Chapter 17
vera
Something wasn’t right.
I didn’t know what it was, but when I got back to the house, something felt wrong. A disturbance. It wasn’t all as I’d left it.
Whitecliffs? But… no. They couldn’t have found this place. Not unless they’d tracked us?
They couldn’t have. They didn’t know the route Elaine and I took, and Petra would never have done something so amateur as leave a trail. Tracked our communications? But we only talked over secure servers…
The only way any of them would have found us would be if somebody leaked it. But I couldn’t even imagine. We were family.
I left the car and held my hand close to my gun while I inspected the property. No sign of anybody. Just a persistent feeling like something was wrong.
I told Petra about it once I was inside, and her expression hardened.
“I’ll set up defensive measures. You just focus on Elaine.”
“Thanks. Guess I’ll kill you another time.”
She put a hand on my shoulder before I could leave. “Vera?”
“What?”
Her eyes flickered. “It’s going to be hard for me, too. You’re not in this alone.”
I turned away. “I already told you,” I said. “It’s going to be easy. I threw away my humanity for a reason. Nothing but an attack dog now. Nothing but a wild wolf.”
Elaine was visibly tongue-tied when I met her before the ceremony, pacing the parlor anxiously.
“You okay?” I said, and she swallowed hard.
“Just… nerves before the wedding. I can’t believe I’m getting… married.”
“It’s not going to feel like anything is different.” I put a hand on her arm. “You’ll just be safe instead.”
She swallowed, her eyes locking on mine briefly before pulling away, blushing. It stirred something inside me.
No. You can’t.
I wasn’t going to feel anything for her. Nothing sentimental, and nothing about… last night. Nothing about how she’d all but offered herself to me.
I didn’t fuck people I was going to kill. Bad form.
I didn’t hold them and kiss them tenderly, either. No matter how it felt when she looked at me.
“It’s going to be settled before you know it,” I said. “And we’ll be able to move forward.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
She met my eyes again, and here in the quiet of the parlor, just the two of us standing close, I wanted to kiss her.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled back sharply, turning my back to Elaine before I lost my mind.
The officiant telling me everything was set up. I pushed out a breath.
“C’mon,” I said, offering a hand for Elaine. “Let’s get married.”
“Now?” She paled. “I’m not…” She gestured to herself, and I smirked.
“White dress. I’m in a suit jacket again. We look appropriate.”
“I… I guess.”
“You’ll have a proper dress for your real wedding one day,” I said. “Or whatever you want to wear, you’ll have it. Someone will be lucky to have you.”
“Thank you.” She spoke it as a whisper that kept swirling in my mind.
The officiant was an older woman I’d hired from the city, along with an expedited marriage license, some palms greased along the way.
Caitlyn sat at the edge of the room, our witness, and with Petra still patrolling the perimeter, it was just the four of us in the ballroom, Elaine blushing and wide-eyed as we stood at the front, our hands clasped together, the rings taken off for the ceremony.
“Good morning,” the officiant said in her warm, homey accent.
“We are gathered here to recognize the union of Elaine Whitner and Vera Farkas in marriage. Marriage is a commitment, both personal and legal, entered into freely and willingly by two people… Elaine, Vera. Today, you two are choosing to enter into marriage, to share your lives and responsibilities with another.”
Elaine squeezed my hands, tears in her eyes.
And somewhere else, there was a snap.
It was just on the edge of hearing, barely there. Anyone who wasn’t trained for their life would have missed it.
But to me, it was like a gunshot.
My stomach clenched. But if I gave any sign something was wrong, it would only confuse and concern the officiant, slow things down.
So I smiled at Elaine like she was the woman I loved and wanted to spend forever with. And tearfully, overflowing with conflicting emotions, she smiled back. The officiant kept speaking.
“Do you, Elaine Whitner, take Vera Farkas to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
Elaine took a few tries to say it in a shaky breath. “I do.”
“Do you, Vera Farkas, take Elaine Whitner to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
And in twelve hours, I would kill her. “I do.”
“Then repeat after me. I, Vera…”
I swallowed the grimace. Somewhere outside, I heard another sound, and another one, closer together now. Petra had heard it too. Responding. God only knew how it was going. “I, Vera.”
“Take you, Elaine…”
“Take you, Elaine.”
“To be my wife.”
“To be my wife.”
Elaine swallowed back tears, her chest shaking with each breath. I heard the noise stop. Stillness. Uncomfortable stillness.
The officiant kept going. “I promise to love you, to cherish you, and to support you…”
“I promise to love you, to cherish you, and to support you…”
“In sickness, and in health.”
“In sickness, and in health.”
“And to share my life with you.”
“And to share my life with you.”
She turned to Elaine. “Repeat after me. I, Elaine…”
“I, Elaine.” Her voice shook. Speaking too slowly. Dammit. I should have told the officiant no vows.
“Take you, Vera.”
“Take you… V-Vera.”
“To be my wife.”
“To be my… my wife.”
Another snap. This one louder. Closer.
I felt it like a countdown coming closer as the officiant guided Elaine through her vows, tearful and shaky. At last, the officiant presented us the rings.
“Repeat after me,” she said. “With this ring, I marry you, and I give you my love.”
I slipped the ring onto Elaine’s finger. “With this ring, I marry you, and I give you my love.”
Her breath caught, and her chest heaved as I slid the metal on over her finger. The officiant gave her the other ring.
“Repeat after me,” she said. “With this ring—”
An explosion rang from the front door. Caitlyn screamed, covering her head, and the officiant dropped the ring, stepping back as smoke billowed out—a blast charge, blowing straight through the door and into the complex.
And standing outlined in the smoke, Yulia Mikhailovna.