Echoes of Blood

Poison Sounds Gentle

ECHOES OF BLOOD

(Sasha’s POV)

There are battles bullets cannot win.

Battles no weapon can solve.

Battles that enter quietly—

through words.

Through memory.

Through children.

And that evening—

I walked straight into one.

Work had exhausted me in the best way possible.

Not prison exhaustion.

Not survival exhaustion.

Purpose.

The kind that makes your bones heavy but your mind peaceful.

For the first time in years, I felt like I was building instead of merely surviving.

The drive home through Johannesburg felt lighter somehow.

The city no longer looked like war.

It looked like possibility.

And all I wanted—

was home.

Dmitri.

Dinner.

Noise.

Peace.

I stepped inside the mansion smiling faintly—

then heard it.

A tiny laugh.

Bright.

Carefree.

Dmitri’s laugh.

Instantly my body softened.

That sound had become addictive.

Healing.

I followed it through the hallway slowly, removing my blazer as I walked.

Then I entered the living room—

and stopped.

Everything inside me stopped.

Dmitri sat comfortably on Gabriel’s lap.

Laughing.

Happy.

Alive.

And Gabriel—

Gabriel looked at home there.

Like none of the last years happened.

Like betrayal never existed.

Like prison never swallowed me whole.

My eyes slowly moved toward Mama.

She stood near the fireplace pretending to arrange flowers that clearly did not need arranging.

The guilty look alone told me everything.

She gave a tiny helpless shrug.

Then sighed softly.

Then forced a smile.

Traitor.

Tiny adorable traitor.

I almost laughed.

Almost.

But my eyes returned to the real problem.

Gabriel looked up slowly.

Calm.

Collected.

Too comfortable.

That annoyed me immediately.

Dmitri turned excitedly—

“Mama—”

Then paused.

Something changed.

So quickly most people would miss it.

I didn’t.

His little face hardened slightly.

Walls.

Distance.

Coldness where warmth lived this morning.

My stomach tightened instantly.

Children are mirrors.

Someone had touched his thoughts.

I stepped forward carefully.

“What’s wrong, little flame?”

Dmitri looked down.

Silence.

Gabriel answered instead.

“He’s upset.”

My eyes lifted slowly to him.

“And you felt qualified to explain my child to me?”

His jaw tightened.

“There you go again.”

“There you go breathing in my house again.”

Mama pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Kwanda warned me today would become chaos.”

Smart woman.

Dmitri slid awkwardly off Gabriel’s lap.

He looked confused now.

Torn.

Small hands twisting together nervously.

I crouched slowly to his level.

“Talk to me.”

Silence.

Then quietly—

“Did you shoot Daddy?”

There it was.

Poison.

Soft poison.

The most dangerous kind.

I looked at Gabriel.

He met my gaze calmly.

Too calmly.

That confirmed everything.

I smiled faintly.

Not because I was amused.

Because rage was approaching.

And rage always smiled first.

“I shot Gabriel,” I corrected gently.

Dmitri frowned.

“But Daddy said you tried to hurt him because you hate him.”

Children should never carry adult wars.

Never.

I stood slowly.

Very slowly.

And looked directly at Gabriel.

“You manipulated a child.”

Gabriel scoffed lightly.

“I told him truth.”

“No,” I said calmly. “You told him your version.”

Dmitri looked between us anxiously.

“Stop fighting.”

That hurt more than prison.

Mama immediately stepped in softly.

“How about hot chocolate for my favorite grandson?”

Dmitri nodded quietly.

She gently guided him toward the kitchen.

The moment he disappeared—

silence changed.

Air thickened instantly.

Danger entered fully.

Gabriel leaned back against the couch lazily.

“You’re dramatic.”

I stared at him.

Long.

Cold.

“Using my son as emotional armor is low even for you.”

His expression hardened.

“He’s my son too.”

“Interesting.” I folded my arms. “Because for four years he barely existed to you.”

“That’s not fair.”

I laughed softly.

Dangerously softly.

“Fair?”

I stepped closer.

“You want to discuss fairness?”

Another step.

“Let’s discuss prison.”

Another.

“Let’s discuss abandonment.”

Another.

“Let’s discuss my mother selling her life piece by piece while you played king.”

He stood abruptly.

“I kept this empire alive!”

“And forgot your child while doing it.”

Silence cracked.

His nostrils flared.

“You think you’re perfect?”

“No.”

That answer surprised him.

I tilted my head slightly.

“I think I paid for my mistakes.”

That landed.

Hard.

Because it was true.

I went to prison.

I lost years.

I lost motherhood.

I lost freedom.

I paid.

But Gabriel—

Gabriel profited.

He looked away first.

Again.

Weakness.

I walked toward the liquor cabinet calmly and poured whiskey into crystal glasses.

One for me.

None for him.

Petty?

Absolutely.

I took a slow sip.

“You know what disappoints me most?”

He crossed his arms.

“What?”

“You could’ve been great.”

That visibly irritated him.

“Don’t talk to me like a failed student.”

“But you are.”

His jaw flexed sharply.

I continued smoothly—

“You had power handed to you.”

Sip.

“Loyal men.”

Sip.

“A respected name beside yours.”

Sip.

“A son.”

Then I looked directly into his eyes.

“And somehow you still became small.”

Silence.

Dead silence.

Gabriel’s voice lowered dangerously.

“You enjoy humiliating me.”

“No,” I corrected calmly.

“I enjoy exposing you.”

That one hit.

Hard.

He stepped toward me.

“So what now, Sasha?”

I smiled instantly.

Wrong name.

Very wrong name.

I placed my whiskey down carefully.

Then walked right into his space.

Close enough for tension to breathe between us.

“You still don’t understand.”

My voice dropped softer.

More dangerous.

“I am not Sasha to you anymore.”

His eyes darkened.

“You really expect me to call you that ridiculous nickname?”

I smiled beautifully.

Then whispered—

“Say it correctly.”

Silence.

The room itself seemed to wait.

Then—

“The Crimson Flame.”

Good.

Much better.

I brushed imaginary dust from his collar gently.

“And now we’re communicating.”

Hatred burned in his eyes.

But beneath it—

memory still lived there.

That was the dangerous part about us.

Love does not vanish cleanly.

Sometimes it rots inside people.

Sometimes it becomes war.

I stepped back finally.

“Give me my keys.”

He stared at me.

Long.

Then slowly reached into his pocket and placed the mansion keys into my hand.

Like always.

Like surrender disguised as pride.

I closed my fingers around them.

Then spoke softly—

so softly he almost had to lean closer.

“You know what I want now?”

His eyes narrowed.

“What?”

I smiled.

Cold.

Beautiful.

Final.

“I want to break you so completely…”

A pause.

“…that death starts looking merciful.”

Silence swallowed the room whole.

Even Gabriel stopped moving.

Because he believed me.

And that—

that was the beginning of fear.