I gulped with excitement, never in my wildest dreams had I wanted to play in such a marvellous machine – because it was unbelievably expensive.

“Yes! I really, really, really want to play!

Grant chuckled; he was clearly in a good mood, and even I could sense the changes in the emotions of the people around us. It seemed that Circul subconsciously affected the emotional state of other people when he was happy or overly excited.

“Remember your numeric nickname for logging into Virtul?” asked Grant.

“13-06-13,” I blurted out.

“Sai, did you hear this?”

“Yes,” the man with the goggles was already entering numbers into the computer. “Get changed.”

For a better immersion in the virtual world, special costumes were created that reflected almost all the tactile sensations that were present in real life. They cost a fortune, all because of the material, which had to be skilfully woven with technomagic spells.

I stepped behind the curtain, still a little dazed by the realisation that I was about to meet the skies of Virtul, my fingers twitching in anticipation. Just a little while longer and I could see Krile and Di again.

And it didn't matter that I was only opening the wounds in my heart more, because I had already said goodbye to them, but now all I wanted was to hold them, to touch my husband's warm cheek with my lips, to stroke Adisi's hair, to breathe in their scent. I missed them so much, my family.

I missed them so much. My eyes were watering and I shouldn't be crying, but I was grateful to Grant now. He understood me, he'd brought me here, made me feel the game again.

I reached for the buttons of my shirt, but halfway through I froze, a faint noise from outside rising sharply.

“Siri...”

The chain jerked, forcing me to take a few steps forward. Grant burst into the dressing room and threw a black jacket at me.

“Put it on with the hood,” he whispered, unhooking the chain from my collar and wrapping it around his fist. He was already wearing the same dark jacket.

The shouting and rumbling outside only increased, and I tucked my hair under my hood and hurriedly tied the laces on my trainers.

“Grant, what happened?”

The guy put his arm around my shoulders from behind and said quietly, “This hideout's been discovered, and there's a bunch of cops inside. There are several exits, we'll run to the furthest one because it leads to a busy street. We mustn't get caught, Siri,” for a few moments the young man squeezed my hands tighter. “Otherwise my father would...” he muttered something unintelligible, whether it was a curse or a prayer to the heavens for salvation, but I sensed his concern.

I turned to look at Circul Junior's black eyes. They were now filled with fear, and he was struggling to contain it.

“Don't leave my side.”

I nodded and calmed my heart. I had my enemy beside me, so I had nothing to fear.

We ran out into the crowd, which was also in a hurry, but disorderly. It was not easy to manoeuvre between the tables and sofas, but Grant managed to lead us to the wall and along it we were making our way to freedom.

Men in police helmets grabbed everyone indiscriminately, some of them beating others with rubber truncheons, causing the young people – all children of rich politicians and oligarchs in Unica – to scream and cry, begging to be released and not to tell their parents. Although several groups of boys were fighting back, while others were rescuing portable equipment.

“A-a-gra-a! You're not going to get me that easy!” shouted one of the guys I'd seen earlier today, the one who'd won the orange juice. He'd climbed up onto the bar and was running around it, fending off the cops with bottles of booze.

Next to him I noticed a blond head. A familiar silhouette was taking record books out of a locker. Kai was supposed to be in the shop, and the bodyguards couldn't let him go. How did he end up here?

We were already in the middle of the hall when a big guy bumped into us. I fell to the ground and lost focus on Grant. There were all kinds of backs, but not the one I needed.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Silently panicking, I slowly stood up and looked around. I hoped that Circul had fallen as well as I had and was hiding behind the furniture, but I decided to run in the direction we'd chosen earlier, bearing in mind that I shouldn't be more than ten metres away from him.

Grant, where the hell are you?

The second time, I tripped over someone's foot and froze sitting as the lights went out throughout the basement. There was a moment of silence that made my chest ache with foreboding, a cold sweat ran down my temple and I slapped my cheek to calm myself.

Over the past few days, I had become so used to not worrying or thinking about anything, to relying on Circul, who had taken it upon himself to take care of our lives, it wasn't easy to come back to the real world.

The brutal present greeted me with screams in the darkness, the lights on the phones and the general bustle. Only the network servers in the glass hall blinked, adding a quiet glow to the darkness.

The collar squeezed, knocking the air out of me, and the sirens wailed nastily. I tried to stand up and walk at least a few steps to ease the pressure of the deadly ‘necklace’, but all I could do was flounder on the floor, gulping air like a stranded fish.

