroom window that is frosted, and it's also partially concealed by brush. I work my way there and try to get it opened. At first, I think that it's closed from the inside so that I won't be able to do that, but then I realize that whoever opened it last didn't close it all of the way. Smiling, I work it very slowly open and climb through. It's lucky that I'm as slim as I am. It's a small window, so anyone much bigger than me wouldn't be able to get through it. I reach the inside and drop silently to the floor. I hear voices floating in from other places in the house. I step to the bathroom door, which is open, and I angle myself to look out, into the hallway, without being seen. There's someone standing at one end of the hallway, his back to me and his eyes looking out through a window, into the backyard. The other direction down the hallway leads to the common rooms, and that's where the voices are coming from.

"Did you have any trouble?" Modya asks.

"No. They obviously weren't expecting us to show up there, and we outnumbered their security."

"Good."

"Modya," my mother's voice says, sounding amazingly calm for the situation she's in, "I'm here. There's no reason for this. Please, when Yuuri wakes, let him go."

"You be quiet and keep him quiet too!" Modya snaps.

So, they are here. I wonder where Servil is.

I get my answer when I hear him speak a moment later.

"I don't like this," he says anxiously, "You said that you just wanted to convince Mom to come back to you. You didn't say anything about kidnapping anyone!"

I hear sounds of some kind of scuffle, then Modya's angry voice.

"Just focus on what's important," he hisses, "He'll come here, and when he does, you will bring him in here."

"If the guys you hired grabbed Yuuri Katsuki, then you want more than to get mother back. What are you planning? Are you going to hurt Vitya? I won't let you!"

I hear the thud of a body crashing into the kitchen wall and my brother grunts in pain.

"Ugh!"

"Servil!" mother cries, "Modya, stop this!"

"You'll do what I tell you," Modya scolds my brother, "or I'll have to remind you that Vitya isn't the only one with someone vulnerable to protect. All I have to do is send one of the men I've paid to…"

"Stop it!" Servil pants, "Stop threatening women and children! You know, Vitya was right when we were children. You are a goddamned monster!"

I hear another impact and a heavy thud, then the sound of a body collapsing.

"Idiot!" Modya says furiously, "Maybe I should just kill you along with him, for all of the loyalty you're showing me."

I hear the click of a weapon, and I can't hold back moving anymore. I pull out the gun I got from the car and make sure the man in the hallway is still turned away, then I run silently across the hallway and enter the kitchen. My hands are shaking, but I slip the safety off and approach Modya from behind as he faces Servil. Mother's breath catches softly, but she's careful not to say anything. Servil's eyes widen. The gun clicks as I ready it to fire, and Modya freezes.

Then, just at the wrong moment, Yuuri starts to stir.

"V-victor!" he groans, blinking and trying to make sense of what's happening in front of him.

Mother quickly soothes him as he struggles with the bonds that have been placed on his wrists. I'm only distracted for a moment, but it's enough that Modya manages to turn and knock the weapon out of my hand. At the same time, he brings his weapon around to aim it at me. I don't even think, but wrap one hand around the barrel of the weapon, pushing it to the side as he swears and calls to his thugs.

This is so not going the way I'd hoped. God, just let all of us get out of this alive!

Modya charges at me suddenly and crashes into me, bringing both of us to the floor as two big men run into the room. I hold the barrel of the gun in a death grip, recalling that this type of gun won't fire as long as I'm holding it like that. Unfortunately for me, one of Modya's thugs grabs me and yanks me away, dragging me to my feet as Modya gets up and heads for me, wearing an infuriated expression. It's like my mind slows down to a crawl, and as he drives a fist into my bruised ribs, making me scream in agony and drop to my knees, I recall suddenly how Servil hated to see me hurting. I manage a quick glance at his face as he stands on shaky legs behind Modya, watching as the monster emerges, and he strikes me hard across the face.

"Victor!" Yuuri cries, struggling harder as Mother works to hold him still.

"It's fine!" I pant, "S-stay back, Yuuri. Don't get involved."

As I say the words, there is a strange moment where my eyes meet my brother's, and we both remember him fighting off school bullies and telling me those same words. I see then the understanding that blossoms in his eyes, that he understands I protect Yuuri the way he protected me. And while Modya hits me again, Servil edges towards Yuuri, trying to avoid the attention of the one thug that's holding me on my knees and the one who is watching from the kitchen entry.

"Tie him to the table."

What?

Why?

What is he going to do now?

And how? How will we get out of this?

I draw the attention away from Yuuri and Servil by throwing my weight against the guy holding me in a maneuver our bodyguards showed me. It only distracts them for a few moments when he's thrown off balance, and I pay for it when the second thug hits me twice in the stomach, completely knocking the wind out of me, but it gives Servil a chance to kneel at Yuuri's side and work at his bonds while the two bigger men are tying me down and Modya is watching.

