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“Yes,” I say.
“Sophie and Damien have a personal interest in this operation, so speak freely in front of them.”
“Right. So, after the end of the operation at the orphanage compound, I went to the docks.” I tell the whole story, missing out only a few details. I don’t tell them about the depth of my involvement with Tanya, merely that I saw her there and joined her for a chat.
After I’m done, Damien shakes his head in disapproval. “It’s exactly as we feared.”
“What?” I feel like my late entrance means that I missed some crucial part of the conversation.
“The Deck, the gang that Damien’s father headed, is familiar with the leader of the cult that you helped destroy yesterday,” the Empress says.
“Yes, back then they were known as the religious group Salvation from Darkness,” Damien continues. “They had set up their place of worship in Deck territory. They didn’t bother us at first, but then we heard stories about abuse and human trafficking. They were selling Russian orphans to families to adopt, bypassing welfare agencies. And if the kids were too old to be adopted, well, they found them other occupations.”
My mouth hangs open. Gang life in general isn’t rainbows and unicorns, but operations like these are straight up nefarious.
“And this is the same cult we saved the children from?” Ivo finally joins the conversation, abandoning his fake reading to join me in being shocked.
“Yes. I thought I had destroyed them, but I was wrong. When I saw this flyer”—Damien picks up a copy of the same flyer Tanya had crumpled yesterday—“I recognized the cult leader immediately. He calls himself Koschei the Deathless. A fairy-tale villain, if any of you know Russian folklore.”
Something connects in my brain. “Is he immortal?”
“The villain? Yes. The cult leader? I doubt it.” Damien sets the flyer down.
“But he did escape a fire once,” Sophie says, turning to look at me. She has come a long way from the lost bird she was before Lavender fell. Now she looks every bit the gang leader she is. “So why not a second time? This is why we’re here. Did you check all the remains after your explosions?”
I tilt my head to one side. “We don’t do that. The way I work makes it impossible to go back to the scene. The police and fire service would be there collecting evidence shortly after the fire. My job is to make sure whatever they find doesn’t lead back to us. So if anyone could tell you, it would be the police.”
Sophie and Damien share a look.
“What?”
“We already got in touch with a contact I have in the Homicide department. The only remains recovered were the bones of two women. There was no sign of the brittle old bones of our villain Koschei.”
“He escaped,” I whisper.
“I have a squad of Lesser Arcana scouring our territory, but so far there’s been no trace of him,” the Empress says.
“And we will have our people keeping an eye out in our territory as well,” Sophie adds. “But I’m not sure keeping Tanya and Jenya together is a good idea.”
“She was part of that cult, wasn’t she?” I ask through a lump in my throat. When I met her, back before Lavender got corrupted, she was a cheery person with a warm smile. A bit quirky, a bit awkward at times, but her charm and natural demeanor made her little oddities even more appealing. Never would I have guessed she carried such a dark secret.
“Come with me.” Damien stands up and leads me out of the room.
“I made this much worse, I know.” My words tumble out without me thinking about them. I know he’s Tanya’s protector—always has been—so the worried look on his face makes my stomach churn with reflected anxiety.
“When I burned down Salvation from Darkness’s building more than ten years ago, I wasn’t gentle and thoughtful like your Empress. My father gave me ruthless orders and I followed them without question. We killed anyone on sight and set fire to the place after. We covered all exits and let the smoke and fire consume everything inside. Any room we couldn’t break into would have become a gas chamber. We thought there were no survivors, except the woman who helped us plan it all. She was the only one to walk away from the fire, with my protection.”
I swallow hard. “Tanya?”
He nods. “Tanya.”
Fuck. I bury my hands in my hair and squeeze my head. I left Jenya with the person who burned down her world. I look up at Damien, unsure what to do. Will she be safer with me, who did the exact same only yesterday?
“Is the girl in danger?” I ask, my voice weak. Why do I even care so much?
“Not from Tanya. But there is one more thing you should know about her.” Damien presses his lips into a thin line. He’s debating whether to tell me or not.
“I’ll protect them both,” I blurt out. I have no idea if I can promise such a thing. I’m nothing like him. I’m a tall, lean science geek who can mix things and make them explode. I’m no protector.
