The mansion’s backyard was alive with noise—birds flapping from their cages, dogs barking at one another, the koi pond rippling with her splashes as she threw crumbs into the water like a child who never grew up. She was everywhere at once—barefoot on the grass, chasing a rabbit that had escaped the hutch, her laughter sharp and bright, echoing through the wide estate grounds.

And then, crimson trailed down from her nose. She laughed louder. Wiping it with the back of her hand, smearing it across her cheek like paint, she kept on darting after the rabbit. The red drops dotted the grass, fell onto her shirt, staining the pale fabric. She never seemed to notice.

Nikolai Arsenyev noticed. He always did.

Four years of marriage, and still, he could never grow used to it. The sight of her with blood running freely, smiling as if it were nothing, carved into him every time like the first. He stood at the terrace door, watching her whirl through the garden, fury and helplessness coiling in his chest until his hand clenched tight enough to crack the wood.

She finally spotted him and threw her head back in laughter, blood running from her nostrils down to her lips. “Oi, Kolya! Don’t just stand there like some vampire king in the shadows—look, look at this idiot rabbit! He thought he could outrun me! Hah!” She lifted the rabbit over her head in triumph, red drops falling on its fur.

He walked toward her, jaw tight. She twirled away from him, kicking up the grass, blood dripping with every step. “Ugh—look at that trail! Like a crime scene in our backyard!” She snorted at her own joke, spinning faster with the rabbit squealing in her grip.

“…How many times today?” His voice was low, dangerous.

She flashed her teeth in a grin. “Three? Four? Who’s counting? Pfft, you should start a scoreboard for me in your office!”

“Every damn day,” he muttered, seizing her wrist.

“Exactly!” she said brightly, jabbing her finger into his chest, smearing blood across his shirt. “Daily is safe. It’s when it doesn’t happen, that’s the real horror movie. Remember last year? Whole week of nothing—then boom! Niagara Falls! You almost fainted, Kolya!” She cackled, loud and unbothered, like it was the funniest memory.

Nikolai’s jaw flexed until the muscles in his face ached. He remembered. He hated remembering.

She twisted her wrist free, bounding toward the pond with the rabbit in her arms. “Oh no, oh no, little guy—you’re bleeding too now! Look at you, we’re twins!” She let out another burst of laughter, crouching to splash water on its fur while blood still streamed down her own face.

Nikolai stalked after her, grabbing her shoulder hard enough to force her to stop. His other hand cupped her chin, tilting her head back as his thumb brushed away the blood. His eyes burned, voice tight.

“Don’t laugh at this.”

“Why not? It’s hilarious!” she barked out, shaking off his hand. “You should see your face! All serious, like the world’s ending, while I’m out here looking like a B-movie zombie. C’mon, lighten up!”

But he couldn’t. The stains on her clothes, the grass marked in red, the way she spun joy into something that hollowed him out—it was unbearable. He gripped her again, harder this time, as if holding her could cage the chaos, could stop time, stop blood, stop everything trying to tear her from him.

She only threw her head back, laughing louder than ever, her voice ringing through the backyard like she owned the sky. “See? Nothing to be scared of, Kolya! Nothing at all!”