Chapter 23
Zina
Paris, France
At first, I saw only the black-mottled ceiling. I blinked, my eyelids heavy and swollen. I felt like death. Where was I—in that automobile? I shuddered. At that chateau?
“Zina!” came the familiar voice—Katya’s dear, beloved voice.
I tried to move, but my limbs were like jelly. My throat was so fiercely dry the very act of breathing hurt.
Katya’s face slid into view, smiling, though showing unmistakable strain about the eyes.
A glass was tipped to my lips, the water cold and wonderfully refreshing. I drank greedily and lay back, breathless. “Katya,” I forced through my cotton mouth, past the stale taste. “What—where—?”
“Oh, Zina, finally! I am so relieved!”
“Finally? How long was I…?”
“One week.”
An entire week? “Where am I?”
“My flat.”
“What about your dear mama?” I said with some of my old twinkle.
Katya laughed, the strain easing. “I convinced her to let you stay.”
But if I was here…“What about Baba Valya?”
“She has come by every night and stayed till morning.”
A tearful swell of emotion seized me. I wasn’t alone. I had my family, my grandmother, with me, always with me. “What…happened?”
Katya gave a small shake of her head. “Only you can tell us that, Zina. What do you remember?”
“I…” My mind was sluggish, fuzzy, my thoughts convoluted.
I only recalled shadowy snippets, a spotty film reel with no sound or much color.
They flashed through, jagged edged, like the fragments of that looking glass.
The haunted chateau, the teapots and red foods, the clowns and dolls and nutcrackers, Snow Queens and Alec.
A sprint through the foggy, rainy night, pursued by footsteps and jeers.
An automobile. The scent of chocolate mousse, the welcome sound of French. “H-how did I get here?”
“Inspector Allard.”
“But how?” Had he been at the chateau? I didn’t think so.
“You didn’t come back, so I called him. He told me he saw you step into a motorcar with Olga and Alec.
He went to Boulogne-sur-Seine after I insisted that he make sure you were all right.
It was empty, and he tried the Grand Duke’s country house next, as Olga had told him about it.
Just as he and his squad were driving up, they saw you stumbling down the road.
You kept saying my name, so he took you here. ”
This time, the swell of emotion was for Katya, my fiercely loyal friend. And Inspector Allard, Gabriel, for finding me, for bringing me home, alive, to my little corner of Paris, to my rue Daru.
“You refused to go to the hospital, so the inspector found Dr. Misha,” Katya was saying. “And Misha refused to leave your bedside until you were better. He is sure to lose his cab now.”
“I am surprised he would risk it. Didn’t he spend a year studying for the test?”
“Yes, and visited Valentina almost every night to ask the coffee grounds whether he would pass it. But he said he would do anything for her.”
“Of course he would.” She lived for favors, giving and receiving. It might just have saved my life.
“So what happened, Zina? Is it true you had too much to drink?”
I shook my head vehemently. Sat up, too quickly.
My head pounded so hard I let out a groan and sank back down.
Katya gave me some more of that nice cold water to sip on.
Once I could speak, I said, “No. At least, I don’t think so.
I…think I was poisoned.” Katya paled, and I rushed on.
“Olga and Alec took me to that chateau against my will to frighten me into giving them information about the séances, the Grand Duke, the tearoom. They believe there is a treasure hidden there that we are keeping from them. I think they might have meant to kill me, Katya.”
What if they were my siblings? What if they knew and still tried to poison me?
“I knew it,” Katya breathed. “Misha said it was as though you had drunk a boatload of spirits. But I knew you wouldn’t. Not after that séance. Zina, you almost died. I would not be surprised if they had meant to kill you. We have to tell the inspector.”
Drunk Zina. Overindulging. “We cannot, Katya. How can we, when it seems they cleverly used a poison that made it look as if I were drunk?”
“All those witnesses…”
“Will take their side.”
“But don’t you think Inspector Allard would believe you?”
“I cannot take the chance, especially since—” I broke off, recalling those words: Murderer.
Poisoner. If the émigrés spread such rumors in front of me, what had they told the inspector?
Given that body and the dagger, what if it wasn’t rumor?
“I heard more things about my mother and grandmother. Did he say anything else to you?”
“He asked me to take care of you ‘as if my life depended on it.’ And he promised to visit—and he has, every day.” Katya hesitated.
“Are you sure he wouldn’t believe you? He’s been so, well, devoted.
Diligent, too, in helping me find you. And he seemed quite…
distraught by your illness. Has something happened between you, Zina? ”
It was hard to think that far back. The kiss, the pressure and heat of it; our agreement that Nothing happened.
But I wanted it to. I liked him, wanted him.
At night, with him so close, I could ignore all the reasons to stay away.
In daylight, I couldn’t. How could I date a man who was investigating our tearoom, maybe my grandmother?
Out loud, I said, “Nothing happened that cannot be undone.”
“Just be careful.” Katya was watching me. “I like him, but…”
“I know.” I reached over and squeezed her hand. “Thank you, dear Katya, for believing me.” My eyes stung with that emotion. I had known Katya was loyal; now I knew she would stand by me through anything. So would I, with her. That was what friends, what family, did.
“Your grandmother will believe you, too. As soon as she heard you were with Olga and Alec, she knew something had gone wrong. She doesn’t want you returning to Samovar. She thinks it is too dangerous.”
If it was dangerous for me, it was also dangerous for her. I shook my head. “I will rest today, but I will go back tomorrow.” And go out for a cigarette. I craved one badly.
“No, you most certainly will not,” Katya said sternly.
“All right,” I conceded. “Maybe not tomorrow. In three days, like in the fairy tales.”
“You are incorrigible. Just like your grandmother.”
But who was my grandmother? I had to see her, had to try to summon Mama.
And I had to persuade Baba Valya to help me find a spirit medium, a good one.
After that last séance, I could admit I had no control over the spirits or where they took me.
I wanted to learn how to protect myself.
But I had to hurry. My poisoners would be looking to finish what they had started.
Then Baba Valya and Katya would be preparing my body for my funeral.