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“Did your husband bury my father in the woods beside my mother?”
Emma stops. “What?” she whispers.
Grinning, Sonya raises her voice. “Yes, Emma. Your brother-in-law shot my mother in the head and my father in the heart. Just as Vasily Barinov would have wanted.”
Emma backs away and then bolts out of the kitchen, knocking the stool over. I hear her scrambling down the hall to our bedroom and then her struggling with the door before it opens. But I remain in the kitchen between Sonya and her. Sonya lifts the gun, and her hand starts to shake violently. It’s not as easy as it looks to kill someone.
“Turn around, Paige!” she says, tears welling in her eyes. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“No, I won’t.”
Gripping the gun with both hands, Sonya starts gasping as if she’s run a quick mile. “I ought to shoot you and leave you here for Andrei to find. Talia says Andrei only wants you for the baby, but that’s not true, is it?”
I plead with her, not to save my life, but for her to understand. “Sonichka.” I use the name that I often heard Eva use with her. “Andrei regrets what happened. He regrets it deeply. He’ll never be the same. She was his mother too.”
Her hands stop shaking as her breathing slows. But the dark look in her eyes makes me jump. For a moment, it’s as if I’m looking into Andrei’s eyes.
“I ought to shoot him.” She sniffs. “Not you. If I did, we might all be safe.”
I hear the front door open behind me, and heavy footsteps rush into the house. I spin around as Andrei enters the kitchen. I know it’s stupid, but my instincts are too strong to override. I place my arms around him and cling to him, shielding him from Sonya’s gun.
“She wants you dead,” I whisper.
He gently pushes me aside.
“Of course you do.” He speaks to Sonya. “Who did you run to? Where did you hide?”
“I didn’t run,” she snaps. “I’m not afraid of you, Andrei Vasilyevich.” But she can’t hold the gun steady.
He lowers his voice. “Sonya, it was an accident.”
“No, it wasn’t!” She shakes her head. “Youmeantto shoot my father. I barely knew Igor Karamazov, and now, I’ll never know him. I can never ask them why. Why didn’t they fight for me? Why didn’t they raise me together? Why did Eva pickyou?”
“Vasily would’ve killed them both,” he answers firmly.
“But instead, you did.” Sonya raises the gun higher. “I hate you for what you’ve stolen from me, and for what, Andrei? Forher?” Sonya shrieks as I grip the kitchen counter. “She’s not one of us. Neither her nor her sister!”
“Paige and Emma have nothing to do with what happened,” he replies calmly. “I’ve tried to keep them out of the way.”
Watching them shouting at each other, I experience again the pain that has gone on in this house. I tried to leave it behind, but it won’t let go of me. It’s too deeply embedded inside me, running my life even though I don’t want it to. I thought I could take care of my family, but it was too late. Everything had already been set in motion.
“Mama is dead because of you.” Sonya starts to cry but doesn’t give in. “How can you live with yourself after pulling the trigger?”
Someone in the hallway gasps, and Emma stands in the doorway, her hands over her mouth. Deep red marks circle her thin wrists. Her wide eyes stare at Andrei, and she can’t move when Sonya points the gun at her.
Andrei’s gun appears in his hand. “Emma, go outside,” he says calmly.
“My brother shot my mother in cold blood!” Sonya shouts at Emma. “What will he do to you and your sister?”
Emma wavers in the doorway, frozen in fear and too scared to run. She barely looks at Andrei, as if she shouldn’t even dare. But there’s something else in her expression … disgust that he would do such a thing.
“Your sister will stay with him, but you don’t have to,” Sonya tells Emma. “You can be safe with me.”
I grab Emma’s arm as if she might actually run to Sonya. “Don’t, Emma. They’ll lock you up again.” Too late, I realize what I’ve said.
Emma pulls away. “No, no more.”
I move to grab Emma, but then I see it. Looking at Sonya, Andrei cocks his gun.
