The trees had shed most of their leaves, and Nadia’s clothes had to be held on with rope when Kirill Sokolov and his friend Yuri Fedorov suggested they escape.
“Now, as the weather’s turning?” Nadia asked.
Sokolov nodded. “Now, before new guards are sent in.”
Nadia stretched her hands. Blisters lined her skin, and her back ached after a day of digging graves for typhus victims. “You would take me with you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” She wanted to leave, but she’d be of little use in a fight, and she wasn’t as physically sturdy as either of the men.
“Because of your father. And because of your ties to the legion. And because you’re a nurse. I want to find what’s left of my army. They’ll need nurses, so there’ll be a place for you, if you want it.”
She nodded. “I’ll come.” She risked increasing her sentence tenfold. And if she failed this time, then failed again, she’d be sent to a revolutionary tribunal and probably executed. But if she didn’t escape soon, she didn’t think she’d survive her original sentence. Staying meant death; it was just a question of how soon.
“The anarchist is coming too. Four of us.”
Nadia smiled. She liked Tanya. And while an alliance between two former tsarist officers, a former aristocrat, and an anarchist was unconventional, they all had a common enemy and a common goal.
Her smile disappeared a few hours later when she heard their plan.
“You want me to do what?”
Tanya tilted her head in exasperation. “Just go up to the guard and ask if you can earn a little extra bread. Smile at him, put your hand on his arm, and undo one of the buttons on your coat.”
“You want me to sleep with him? I won’t do that.”
“Offer, lead him into the woods, and then Fedorov will take care of him. Before anything happens. That guard has been eying you for months. It shouldn’t take much convincing.”
She’d noticed his attention, which was one of the reasons she didn’t want to approach him. He reminded her of the bandits who’d taken her. “But I’m married.”
Sokolov seemed apologetic. “What do you think your husband wants more? Your escape, even if you have to flirt with a guard, or your complete fidelity and death in a work battalion?”
Of course she wanted to escape, and Filip would want that too. She longed to see him again, and this plan offered her a chance. Tanya, Sokolov, and Fedorov were all more capable than she when it came to survival. She’d be a fool if she refused to cooperate and lost their help.
When the other guards were distant and the other prisoners occupied, Nadia wandered toward the guard. She wasn’t a good enough actress to feign attraction, but hunger alternated between a gnaw and a ravage. She could tell him she was desperate enough to sell herself for a bit of bread. The hunger and desperation were real, so it would be believable.
The guard in question watched her walk closer.
“I’m hungry,” she said simply and truthfully when she reached him. “There’s not much I wouldn’t do for a loaf of bread.” She took Tanya’s advice and undid the top button of her coat. “Perhaps we can come to an arrangement?”
The guard’s eyes widened, and his lips curled up.
Nadia took a step back and jerked her head toward the thicker trees of the forest, where he would assume they’d have privacy. That was where Fedorov waited.
The guard looked around, then followed her.
Nadia continued to walk, slowly, waiting for Fedorov to knock the guard unconscious.
“I think we’re alone here.” The guard’s deep voice rumbled up her neck. His hands gripped her waist and turned her toward him.
What was she supposed to do now?
The guard moved one of his hands to the back of her head and held her still while he kissed her. His lips were aggressive, and so were his hands. She couldn’t help it; she jerked away.
The guard grabbed and held her. “I thought you wanted bread?”
“I do, but I’m not sure this is the best way to get it.”
“You satisfy this craving for me, and I’ll ease your hunger.” His hands and lips were all over her again. It was all she could do to keep from screaming. Was it the guard or one of the bandits who had her now? She couldn’t even tell if she was in the forest or in one of those smoky, smelly huts they’d dragged her to. Her chest churned with terror, and her stomach turned with bile.
The guard fell into her, striking her face, and then he slipped to the ground.
She put her hand to her mouth and took a few deep breaths.
Tanya came into view. “There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Nadia started to shake. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so horrible if she didn’t have so many terrifying memories. But the past was still in her mind, and she couldn’t erase it at will.
“Are you all right?” Sokolov put his hand on her elbow.
No doubt he meant to be comforting, but Nadia jerked away. She didn’t want another man touching her just then. At that moment, she would have flinched from Filip’s hand.
“I’m sorry.” He held his hands out and stepped back.
Nadia hugged herself. “No, I’m sorry. That was just harder than I thought it would be.”