Am I going to die now?

What will happen first? Will the bomb go off? Or will I just die of lack of oxygen?

I had been ready for death for a long time, had been looking for it for a long time. I had no regrets.

But I didn't want to die like that when I realised that even the last moments before death could bring pleasure. A wave of protest ran hot through my body. I didn’t agree to go over the edge so easily.

Part of me wanted to die, close my eyes and never open them again, never think about anything, never cry, never worry, never miss my ruined life.

But the other part of my heart still wanted to beat, the air still gurgling in my lungs, the blood still coursing through my veins, demanding revenge. Even with my lashes down, I could see the black gaze of Risor Circul, announcing the closing of Virtul.

I had never dreamed of witnessing his death before, it had never seemed possible, but now that the bomb around my neck was tied to the son of my worst enemy, when I could destroy the head of the country with my bare hands, I had no right to give up so easily.

My revenge was only three months away, so...

‘Alas, Death, if you've been running from me for so long, you'll have to wait a little longer...’

I stood up abruptly and took off my jacket, the electronic light of the diodes illuminating the surroundings. My eyes went completely black as I heard the distant voice: “Siri!”

Grant crashed into me, hugging me less than gently, breathing heavily. I listened to his heartbeat with obsessive concentration, swallowing lumps of air, unable to stop, unable to remove my fingers from Circul's jacket.

The bomb stopped beeping after a few seconds and returned to its dormant state, the guy putting his shoulder to my side, and so we dragged ourselves towards the exit by feel, trying not to make any noise.

After a very long walk through panicked, screaming teenagers and police, we finally made it to the surface. I immediately fell to the ground, glad for the cold air and to be able to breathe at all. The sky was almost bright from the many beams of the city's floodlights and streetlights, so there were no stars to be seen.

Grant sat down next to me, ran his fingers through his hair and stared into the bushes. It was only after a few minutes that he came out of his stupor and asked colourlessly, “Are you all right?”

I was anything but all right.

“Where's the chain?”

Circul looked at me and grinned: “You resisted before, but now you're asking me to put you on a chain?”

“We almost died just now. It was a bad idea to take it off.”

Grant smirked again, there was no life in his black eyes. The guy reached into his pocket, pulled out a chain and fastened it to my collar. And then he turned his back on me and shut up, and I was too embarrassed to ask him what had happened.

So we sat there, surrounded by darkness, wild briar bushes and the night wind, each of us thinking of our own unhappy things.

“Let's go,” he said reluctantly as he stood up and helped me to my feet.

My head was still a little dizzy from the recent choking, and I blew on my palms to warm myself. The jacket Grant had given me was on the floor of the underground hall, and now I was getting goosebumps under my thin shirt, but I was a little afraid to ask Circul for a favour, for he had a look in his eyes that said he wanted to kill left and right.

We walked out onto a wide tourist street that, even at this early hour, was bustling with life. The night cafes were just closing and the street vendors were heating up the early breakfast menu.

A flock of pigeons bathed in the turned-off fountain, the dawn sky reflected in the windows, and such a quiet morning invigorated the tired mind.

But then black heels clicked on the cobblestones.

We were immediately surrounded, this time by more security than had accompanied us to the shopping centre. Anaris Mirk, the president's secretary, a soft-spoken young man with blond hair and white-lensed glasses, appeared. I admired him for his directness, his reserve and his cold-blooded calculation. It was rare for someone of his age to reach such heights in his career, and to do so without any nepotism.

Next to Mirk stood a bodyguard called Lias with a grin on his face. He walked towards us with deceptive ease, nodded at Grant, winked at me and turned to take us by the elbows and lead us to the cars.

“But how did you find us?” the guy decided to shed some light on the question I was also asking myself.

“Young Master Grant,” Anaris said, as if addressing a small boy, “your companion is wearing one of the worst disasters this city has ever seen. How could we let you go, knowing that the worst could happen? There's a whole staff at the Ministry of Defence watching your every move.”

“Shit,” Circul exhaled softly and laughed weakly, losing what was left of his composure.

“I suggest you start thinking of an apology speech now. The president is in a foul mood today,” Lias smiled sweetly and opened the car door.

Grant didn't say anything, just frowned the whole way, staring out the window. I wanted to cry. For a moment there was hope of returning to Virtul, but it was stifled. But the tears didn't come, just a cold emptiness in my heart that threatened to stay there forever.

It's time I got over the idea that even a miracle wouldn't give me back my will to live.