I take the bag from her, overwhelmed with gratitude. “Thank you,” I whisper, my voice shaky as I look at her, hardly able to believe how quickly everything has changed.
Max is alive. My sister is here. And though we’re not out of danger yet, it feels as if a darkness has lifted off of me.
“I’ll go change.” I glance at Max, who nods.
“We’ll be right here.”
“Quickly,” Levin cautions. “I’m going to go down and get the car. Max, Natalia, get her safely down to the garage.”
“On my life,” Max promises, a dark note in his voice that sends a shiver down my spine.
I couldn’t be more eager to get out of the filthy clothes that I’d been wearing for days, the same thing I left Edo’s estate in. I leave them on the floor of the bathroom, wishing desperately for a shower. There’s no time, so I make do with splashing cold water on my face and arms, drying off with one of the soft hotel towels before slipping into the jeans, t-shirt, and flats that Natalia brought me and quickly putting my hair up in a loose bun to hide how lank and flat it looks.
When I come back out, Max and Natalia are talking quietly with one another. He looks up the instant he hears me step out, relief washing over his face, as if he, too, felt like this could all just be some kind of a dream.
I want so badly to be alone with him, to have time to talk about what happened, what this all means–but there is no time.
“Let’s go,” I say quietly, and Natalia nods, leading the way as we slip out of the hotel room. Beneath her leather jacket, I see a small hard shape, and I realize that she’s still carrying her gun.
“Hurry.” Max’s hand is on my lower back as he looks down the hall. “We’ve been here too long already. Levin’s right. But we didn’t think we should take you too far until you woke up, in case we were being pursued.”
I can see the tension in Natalia as she hurries us toward the stairs. “Better this than the elevator,” she says quietly. “I don’t think anyone has found us yet, but better safe than sorry.”
I hope I live long enough to forget what this feels like,I think to myself as we hurry down, that cold fear spreading through me again. I want to forget what it feels like to be so afraid, what it feels like to wonder if my death is coming around every corner, my skin prickling with it from forehead to toes.
I tell myself not to think about it, to follow Max, to stay close to him. He’s once again there, my shield and my protector, and I cling to that as Natalia leads us down to the parking garage of the hotel.
Levin is waiting for us with the car running, the window rolled down. “In! Hurry!” he calls out, and Natalia quickens her pace, Max and I following suit.
“Did you see something?” she asks as we tumble into the car, breathless. “Is there someone?”
“Not that I saw,” Levin says grimly. “Which means more likely than not, no. But there’s always a chance, and I want out of this box as soon as possible.”
The moment the doors close, the windows go up, the locks click, and Levin throws the car into reverse. I hear the tires squeal as he backs up and then throws it back into drive, spinning as he floors it out of the parking garage.
My hand flies up to cover my mouth, muffling the startled squeak that threatens to slip out, but in the front seat Natalia looks as calm and collected as I’ve ever seen her. I see Levin throw her an appraising glance before refocusing his gaze on the road, and as we take a tight turn out onto the highway, I feel Max’s arms go around me.
“This will be over soon,” he says quietly, his lips nearly touching my hair.
I lean into his embrace. I can’t help it, even though I know it might not last. It’s been so long since he’s touched me, and it feels as if it’s been so much longer than it really has that I believed he never would again. He’s taken every opportunity he can to touch me since I woke up it seems, as if he’s also afraid I might disappear at any moment, that this might all be a dream.
Levin doesn’t slow down. There’s no one chasing us that I can tell, but he drives as if there is, all the way to an airport hangar. I feel that clutch of apprehension in my stomach again as the car skids onto the tarmac, coming to a halt as Levin jumps out.
Natalia steps out as well, as Max helps me out of the car. She circles around to where we’re standing, glancing at Levin.
“The plane is almost fueled,” he says, glancing over toward the hangar. “They don’t seem to have found us yet, but it won’t be long before there’s retaliation. We need to get out of here.”
“Do you want me to do something with the car?” Natalia looks up at him. “Give me a moment with my sister, and then I’ll take care of whatever needs taking care of here while you get out.”
Something in my chest tightens at hearing her call me her sister. Viktor, Caterina, and the children were the closest thing I had to feeling like I had a family–but Natalia is myblood, half of it, anyway. Not the better half, but whatever good there might once have been in Obelensky, whatever bravery or stubbornness that could be used for something right, she seems to have taken it.
Levin is looking down at her as if she’s lost her mind. “You’re coming with us,” he says flatly, as if he can’t quite comprehend why she would have thought otherwise.
“What?” Natalia blinks up at him, momentarily confused.
“You’re in danger now, too.” Levin shakes his head. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I left you here without protection–and with us gone, the sole focus of any retaliation, if they were able to find you. Not to mention what might happen to you in order to get information as to where we’d gone–no.” He shakes his head again, decisively. “You need to come with us. You helped us, so there’s no leaving you behind.”
“Well, then.” Natalia glances at Max and me. “Let’s go, then.”