Satin Princess(91)
I have no faith that she’s not going to hurt Chris.
He grabs my hand so suddenly I gasp. Then he starts towing me through the apartment.
“Lev, let me go!”
“No,” he spits grimly. “My job is to protect you. We’re exposed at the moment. I have to get you out.”
I stop struggling and just let myself be led out of the building. All I can think about is Mr. and Mrs. Eckhart. If something happens to Chris, I’ll have to be the one to tell them.
But even now, I know that won’t absolve me for my part in involving Chris in all of this.
Lev gets me out of the building and into the car. By the time I zone back in, we’re minutes away from Anton’s mansion.
“We have to find him, Lev,” I whisper. “We have to find him before she hurts him.”
“We’ll find him, Jessa.”
But he can’t promise me that, not truly.
No one can.
31
ANTON
Some decisions must be made alone.
Lev would argue against this. Yulian would balk and whimper. Which is why neither of them are in the room with me.
The man who is in here, Misha, is a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency kind of Vor. He stays out of sight until he is needed. With his milky, scarred-over eye and the permanent leer on one side of his mouth, he’s not exactly fit for polite company.
He nods as I finish my instructions. “I will do as you say, Don Stepanov.”
He’s always addressed me like that, with formal gravitas that seemed to belong in another time. He definitely doesn’t look the part in his baggy pants and torn wifebeater, but he carries himself like a knight saluting his king.
“See that you do. I want it done fast. Text me when it’s done and I will give you the signal.”
He nods once more and then leaves the room on silent feet. I walk out onto the porch just as Lev pulls into the drive.
I catch one glimpse of Jessa’s face in the passenger seat and I know it’s bad. She’s worked herself up into near hysterics. Tears are streaming down her cheeks and she’s lost color.
I sprint down the stairs, towards the car, and meet her on the sidewalk. “Jessa—”
“She has him,” she sobs, throwing herself into my arms. “Anton, she has him.”
“We’ll get Chris back,” I assure her, even though I know nothing about the situation.
She shakes her head. “I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid. I should have insisted that he be given security as well. She knew him, Anton. She met him. I introduced the two of them, for fuck’s sake”
She slams a white piece of paper against my chest. I unfold it and recognize the handwriting immediately. Marina didn’t even bother trying to hide it.
Her script is pretty, delicate and sophisticated. Like a lady from a Jane Austen novel.
As opposed to what she really is, which is a Lovecraft monster.
“She’s going to hurt him,” she says desperately.
“She’s not going to hurt him,” I say, even though I have no faith that that’s true.
Like I always knew and Yaromir confirmed, Marina is a born sadist. There’s no telling what she might do.
“How can you be sure?” Jessa demands. “She’s insane!”
“Come with me,” I say. “You need to calm down and get some rest.”
“Rest?” she balks. “How can you expect me to rest now?”
“Because you have the baby to think of,” I say sternly. “Now, come with me unless you want to be carried.”
She considers the threat for a moment and then huffs past me into the house. Lev is standing off to the side, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
“Anything?”
He shakes his head. “The place was empty when we got there. He’s been gone for a while.”
“She could have him anywhere at this point,” I growl.
“Any news from Yaromir?” Lev asks.
“Nothing. He sent me an update this morning. She hasn’t made contact.”
Lev raises his eyebrows. “Why don’t you seem worried?”
“Because I have a plan.”
I don’t divulge it, however. Instead, I turn back into the house and follow Jessa upstairs to my room.
She’s pacing nervously across the floor, her expression contorted into worry and fear and panic. She barely acknowledges me even after I shut the door and walk over to her.
So I step in front of her, blocking her path and forcing her to stop. “What do you hope to accomplish by working yourself up like this?”
She shakes her head. “You don’t understand. He is my best friend.”
“I understand that plenty.”
“No,” she snaps. “You don’t. He’s the only one who’s ever truly had my back all these years. He tried to protect me even when I was a bitch to him. He took care of me when my parents didn’t. He risked his life to keep your phone when I stole it from you, even though there was a fairly good chance he could die for it. And after everything he did for me, all I seem to do is break his heart and put him in danger. This is all my fault.”
“This is about Marina, not you.”