Page 99 of Resurrection

“You’ve been on borrowed time since you told Finn to stay away at the hospital seventeen years ago.” Lucas squirms in my arms. “I understand why you did it. I do. But it doesn’t changethe fact you’ve been trying to make big life decisions for me for far too long.”

“Ever since your brother died, I’ve tried to keep you alive. Anything to keep you alive.” His voice is rough with emotion.

“We’re in a panic room in Russia. I’d say your ability to decide who or what is dangerous stopped working.” Truthfully, I’m not sure he ever had that capability. Of course, I don’t believe he wanted to put me in danger, but he hasn’t steered me down the straight and narrow either. “Finn loves me. And—and I have no doubt he’d do anything, anything in the world to keep me safe. I know it.”

The latch above our heads creaks, and Jay tenses beside me.

“My kingdom for a light,” he whispers.

His gun must be trained at the source of the noise, but it’s so dark we can’t see anything. A light shines, blinding us. Lucas stirs in my arms.

“Identify yourself!” Jay booms.

If whoever has found us wanted to shoot, we’d be dead. There’s no cover in here, just a room, a ladder, and a few rickety chairs.

“Carys?”

Relief floods through me. “Finn,” I breathe out his name, and I rise from my chair, wishing he’d shift the light so I could see his face.

The light doesn’t ease, but there’s the distinctive clatter of him descending the ladder, and I catch glimpses of his outline. Adjusting Lucas, I try to shield my eyes.

“Kid, get the fucking light out of her eyes. I don’t want her blind, and I can see her.” There’s a slight pause, and Finn draws in another breath that sounds shaky. “I can see her.”

My heart swells.

With that, the light moves to the side, and when the spots clear from my eyes, the relief on Finn’s face before he scoops me and Lucas into his arms makes my chest tighten.

“You have no idea the things I’d have done if anything had happened to you.” His voice is gruff in my ear. “For nothing can be ill if she is well.”

My breath catches. A line from Shakespeare’sRomeo and Juliet.

Once, when we were in Ireland, he said that line reminded him of me. Sometimes his almost-degree in literature reaped surprising benefits. I haven’t heard those words in years, but those moments with him are my most vivid memories. Us at our happiest. Looking back, I don’t understand how I didn’t recognize his love. Blinded by youth and inexperience, I guess. His feelings are so clear now. Uncomplicated and perfect. My heart lodges in my throat.

He frames my face with his hands before his lips find mine, and everything else fades away, becomes muted.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” I whisper when I pull back, my free hand cradling the side of his face. “How did you find us?”

“Tom had an old architectural drawing of the house in his front pocket. The kid”—Finn indicates the person at the top of the ladder—“dropped out of architectural school to take this job. He saw what I would have never seen.” A ghost of a smile flicks across his face. “Redeemed himself for being a piss-poor bodyguard.”

He tugs me close, careful not to crush Lucas between us. His lips brush against my forehead, and I savor the smell of him, the warmth of him. Everything will be okay.

“Anyone alive up there?” Jay’s voice breaks the silence.

“Me and the kid,” Finn says.

“Eric?” my father asks.

“Dead.”

My father’s sharp intake barely registers. I can’t stop staring at Finn. “Where were you?”

“We’ll talk in the car on the way out of here. If the cops come along, I’d rather not be paying people off right and left. We’ll go to the hotel Jay booked for us. Cover our tracks later with cash if we have to.”

Lucas makes suckling noises. He needs to feed soon, which reminds me of another person who should have been on my mind. “Galina?”

Finn’s lips graze my temple, and he mutters, “You’re the only three alive.” Surveying the light coming from the top of the stairs, Finn checks on the bundle in my arms. “Can you carry Lucas back up there?”

“I’ll take him,” Jay offers. “I carried my own kids all over the damn place when they were babies.”

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