Chapter 13
elaine
I thought for a second Vera might have actually kissed me there, but just as suddenly, she pulled away, standing up. She seemed steadier now, like she was feeling better, and I stood up with her as she faced the cliff face with more strength now.
“Ready?” I said, and she nodded.
“Ready enough. Stick close to me. I can’t be distracted worrying about losing you.”
My heart pounded as we walked, Vera’s hand clasped in mind. She stuck close to the wall, but I could tell she was breathing easier now.
My heart bled for how much she’d gone through. Just an innocent kid who’d had no say in what her family decided to get her into…
I knew she was loyal to her family.
But what happened when your family betrayed you first?
The cliff path ran for a long time, and eventually, we made it to a tight gap in the crags, where Vera squeezed through and pulled me in after her.
A damp cave wound into a natural stairway, and we wound up until stars were visible through a hole in the rock above us, and a rope dangled down from above.
“Come on. This way.”
“I can’t climb that,” I blurted, and Vera turned her back to me, stooping a little.
“Just hold onto me.”
I wrapped my arms around her, burying my face in her neck as she grasped the rope. She smelled so sweet… almost floral. At first I thought it didn’t suit her.
But wasn’t she just a flower that had been trampled too many times?
She moved slowly with the two of us at once, but she tangled her feet into holds on the rope as she pulled us up, moving carefully. The rope spun slowly, sending the two of us spiraling as we climbed, but Vera didn’t slow. Didn’t even break a sweat.
Finally, we climbed up over a stone lip at the top, a well on a hill under what was now the night sky, long grass damp underneath us as Vera pitched us over the ledge and down onto the ground. Through the trees around us, I could see a concrete building peeking out at us.
The depot. Safety.
Vera collapsed on the grass next to me, lying down, her long, dark hair fanning out over the grass, and she turned to me with a glint in her eyes.
“Hey, Elaine.”
“Yeah?”
“What do you want to do for dinner tonight?”
“Oh.” I hadn’t even thought about all the small, practical things. I laughed, lying down with her. “Maybe pizza.”
“Shit, I could go for a pizza right now,” she laughed. “Just catching my breath a little, and then we’ll get our ride.”
She wasn’t tired. She was strained from the emotional exertion of pushing through what she did.
And she did it for me. To keep me safe.
It was because my inheritance had made me useful—that was it—but still. I’d never felt… valued before.
Never had someone who would protect me.
I held my hand up above me, blushing as I looked at the ring. Vera held hers up, too.
“Ready to go through with it?” she said. “Yulia will be checking records and tracking us down once she sees we were lying.”
“Mm…” Was I ready? To get married to an assassin who I’d met twenty-four hours ago?
I’d be lying if I said my heart wasn’t beating faster thinking about it.
“I’m ready,” I said. She chuckled.
“Never thought I’d get married.”
“I always wanted to…”
She nudged my side. “Bet you never thought it’d look like this.”
“Of course I did. I always dreamed of Princess Charming squealing into the parking lot, stabbing a man, and rescuing me.”
“Guess I’m more of a romantic than I realized.” She sat up. “We’ll handle the paperwork tonight and have the ceremony in the morning. We’ll arrange for it to happen at the house.”
“What is the house?” My wedding venue and marital home. If I actually made it through this whole thing alive, how was I even going to look back on it?
“My grandfather used to live there. A big house upstate. It’s my personal home.” She looked down. “I’m not used to having people there.”
I squeezed her hand. “Thank you,” I said. “For keeping me safe.”
She looked away, standing up. “Already almost failed at that once. Let’s get a move on, before it becomes twice.”
It was a quiet drive, peaceful at last. Vera put on some music—classical, a Wagner opera that filled the car with swelling strings. And we drove under open stars until we saw the house.
It was a beautiful old building, Victorian style, with tall gabled roofs and a breathtaking garden.
We drove through the gates at the side and into an attached garage that looked like a classical mansion on the outside and a tech lab on the inside, blue-tinged fluorescent lighting turning on down the length of it as we entered, the doors sliding shut quietly behind us.
Vera finally released the tension once the doors closed.
“Safe,” she said. “Even Whitecliff’s best operatives won’t make it in here. We can breathe now.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
She glanced across the center console at me with a gleam in her eyes. “Say you’ll marry me?”