My head spins and I can't get a good breath, so I'm unable to even ask what that bastard is thinking, at this point. But Modya seems almost jovial, now that I've been controlled. He stands over me, glaring down at me with the deadly eyes of the monster I remember. I'm too out of breath to feel any fear. I can only suck in and release gasping breaths as he laughs and moves closer.

"You wonder why I didn't stop at taking Mirra back?" he asks sarcastically, "I suppose I can be generous and give you an answer."

Please, Servil, free Yuuri and get him and Mom out of here! You can't help me this time!

Modya's fingers curl around my face and squeeze painfully, but I'm still so out of breath, I can't make a sound.

"This," he hisses, "I had to look at this damned face day after day, week after week, month after month, year after goddamned year! I knew when Mirra came home the day after we quarreled and I left her on the side of that road…that she'd been with another man. It's what weak, needy bitches like her do when they're left helpless. They find another man to take from."

"You lying bastard!" I howl, finding my voice again, "She was a beautiful dancer. She never needed you…n-not ever! She gave you her love and you treated her like she was nothing! You were a coward, hurting her just because you were stronger. And you did the same thing to me, because I was small and I wasn't yours!"

"No," he says, his voice going chillingly calm, "you weren't mine, and that's bothered me for a long time. But…I'm going to fix that now."

I look into his crazed eyes and I have no idea what wickedness he's thinking of doing to me.

"What are you going to do?"

His smile is filled with what feels like the fingers of the dead touching my skin all over. He moves in beside me and takes out from within his clothing, something that looks like the IV needle and tubing that they used in the hospital when I was there before.

"You're filled with the blood of another man," he says in that same dead calm voice, "I intend to bleed that out of you and fill you with mine."

"MODYA, NO!" my mother screams.

I can see out of the corner of my eye that Servil has freed Yuuri's hands, but there are only two of them against Modya and two large, armed men.

My mind can't fully comprehend what he just said, or if I do comprehend the words, I can't believe them.

He's insane!

But insane or not, he takes hold of one of my bound arms and pulls out a scalpel. I barely feel the cut, but the sight of blood flowing out of the wound ignites a rush of adrenaline and I fight the ropes holding me down. Modya doesn't even flinch as the needle pierces his arm, and his blood begins to leak into the tubing. He leans over me, preparing to run the other end into the gash he opened up in my arm.

But while he's still struggling with me, there is a huge crashing sound as someone breaks the front door down and our four bodyguards run into the room, followed by Yakov. Yuuri and Servil use the distraction to ram into the gun toting men from behind, knocking them to the ground. At the same time, Mother dashes towards me and leaps onto Modya's back, wrapping her legs around him and scratching at his face. One of our bodyguards reaches me and slices through the bonds on my wrists, but he's distracted as Modya throws my mother off of his back and he heads towards her with mayhem in his eyes. Maret and Sava help Yuuri and Servil to bring down the two thugs. Another of our bodyguards frees my legs and drags me to my feet, quickly wrapping a kitchen towel around the heavily bleeding wound on my arm.

Modya screams and throws my mother off his back, and she crashes to the ground.

"Mother!" Servil cries, moving to keep Modya away from her.

Yuuri, too, places himself in the way.

Then, Modya reaches into his clothes and pulls out another gun. Yuuri and Servil freeze as he aims in their direction.

"Yuuri!" I gasp, trying to move, but Maret grabs me around the waist and holds me in place.

There is an odd, frozen moment, where I feel that something horrible is about to happen, then a shot echoes in the room. But at the same moment, a dark clothed body throws itself between Modya and the two he's aiming to kill.

"Sava!" Yuuri sobs, dropping down next to the collapsed man as it takes Yakov and two of our bodyguards to bring Modya to the floor.

As they do, Modya looks down and sees his blood pouring out of a bullet hole that Sava made in his chest. He falls on his face on the floor as Mother crawls to Yakov and I drag myself to where Servil and Yuuri sit at Sava's side. Yuuri's face is ghostly white and spattered with his bodyguard's blood. Maret quickly calls for help, then bends over Sava, working swiftly to apply pressure to a wound in his shoulder.

"Yuuri," I manage, putting my not bleeding arm around him and resting my head on his shoulder, "are you hurt?"

"N-no," he says shakily, "S-sava jumped in front of me. Like his own life didn't matter, he…"

"Shh, solnyshko," I soothe him, "You're okay now."

"Your arm…" he whispers, staring at the blood soaked bandage.

"It'll be fine."

"But…"

"It's okay," I assure him, holding him tightly, "It's over, Yuuri. Everything will be all right."

We hold each other and don't let go as sirens rise up in the distance, growing louder and louder as help approaches.

As I wait, I stare at Modya's dead body, but I still wonder if the monster is really gone.