“Karpov?” she said his name with trepidation.
Obviously, everyone was alright, but where was Karpov, was he eliminated?
“He got away…” Raphael replied. “He almost got Kellam, but we managed to help him. Unfortunately, that gave him time to run away, the coward.”
“He ran away?” Mina repeated.
“There was nothing we could do,” Renwick spoke, half angry, half disappointed.
“No worries,” she smiled, “we’ll get him next time.”
“But, there is good news, too,” Thorne interjected.
“Oh?” she looked at him, then at everyone else.
The happiness on their faces was undeniable. Whatever had happened, it was huge. That much was obvious.
“Come on, spill it!” she shouted at them, teasingly.
“Maybe you’d like to meet him yourself,” Renwick had a mysterious smile on his face.
“Him?” Mina didn’t understand. “Who do you mean?”
“Wait a second,” Renwick told her, then went out of the room.
“Where is he going?” Mina asked the rest of the guys, but that same mysterious smile lingered on their faces, too, and she knew she was asking in vain.
A few seconds later, Renwick came back in and he was followed by a man. Mina was sure that she’d seen that man somewhere before but she couldn’t remember where exactly. The guys lowered their heads silently and took one step away from the bed, almost at the same time.
The man walked solemnly, slowly, as if every single step required patience and a lot of effort. It reminded Mina of a procession. He was smiling. His white beard revealed a tight set of lips, which were raised upwards. His eyes were the lightest shade of blue, surrounded by what appeared to be thousands and thousands of crow’s feet. He was pale and his hands shook as he leaned on a cane which had a snake’s head on the top.
When he finally reached her bed, he rested his hand on it. His eyes were watching her like a hawk but he didn’t say a word. Mina wondered if she should speak first but her gut kept telling her to be quiet.
“I hear you are the brave hero of the story,” the man told her in a voice that belonged to some different time, to a better time.
“Oh, I…” she didn’t know what to say to that.
She definitely didn’t feel like the hero. She did the least amount of work and, when it was time to show what she was made of, she was left in the corner, wounded and unable to help anyone. She wanted to say all of this but she was embarrassed. That wasn’t the kind of person she was, forced to hide away when others needed her.
“You may not feel like a hero,” she was startled by his words, because he seemed to be reading her mind, addressing her most inner concerns, “but, I assure you, this outcome wouldn’t have been reached, if you hadn’t been so brave in the face of all adversity.”
The man’s smile was the kindest Mina had ever seen. She was still wondering who he was and why he was there. She glanced at the guys and she noticed that they weren’t looking at their feet anymore. Their gaze was focused on the man and there was so much adoration and respect on their faces, that she finally realized who the man was. There was only one conclusion, only one person in the whole world he could have been.
“But, how?” she wondered, looking at the man. “How are you here?”
“Like I said, you saved this young man over here,” he turned around to glance at Raphael. “It was he who saved your brother from Karpov. Your brother found the treasure Dante was so selfishly keeping hidden in a compartment of the lodge where he was staying. Then, all of them brought that treasure, my heart, to me, and I was finally brought back to life. After my heart had been torn out of my chest, I thought I would never see the light of day again but fate works in mysterious ways. I am back, and it is all because of you.”
“I… don’t know what to say…” Mina blushed, feeling her heart so full that it would burst inside her chest.
“There is nothing to say, my dear child,” the man smiled again, “just be happy. These men love you. Cherish them, as they cherish you and be happy.”
“Thank you,” she managed to mutter, “I will, I promise I will.”
“It was a pleasure to meet you but, now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work. There is a lot of reparation that needs to be done, so I’d better start immediately.”
“Thank you,” she repeated and the man slowly walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
“Was that…” she wondered, still looking at the door.