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“It was Moses?” Cyrille asks.
“Yes,” I say. “But not in the way I thought.”
18
MISHA
For over one hundred years, the Ivanov mansion has stood like a cancer on the earth.
For over one hundred years, it has loomed and brooded.
It won’t last the rest of the night.
After we set it alight, Konstantin and I watch the flames blaze from a distance for almost three hours before the firefighters manage to put it out. The fire ravages the old mansion, turning its bones into ashes.
Just like I knew it would.
“Well, looks like the fun is over.” Konstantin tosses his empty beer bottle into the back of the truck and stretches. “What time is it?”
“Almost three in the morning.”
He whistles. “That explains why I can barely keep my eyes open. Time for me to hit the hay.”
It’s strange—I don’t feel in the least bit tired. But I get to my feet anyway and climb in the passenger seat of Konstantin’s truck. We don’t talk on the way home until he drops me off in front of the mansion.
“You sure you can make it back to your apartment?” I ask.
“Are you worried about me, Misha?”
I roll my eyes. “You look like shit, and I don’t want to have to find your replacement if you drive off the road.”
He blows me a kiss. “I’ll be fine. Love you, too.” He’s laughing as he pulls away.
The house is dark when I get inside, but I see the warm glow of a fire flickering in the sitting room. It’s so late that my first thought is that Petyr has already retaliated.
As I get closer, I realize it’s the fireplace still burning, and two bodies are laid out on the couch. Paige and Cyrille are bundled under fleece blankets. A trail of cookie crumbs winds across the table in front of Paige. More of her cravings, I’m sure. She’s insatiable lately.
I walk over to the fireplace and put out the last of the flames. When I turn back around, Cyrille is blinking awake and sitting up.
“M… Misha?”
“I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I’m a light sleeper.” She rubs her eyes and checks the time on her phone. “Shit. I didn’t mean to crash here.”
“There are plenty of guest rooms you can claim for the night.”
“I wouldn’t have fallen asleep at all if you’d have had the decency to show up at an appropriate hour.”
Her venom catches me off-guard. “Excuse me?”
Standing, she grabs my arm, making sure to dig her nails in hard, and pulls me out of the sitting room “I didn’t want to leave Paige until you got home. Which, of course, you never did.”
“There are two dozen armed men patrolling the perimeter of the grounds, Cyrille. You don’t need to sit with her until—”
“She was waiting foryou, Misha,” she snaps. “Even after the way you’ve treated her, she was still waiting up for you.”
Maybe Konstantin was right. Maybe Paige’s hope will be harder to squash than I thought.
