Dimitri "Alexei?" I whispered. The figure stepped closer into the light. And I saw the face. It wasn't Alexei. It was Mikhail. His face was grim and tired. He looked like he had aged ten years overnight. "It is just me," he said quietly. Relief and rage warred inside me. "Untie me," I demanded. "NOW!" "I cannot do that," Mikhail said. He pulled a chair over and sat down beside the bed. "Not yet." "Mikhail, I swear to God..." "You will what?" He interrupted. "Threaten to kill yourself again? Try to start a war that will get everyone killed? Destroy everything we have built?" "I do not care about what we built!" I roared. "I care about HER!" "I know," Mikhail said sadly. "That is the problem." "There is no problem except you keeping me locked up

