Brightly Burning(79)

“Is that a letter?” He nodded, solemn despite my smile, which promptly slid from my lips. “Is everything okay?”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Da, I am sure everything is fine. I promised to deliver this into your hands as soon as quarantine ended, so here I am.” Finally, he handed me the sheaf of papers. “I have some business to attend to with the captain, so I will leave you to read.” Sergei grabbed my shoulder and gave it a squeeze before he left.

I unfolded the bundle, and after reading the first few lines, I felt like I might pass out. It was from Hugo.

“Stella, you okay?” Jon jogged up to me, and hastily I slapped the papers together and shoved them into a pocket.

“You followed me down here.” I stated the obvious.

“Yeah, I was worried . . . Did I see you putting paper into your pocket?” He craned his neck, eyeing the exact pocket where the letter was hiding.

“You are too nosy for your own good, Jonathan Karlson,” I chastised him with a sigh, extracting the papers. “It’s a letter. From Hugo.”

Jon allowed himself only momentary surprise. Then he nodded, as if I’d relayed a mission command. “You’ll want to find somewhere private to read it, then.”

I could have kissed him, were the circumstances different. Jon was a good one.

Gratefully, I let him usher me away to a nearby storage room he unlocked with a private key code.

“I’ll leave you to, um . . .” he trailed off, offering a smile before he closed the door, leaving me to read Hugo’s letter among great towering piles of discarded tools and supply crates. I sat on the cleanest-looking box I could find, running shaking fingers over the crisp paper before unfolding it with a rushed exhale of breath.


My dearest Stella,

I am sure I am the last person you want to hear from, but I hope you will read on and give me a chance to explain. This was the soonest I could get word to you without Mason, or anyone else, being able to read it, and what I have to say is just for you. I can live with everyone else believing me a murderer, but not you. Your opinion of me is paramount.

I swear to you I did not know what Mari was doing, that she was developing new viruses in her spare time for fun. She’s always been an odd sort of person, and wholly dedicated to science and advancement of human knowledge, but I never imagined she’d inherited my father’s penchant for coaxing deadly viruses into existence. Unlike him, however, I don’t believe she intended to cause harm. Mason threatened her parents, just as he threatened mine.

Yet does it matter what the intention was, the circumstances of Mari handing the strain over, of my not trying harder to stop it? We’re implicated in a terrible thing, and no reasoning can make up for all those who died.

But I need you to know that I wasn’t aware of what had happened until after Mari had handed over the virus and the vaccines to Mason. I don’t know why I let you believe that I had done it. Perhaps a part of me didn’t believe that I deserved your love. It happened on my ship, and I am my father’s son. It was good that you got away from me, really. You could never be free of my family’s curse if you stayed.

Please be happy. Find someone else to love. And above all, stay away from Mason. He remains dangerous.

I love you, always.

Hugo


My heart thumped in my chest, there was a rushing in my ears, and desperately I read the letter over again and again. My poor Hugo. Mason had concocted a story for the press, tying him to Hanada by association. And even her . . . of course Mason had blackmailed her. He was vile.

I paced the storage room, thoughts tumbling over and over as if caught in a metal drum. I had to find Hugo. What an enormous, idiotic martyr he was being. I didn’t care if he was in hiding; I had to go to him. Sergei delivered the letter, so he had to know where Hugo was.

I burst out of the room, startling Jon, who was waiting in the corridor. “You have to take me to your uncle. He’s meeting with Sergei. I must speak with him.”

Jon didn’t need to be told twice. I nipped at his heels, his stride much longer than mine, up two levels and all the way forward, to a part of the ship I’d never been permitted to see before. Jon gave an unmarked door a special knock and, upon hearing a gruff reply, opened it for me.

“Sergei!” I rushed in, catching the captain off-guard. He rose from his desk, and I was struck, like always, by his uncanny resemblance to his nephew, but pushed the thought aside to focus on my mission. I barreled up to Sergei, who was sitting across from the captain. “Where is Hugo? He gave you the letter. Please, you have to take me to him.”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on just a moment, Miss Ainsley,” Captain Karlson said, sitting back down. “What is the meaning of this?”

I didn’t have time to explain it to him, nor did I want to.

“Sergei,” I repeated, more forcefully this time, ignoring the captain.

“Stella, it isn’t safe to take you there,” was all he said, his gaze steadily avoiding mine. I searched the captain’s quarters, realizing they doubled as both an office and a living space, finally finding a second chair in a corner near the door. Placing it next to Sergei’s, I sat, bringing us on the same level, so he couldn’t miss me.

“So that means you know where he is. Quarantine is over, and I got the vaccine. I’ll be fine.”

“Miss Ainsley, I’m afraid you don’t understand.” This time the captain spoke. I was surprised to see him get up, walk over to a sideboard, and pour out a cup of steaming tea, which he brought over to me. “Drink that,” he said lightly but firmly. Despite my furor, I did. I’d sincerely missed tea.