Saving Anya by Latrivia S. Nelson Page A

with yourself?” Dmitry surmised.
    Anatoly deflated. “Of course.”
    “ Don’t be. I have never regretted once my decision to have children. The men of the code have modified over the decades. We’ve gained more knowledge on how to camouflage ourselves in society, blend better, but we also have gained a certain sense of humanity, and some of us have even allowed ourselves the bliss of having an heir. You are not the first; you won’t be the last,” Dmitry said in a matter of fact tone.
    “ But yet you admit that it changes things,” Anatoly continued.
    “ Yes, it changes things,” Dmitry agreed. “Still, I would be celebrating right now for you if I were not in the middle of trying to find my baby…get her back here where she belongs.”
    Anatoly saw his father’s discomfort and immediately regretted having to break the news. “That’s why I didn’t want to…”
    “ I know. I get it. I do. And what does she want?”
    “ She hasn’t said. After I told her what happened, she shut down sort of.”
    “ What woman wouldn’t? They need to feel safe, protected, and when they don’t…” Dmitry thought of Royal and when she had been raped. “They stop blossoming, and nothing is more tragic than a wilting flower.”
    “ Exactly.” Anatoly smiled. “I may not have put it quite so poetically , but I know what you mean.”
    Dmitry smiled finally. His son had a way of making him do that despite himself. “Well, the women have each other now. So, we’ll leave them to that, and we focus now on our jobs. So are you all here with me?”
    Anatoly nodded. “ Da, da, papa. I’m all here.”

Chapter 10
     
    Royal felt as though her tear ducts had dried out after sobbing for nearly a day and a half straight. Unable to cry anymore and refusing to feel sorry for herself a second longer, she sat in the twin’s room still in her pajamas and drained of life, pumping her breasts for their feeding and staring blankly out of the window.
    With regret, Dmitry had sent her nanny away for the family’s safety and had explained to Royal that help would be on the way in the form of her friends and mother soon.
    “ Just hold on,” he had said with a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll help in any way possible.”
    But Royal knew where he needed to focus his efforts. Without a fret, she had resigned herself to do silently what women all over the world did on their own every day. Tired and exhausted, she labored over her children thankful that they too hadn’t been taken from her.
    She sat now in silence, listening to the radio that played classical music in the corner while the children slept peacefully in their cribs.
    Both Briggy and Renee set out as soon as they arrived at the chateau to find her. Walking in-step with one another, they searched the second floor room-by-room until they came across the new nursery. It really was a little dream inside, painted in baby blue with tall giraffes and all manner of jungle animal under a large vaulted ceiling and a custom-made chandelier designed to light up at night with crystals that were engraved with stars that when hit just right reflected on the walls.
    The room was beautifully decorated with the two large oak cribs as the focal point and an abundance of stuffed animals and shelves of baby books all over the room. It would have been a stunning sight to behold had it not been for the absence of her first child, the reason that this entire lifestyle had come to past.
    Royal shook her head as she thought about her. She was empty without Anya. Her entire life had been shaped around that little girl – both failures and successes alike. Now what?
    Dmitry simply had to get her back. There was no other answer.
    “ Royal?” a familiar voice said from behind.
    She turned in her seat after first covering her breast with her coverlet and saw her girls standing at the door with tears in their eyes.
    “ Renee…Briggy.” She pushed up from her seat and went to walk towards them, but they