“Vera—” I put a hand over my face, laughing shyly. “Stop. You’re making me blush.”
“Hey. You’re cute when you blush.” She brushed my hair back from my face, but the moment got interrupted—the heavy metal door at the end of the garage lit up with a ring of blue lighting before it slid open, and a white woman with an undercut and an earful of piercings, a black tank top showing off well-muscled arms with sleeve tattoos, slammed a hand against the metal wall.
“Vera Farkas, I’m gonna fucking kill you,” she shouted, her voice carrying through the car window, and Vera sighed with a smile.
“Petra,” she said. “Blackbirds’ best driver. Meet-and-greet?”
“Is it going to involve her killing you?”
“Ah, she’ll try to punch me in the face. I’ll dodge. It’s a whole thing.”
I scratched my head. “Is she your friend?”
“Sort of. We’ve got history. She’s a big softie, though.”
“Not… how I was going to describe her,” I said, but Vera climbed out of the car.
I opened my door to where Vera took my hand, helping me up to my feet, and Petra strode over to the two of us, and just as Vera promised, she swung at Vera’s face.
Vera stepped back, and then stepped back again when Petra went for the follow-up swing, and then Petra planted one foot and delivered a roundhouse kick that Vera ducked underneath.
It struck the car mirror instead, detaching it cleanly and sending it flying across the room, where it shattered against the wall, a small warning light coming on at a workstation close by, and Vera whistled.
"Property damage, Petra.”
“It’s your own fucking fault for dodging,” Petra said.
“What is happening?” I said, stepping in between them. “Please don’t fight at a time like this.”
Petra grinned at me, her eyes gleaming. “So you’re Elaine, huh? You’re smaller than I expected.”
Vera put a hand on my shoulder, pushing me aside. “Relax,” she said. “Petra and I are good.”
“Are you sure?” I said. “You don’t look like you’re good.”
“I promise. Watch.” Vera moved in a blink, lunging forward and punching Petra in the gut, sending her staggering backwards, and I gasped at the impact.
Petra flashed her a feral grin before she lunged in and hit back, Vera absorbing the blow, and they grappled in the middle before Vera flung Petra back, into the side of the car, where she moved easily and hoisted herself onto the car roof with one hand, the roof creaking under her combat boots as she postured like a dangerous, wild animal.
“High ground,” she said. Vera smirked at her.
“Just gives you farther to fall.”
“You want to try it?”
“Please, stop,” I said, and they both looked at me for a few seconds before Petra laughed. Vera did, too, holding a hand up for Petra, and she clasped it and dropped down onto the floor, clapping Vera on the shoulder.
“Can’t kill you with such a delicate little thing watching,” she said. “I’ll do it another time.”
“You’re welcome to try. No issue with Caitlyn and the cat?”
“Not with the delivery, no,” Petra said, folding her arms. “But some issues with Caitlyn asking questions. Lucky I’m a master of changing the subject. I’ve told her every fact I know about rainforests, but she’s starting to get upset that I won’t answer her.”
Vera glanced at me. “Well, Elaine?” she said. “She’s your sister. What exactly did you have in mind for this?”
“I…” I swallowed. “We have to tell her. We can trust her. I don’t want to leave her out of the loop.”
Vera and Petra exchanged looks. At length, Petra narrowed her eyes a little, and Vera avoided her gaze.
“No earlier than tomorrow,” Petra said. “I hear you two have a wedding in the morning.”
Even while it wasn’t real, it felt realer when Vera’s friend talked about it. I frowned. “We can’t just pretend to Caitlyn like this is all normal and a perfectly real wedding.”
“Ah, let her be happy for her sister and her badass new wife,” Petra said, clapping a hand on Vera’s shoulder. “But if you want her to know, we’ll tell her everything. But only tomorrow. Jenna’s coming around to check everyone’s condition, Caitlyn’s included.”
I wondered how often Mom had been… hitting her. What else had happened.
My heart broke into pieces every time I thought about it, and I boiled in anger at the same time.
No matter how much I gave Mom, it was never going to be enough. No matter what Caitlyn did, it was never going to be enough.
Vera could see the feelings in my face, because she put a hand on my back. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get inside and take a look around. I imagine you could use a shower and some rest. And then…” She smiled. “Then we’re getting some goddamn pizza.”