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Did she not remember?
Was it too painful?
“Grace.” I cupped her cheeks with both hands, pleading for her to return to me. “Are you in there?”
She blinked, her eyes moving to my lips.
“What did Andrey do to her?” Rhys asked. “It’s like he fucking brainwashed her.”
“Who knows with the Russians? They’re sneaky fuckers.”
The pad of Drake’s thumb grazed her cheek. “I have to try this.” He locked eyes with me. “So we know if she’s that far gone.” He stroked her skin. “Katarina?”
At the sound of her real name, her eyes met his. “Da?”
Yes.
She blinked a few times, then closed her eyes as if the lids were too heavy to keep open. Then, she rolled her head to the side and whispered, “Bayushki Bayu,” speaking entirely in Russian until she sang herself to sleep.
After she passed out in my arms, I kissed her forehead, clinging to her for dear life. I needed her more than anything.
More than oxygen.
More than life.
My mother’s body was still warm when I held her. She hadn’t been dead for more than a few minutes before we found her. I couldn’t lose the two most important women in my life on the same day.
I rose from the floor with Grace’s head cradled on my chest. “She can’t go back to being Katarina.”
Ineededher.
“She won’t,” Drake said, though it sounded like a lie.
“What if we did this to her?” I choked out, keeping my voice low so Rhys couldn’t hear us as we walked toward Grace’s bedroom. “We shouldn’t have contacted Viktor. We led them straight to us. Now my mom is dead, and Grace is…” I glanced at her sleeping in my arms, tears staining my cheeks as I lowered her to the mattress. “I love her, Drake. I won’t give her up.”
“There’s an explanation for what happened tonight. When we talk to Viktor again—”
“I’m not talking to him,” I shot back. “Or making any deals. Not after what he did to my mom and Grace. He doesn’t deserve to see Grace again.”
“Think this through,” Drake said with concern furrowing his brows. “Viktor is cooperating. If we refuse to speak to him after making contact, we have no idea what he will do.”
“We already saw what he’s willing to do tonight. He sent his brother to my house.”
“We don’t know that for sure.” Drake clutched my shoulder and guided me out of Grace’s room. “I’m sorry about your mom. She was an amazing woman. If you need me to do—”
“Actually, there is something you can do.” I led him to my bedroom and opened the safe. He gave me a quizzical look when I put the velvet pouch containing the Elders key in his hand. “Give this to Bastian. Tell him Grace needs his help.”
ChapterForty-Four
GRACE
Iwoke with a jolt. Adrenaline flooded my veins, my heart racing so fast I could hardly catch my breath. A man I hadn’t seen in years stood over me with a syringe in his hand.
He was an older man with dark, graying hair, maybe somewhere in his fifties. Like my dad, he had dark tattoos on his forearms and biceps. We were in my bedroom at Fort Marshall.
I blinked a few times and sat up. “Dr. Beck?”
“Oh, good.” He let out a relieved breath. “You remember me.” He sat on the edge of the bed, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Are you Katarina or Grace?”
