“My son!” she screamed. “I think he’s in the bathroom!”
I took a step towards the restaurant, but Luka shoved me back against Yuri and ran up the steps. Yuri tried to follow his master, loyal to the end, but Vasiliy pulled him back.
We watched as Luka disappeared into the restaurant. Seconds passed. Vasiliy put his hand on my shoulder and it was comforting, even with the knowledge that he probably wanted to kill me.
The restaurant exploded. I had to close my eyes as a hot wind blew fragments of glass and china and wood right at us. I felt one slash my cheek. But I was focused on the image behind my eyelids, the snapshot my perfect fucking memory had burned into my brain forever: the windows of the restaurant caved outward by orange fire.
I’d killed him. My heart collapsed down like a black hole, sucking everything else that I was down with it. I didn’t dare open my eyes because, when I did, he would truly be gone.
I heard the mother’s hopeful sob. My eyes flew open. As the smoke cleared, I saw Luka lying flat on the ground just in front of the restaurant doorway, where he must have hurled himself as the bomb went off. His body was hunched protectively over something and the back of his suit was smoldering.
I ran over to him and slapped out the flames. He lifted himself from the young boy he’d shielded and the boy staggered off towards his mother.
“I thought you were dead!” I croaked.
Luka got slowly to his feet, wincing a little.
“We Malakovs are not so easy to kill,” said Vasiliy. “Come. Get in car.”
Yuri grabbed my shoulder and started walking me towards a car, where more of Vasiliy’s men were waiting.#p#分页标题#e#
“You want me to go with you?” I looked at Luka, but his face was unreadable. “For what? Luka?!” He didn’t answer.
I looked at Vasiliy. “What’s he going to do with me?” I asked.
Strong hands pushed me into the car.
“Whatever he wants,” Vasiliy said grimly.
By the time we arrived back at Vasiliy’s house, the blizzard had slowed traffic to a crawl and the guards outside were wrapped up in thick coats. There were more of them, standing at the gates and watching from balconies. They knew the threat to their masters was real, now. And they all knew it was somehow connected with me, that I’d betrayed Luka. I could feel their anger blasting down at me in hot waves as we walked the short distance from the car to the front door. Out of all of them, only Yuri didn’t seem to hate me.
Inside, Luka grabbed my forearm and pulled me upstairs to the room he was using. As soon as the heavy oak door was closed behind us, he shoved me away from him, making me stagger, as if he couldn’t bear to touch me anymore.
I looked at him. Swallowed. Opened my mouth to defend myself but couldn’t come up with the words.
“I should kill you,” said Luka, his voice shaking with anger. “Sooka.”
Which can mean traitor or bitch or whore. All of which were sort of accurate. Handy of the Russian language to combine all three in one word.
“You betrayed me,” he snapped. “You slept with me. You made me think—” He broke off and glared at me.
“What?” I asked, my voice weak. “What did I make you think?”
He shook his head and muttered Wed’ma under his breath. It meant witch. Crazy, because I’m the last person who’d ever be able to cast a spell on anyone.
“I’m sorry,” I said. I knew it wasn’t enough, but it was all I had. “I was wrong. I thought I could…” I closed my eyes. “...be with you and not feel it and—I couldn’t.” I shook my head.
He let out a disbelieving snort. “I think you good person,” he said, his rage making his English slip. “You seem like an innocent.”
“I am! I am an innocent. I’ve never done anything like this before! This is my first mission!” I opened my eyes and shook my head, blinking back tears. “I’m not even a real agent! I’m just a languages geek!”
He took a step towards me. “Then why would you agree to do this?”
I let out a long groan of self-hatred. “I thought I was working for the good guys.”
He shook his head, but gently, as if he understood. “There are no good guys, Arianna. Only different bad men.”
I nodded. I got that, now.
He stepped right up against me. That big, strong hand came up and settled on my throat. I knew he could throttle me without even breaking a sweat. “So tell me. Why did you spill his drink? Why did you change your mind?”
“Because I’m in love with you,” I whispered.
He stared into my eyes. I’ve never felt so connected with anyone my entire life. There were no secrets, no doubts. Everything I was, was exposed to him.