Page 20 of Forge the Blade

“Mental and emotional trauma.” Lisa sounded clinical. Clinical and educated. Then he snorted. “Merde.” He didn’t elaborate though, leaving Rei to ponder why he was swearing in French. Maybe it was something he’d picked up in Morocco.

Sevastyan

Sevastyan watched Rei and Lisa limp out of the room, using the walls and each other for support. He needed to get both of them crutches. Tomorrow. He would do it tomorrow. He’d just make sure they both stayed off their feet as much as possible for the rest of the day and get that done tomorrow. When he felt more like he could stand himself without wanting to fall over.

“Tell me what they mean to you,” Ellisandre said after the door shut behind them, voice pitched low.

“Rei is . . . everything,” Sevastyan said. “Lisa . . . has my respect. If he hadn’t been there, Rei would be gone.”

“Tell me their status, relationship to each other.”

“Close. Not lovers. Friends. More than friends. Soldiers in the same war.”

Silence lapsed in the room. Sevastyan looked down at his hands. There were questions he should ask. Things he should explain. His thoughts were hazy. Perhaps it was the pain meds and antibiotics burning through his system. Perhaps it was the unnamed terror still gripping him by his throat. It would be simpler if Ellisandre would just order him to his knees and take control. But his goddex hadn’t made a single move in that direction since they had stood over him and promised to rain down Armageddon on their enemies.

It was the only promise he could hold onto now.

“I’ll find a new safe house. I just need a day or two. I know this is your sacred space.”

“There’s nothing more sacred than what the Bolthole is currently being used for,” Ellisandre retorted. “Those two boys of yours need safety and rest.”

Sevastyan opened and closed his mouth. Then he closed his eyes and hung his head.

“Ask your questions, Vast,” Ellisandre said.

“It doesn’t feel like I have the right.”

“I’m granting the right,” Ellisandre said. “I’m ordering it.”

“Why . . . are you . . . I own a slave.” Sevastyan stared at his hands. “Not in name only. I didn’t take him to help him disappear. I use him.”

“I know.”

Sevastyan risked a glance up. Ellisandre was looking out the window, legs and arms crossed, drinking from one of the coffee cups.

“We both know that’s wrong. I’m wrong, Elli.”

Ellisandre put the coffee down and faced him, hands folded in front of them. “Everything about your life has been wrong, Sevastyan. There have never been good choices. If I judged you by the same rules I judge others, I would be in the wrong. Let me guess, Raska is still alive.”

“Yes.”

“And until recently, you were still serving your father and his promise that you would take down Raska and the rest of the Merchari.”

“Yes. I was a fool. I should have realized . . . after so many years.”

“Stop.” Ellisandre held up her hand. “You’re thirty years old, Vast. You made that damnable oath when you were nineteen. You’ve lived through hell following a man you trusted. You’ve survived eleven years on your own, fooling one of the most powerful secret organizations on earth. Based on what Rei and Lisa said yesterday, you’re near the very top. You have access to all but the highest levels.”

“Yes.”

“On your own.”

“Not on my own. I couldn’t have done it without Rei.”

“No, you couldn’t have.”

Soft silence settled between them.

“It took me years to take down my father’s criminal cell,” Ellisandre said. “And I was his erstwhile son with the backing of the British and European law enforcement and intelligence. I was trained to take him down. You had to wring the knowledge of how to destroy your enemy from the enemy themselves. I had all the money needed relegated to secret accounts. You’ve earned any money you had, stolen and hidden it. I didn’t lie to you, Sevastyan, when I said if you needed a prison, I would be your prison. If you need punishment, I will be your punishment. There is no way you’ve survived or even brought Rei through this far and abided by any law of decency a common person would recognize. That’s not how this works. Don’t tell me you’ve taken too long, that you’ve been blind to Anton’s reluctance. There hasn’t been a single day you haven’t had to claw your way through hell to be here.”