Page 93 of Emerald Vices
“We’re not going to send Katya in blind, Shura. If she goes in, she’ll have backup. We’ll keep tabs on her constantly.”
“Things can still go wrong.”
“Katya’s smart and resourceful. She can handle this.”
“Fuck me,” Shura moans. “I can’t believe I’m actually considering it.”
“It might be the only way to get Katya to talk to you again. She holds grudges, that one.”
He folds his arms over his chest and scowls. “If it’s the choice between never talking to her again and keeping her alive, I choose the silent treatment.”
I turn to face him. “Nothing’s going to happen to her. I give you my vow.”
I can see the conflict in his eyes and I understand it completely. It goes against our very natures to put our women in the path of danger. He and I, we were born to protect. Born to bear the scars and the nightmares and the burdens so that others don’t have to.
“Like I said, if you decide against it, I’ll support that.”
“I know. But… fuck me, you were right: I might not have a choice.” He looks back up at the sky as if it’s holding answers for him. “I need to go talk to her.”
Shura rises from his chair and trudges to the house like a man making his way to the executioner’s block. I don’t envy what waits for him inside. I, for once, don’t have to worry.
When I finally slip into my bedroom, Natalia is sitting by the window wrapped in one of my shirts.
“It’s late, lastochka. You should be asleep.”
She turns to me with a soft, sleepy smile. “I could say the same to you.”
“Pakhans don’t get to sleep.”
She screws her face up with disapproval. “Then we’re going to have to change that. Because I like going to bed with you.”
She makes room for me on the window seat, and I slide in next to her. My arms wrap around her waist and she nuzzles into me with a happy sigh.
“Was that Shura I saw out there with you?”
“You were spying on us?”
“As a matter of fact, I was. I even cracked the window to try to hear you, but your voices didn’t carry.” She folds her hands over mine, twining our fingers together. “It looked like a serious discussion.”
“Nowadays, they’re all serious discussions.”
“Anything I should be worried about?”
I genuinely consider telling her, but I’m tired of talking about it. I press a kiss to her forehead instead. “Nothing I can’t handle, little bird.”
She twists in my arms and cups my face with her palm. “You don’t have to carry the burden alone, you know? You can talk to me, Andrey. You can tell me anything. We’re partners now.”
“You know what I really need right now?”
“Tell me.”
“You,” I whisper. “Just sitting here in the quiet with you.”
She smiles and scoots closer. “I can handle that.”
39
NATALIA