She sits back and turns to watch Matthaeus as he takes the screws out. They’re tiny. He sets them on the table.
“But he’s going to ruin it. It’s all I have left,” she says.
“Mother fucker,” Matthaeus says and holds up the small chip. He brings it to me and drops it in the palm of my hand.
It’s quiet for a moment before Mara speaks. “What is that?”
“It’s how Felix found you.” He must have been tracking her for some time. Why would he do that? “And when I got you out, when I took Petrov out of the picture, he made his move.”
I look at her, see the tears in her eyes. See how the skin around them reddens when she’s about to cry. See how the dimple on her chin deepens when she bites her lip to stop the tremble. And all I want to do is wrap her in my arms. Tell her that none of those men matter. Because I’m going to send them all to hell.
Tell her I’ll take care of her. I’ll never betray her.
But then her face hardens, and she’s shut herself off again. And it takes all I have not to pull her to me. Not to hold her tight.
“He lied to me too.”
I don’t say anything because it’s true. He did.
“And he paid for it,” she mutters. I think it’s more to herself than me. She closes her eyes, turns her head away. “I’m glad he paid.”
22
Mara
I watch the sun rise out of the airplane window. It’s so pretty up here. I wish I could stay up in the air forever. I wish I could just keep flying, chasing the sunrise for the rest of my life up here in the air where no one can touch me. No one can hurt me. Betray me.
Below the sea sparkles crystal blue. We’re descending. I see the mainland. We’re too far to see the island but I know it’s there. I know that’s where he’s taking me. My heart beats a little faster, my hands growing clammy.
The captain comes over the intercom telling us we’ll be landing in fifteen minutes. To make sure our seatbelts are buckled. I doubt not having a seatbelt buckled would make much difference if the plane took a nose-dive into the water, but I do it anyway.
Fifteen minutes.
I close my eyes, my hand automatically coming to the wrist where the bracelet used to be. The gift Samuel had given me. He’d told me he’d had it since he was little. Said his mother had given it to him when he was just a child. He gave it to me after a particularly bad night, so I’d know I wasn’t alone. I remember how I’d felt. How his words had made me cry, made me sadder than I already was.
But I know now his words were lies. His friendship just another betrayal. He’d been working for Felix all along. Felix had been tracking me that last year. Why? And when Petrov found out, he’d made it seem like it was my fault they’d sawn off Samuel’s hand. It was my fault that he’d been killed. But that, too, was another manipulation. Another game. Another way to fuck with me.
It should be easier thinking about Samuel’s death now. Knowing he wasn’t my friend at all. But it isn’t. It somehow hurts more.
A tear slips down my cheek, but I make sure I’m facing out the window, so no one notices. I wipe it away quickly. Steel myself as I finally see the small dot that is the island. I take a deep breath in and grip the arms of the seat, closing my eyes for the rest of the flight. I’m going to need to get better at this. At shutting myself off.
Why did he bring me here? Back to this place where it all began. Why would he do that to me?
A few minutes later, the plane touches down, the landing thankfully soft. I open my eyes to meet Dante’s ever watchful gaze. He’s broken too. It’s so obvious.
The captain’s voice comes over the intercom as the plane slows to a stop. Matthaeus gets to his feet and stretches.
I shift my attention to undoing my belt. Dante stands, reaches for our bags and slings one over his shoulder. The other he holds in one hand and gestures for me to go ahead of him.
The attendant unlocks the door and it’s opened, the stairs lowered onto the tarmac. The sun is bright in the clear blue sky, the air crisp and in that moment before my brain can step in and remind me of my reality, in that one small stitch in time, I feel something I haven’t felt in a very, very long time. I feel it deep inside my belly.