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“He will be banished from the country, of course,” I say. “But as long as you’re alive, I promise not to kill him.”
Vadim flinches. His eyes meet mine and he holds the stare. He’s trying to find the lie in my face. I don’t let him see anything but what he’s hoping to see.
In the end, he nods and his chin droops to his chest. “There is a place on Henderson Street, in Uniondale. A house with ivy growing through the windows. You’ll see it. You’ll know.”
I nod and drift back towards the door. I stop at the threshold as my heart rate races up.Am I really going to do this?
“Do you have any real love for my father?” I’m not sure why I ask this question now. Probably because I know it’s my last chance to ask him anything.
Vadim drags his weary eyes up to mine. I wonder if he knows what’s coming. “He is my older brother. Of course I love him. But love can walk hand in hand with hate sometimes. There’s a fine line.” He shifts uncomfortably on the spot, his eyes darting over my face. “Ruslan,” he whispers, “you promised.”
I nod. “I promised not to kill Adrik as long as you were alive. And I will keep that promise.”
He is still my father’s brother. He is still my uncle.
Which is why I wait until he looks away before I raise the gun and shoot. It happens so fast that he doesn’t see it coming. He slumps against the wall, his eyes closing instantly.
I don’t need to check his pulse.
I know he’s gone.
56
EMMA
It took some effort but the girls are finally asleep. Reagan ishonk-shoo-honk-shoo-mimimi-ing away and Caroline’s eyes are fluttering softly. They’re crammed in together on the dirty old mattress despite the fact that the bed is quite big. Old, yes; rotten, yes—but big. How nice of our captors.
Josh, on the other hand…
He’s sitting by the window, having tried for the first hour to break it open. Turns out those wooden boards are nailed in tight. The last fading remnants of light are slanting in through the little gaps between the planks.
I drape the girl’s school sweaters over them as blankets and when I’m satisfied they’re not gonna wake up, I inch over to Josh. He makes space for me on the table he’s sitting on. I climb aboard and hike my legs up.
“Your boxing has gotten really good.”
One corner of his mouth twitches up. “I need to practice more.”
“You’re already amazing. You had Ben on the ground, Josh.”
That gets a brief smile out of him before it disappears and he shrugs self-consciously. “Only because I took him by surprise.”
I shake my head and pat his knee. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’re a lot braver, smarter, and stronger than you think you are. You just need to believe it.”
He nods. “Ruslan tells me the same thing.”
“Does he now?”
I can sense the conflict raging inside his little head. Can almostfeelit, like pre-storm pressure in the air. His eyes keep darting to my face and then away again. I know he’s scared but he’s desperately trying to hide it. Mostly because he’s trying to take care of me and the girls.
“We’re going to be okay,” I whisper to him.
He arches an eyebrow in a way that’s so eerily similar to how Ruslan does that I shiver. “How?” he asks.
“I don’t know how,” I admit. “I justknow. Your mom used to tell me to manifest what I wanted and it would come. Do you know what ‘manifest’ means?”
He shakes his head.
“It means to visualize something and wish for it as hard as you can and it’ll come sooner or later. Matter of fact, she liked to say she manifestedyou.”
