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“Tell him to hurry,” she says. “Her contractions are close together. It could be anytime now.”
They roll me out of the room and into the hallway, but I’m not ready. My babies aren’t ready. I’m barely thirty weeks along. They’re too small.
I reach out my hand and instantly, Nik squeezes it. He rolls next to me, a wan smile on his face. “These babies are Kulikovs, Luna. Do you know what that means?”
Yes—it means they’re in danger.
“They’re fighters,” Nik answers. “You are going to give birth to two healthy babies and you’re going to do it with Yakov by your side. He’ll be here any second. Do you hear me?”
I nod, trying to believe him. “I hear you.”
“Good.” He looks straight ahead, following my gurney into a large elevator. “Because I cannot watch you give birth. I’ve been through enough.”
Despite everything, I laugh.
61
YAKOV
Dr. Jenkins’ wife—widow now, I suppose—has more questions than I can answer. I hold up a hand to stop her. My voice is muffled through the mask. The less she knows about who I am, the better. “Leave the city. Go home.”
She looks around the dank basement Pavel had her and her children locked up in. The guards Pavel left to watch over them are dead in the doorway. They never saw me coming. “Where is Howard?”
At this point, he’s deep in the bottom of a decomp barrel at the clean-up shed. In a couple weeks, he’ll be sludge we can dump down a sewer drain.
It’s more than he deserves.
“He’s gone,” I tell her. “Don’t wait for him. Leave and never come back.”
I turn away from her, mounting the steps. She calls after me, but I don’t stop. I saved her life, but I don’t owe her any explanations.
I leave the house and climb in my car. Three blocks later, I pull my mask over my head. My phone vibrates in the center console.
It’s Nik again.
After what happened with Dr. Jenkins, I couldn’t trust anyone else to stay with Luna. I needed my brother to be there with her so I could leave.
Luna is in labor. Hurry.
I’m over an hour out. Closter to ninety minutes if traffic doesn’t cooperate. I drop my phone and slam on the gas.
The rest of my drive is a blur. I’m not sure if I stop at traffic lights or follow road rules. The only thing I know is that I get to Luna as fast as possible. By the time I reach labor and delivery, I’m dripping sweat and breathless.
Nik is rolling back and forth in the hallway, pacing outside of Luna’s room.
“Has it happened?” I gasp. “Did I miss it?”
When Nik sees me, he almost melts in relief. “You didn’t respond. I thought you were dead.”
I ignore the unintentional insult. As if Pavel’s men could kill me. “Is Luna okay?”
“She’s sleeping,” he explains. “They gave her an epidural or something and I guess it slowed down the contractions. I’m not really sure. They think they might be able to keep the babies in for a few more days.”
“I’m going to die of a fucking heart attack before Pavel shows his face again.” I press my palm to the wall and blow out a breath. “She can’t have these babies before Pavel is dead, Nik. They can’t be born into this shitshow.”
“Then let’s lure him out.”
I snort. “If it was that easy, I would have done it by now. Dima is stationed nearby with all of his men. They’re ready to strike if we can find him, but he keeps sending in cronies to do his dirty work. I don’t have a way to draw him out.”
