Page 128 of 10 Days to Surrender

In the center of the screen is a skull and crossbones. Beneath that, two words:DELETION COMPLETE.

“It’s wiped,” he explains. “Roza’s showed me something like this before—it’s like taking a nuke to the hard drive. There’s nothing left to salvage, no matter how good you are.”

He passes me the phone and the notepad. The inbox contains a single text, with a string of coordinates. On the top page of the notepad…

I’M SORRY,NEANIA.

I drop them both. Standing in the middle of the room, I look around. The evidence is staring me in the face, but I don’t want to see it. I refuse to see it. I won’t fucking allow it to take shape in my head.

Feliks fidgets at my side. He can see what I’m denying. He knows it as well as I do.

Through the window, we can hear the music and laughter from my wedding reception. My wife’s joy, pure and perfect, floating on the night air.

All I can think is,It’s not fucking fair.The world is not a fair place; I’ve known that since the day I was born. No one earns what they get, or gets what they deserve. It justis.Everything simplyis.

And what this is is betrayal.

I feel sick to my stomach. But I force myself to paste on a smile when I hear a knock at the door and I turn to see Jasmine appearing in the doorway.

“Hey, goofs!” she says brightly. “Ariel’s starting to open presents downstairs. She’s looking for you.”

I step in front of the laptop so she doesn’t get the chance to see. The burner phone and notepad get tucked into my pockets. Still grinning, I nod. “Perfect. We’re right behind you.”

But Jasmine isn’t stupid. Her eyes narrow as she takes in the stripped room, the tense set of my shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say roughly. “Tell Ariel I’ll be there in a minute.”

She doesn’t move right away. “I’ll keep her distracted,” she warns. “But hurry. You know how perceptive she is.”

I nod once, sharply. “Thank you.”

As Jasmine’s footsteps fade down the hall, I turn to Feliks. “Get Pavel. Search the grounds. He can’t have gone far. And call Roza. I want to know exactly what kind of deletion program that is.”

“And you?”

I straighten my jacket, already moving toward the door. “I’m going to go watch my wife open presents and pretend this is still the happiest day of my life.”

Everything that was so perfect earlier is now cloying and wrong. The garden’s scent is overwhelming; the fairy lights are tacky, fake, fucking ridiculous. I look around at the rice still scattering the grass and wonder how we ever convinced ourselves that it was okay to be normal for a little while.

But I can’t show her that. I vowed to be darkness so she can be light, and I’ll defend that vow with my last fucking breath. Tonight, that means contorting my face into a smile as I step out of the villa.

Ariel’s laughter rings out—bright, trusting,wrong—and my teeth grind together. She’s perched on a wrought-iron chair, swollen belly brushing the edge of the gift table.

“Sasha, look!” She holds up a ridiculous lace lingerie set, laughing hysterically. “Gina knew exactly what size you’d be!”

I want to laugh. Fuck me, wouldn’t it be nice if I could laugh? But there will be no lingerie tonight. All of the plans I had for Ariel are gone now. Dust in the wind. If we’re lucky, we’ll survive. If we’re unlucky…

I won’t dwell on that yet.

Still chuckling, she sets the lingerie in her lap and picks up a small envelope. “From Uncle Kosti!” she announces, holding it aloft. She looks around for him and frowns. “Is he still peeing? My God, old man bladders are even worse than pregnant ladies’. Oh, well. I’m sure he’ll be back in a sec.”

No.My pulse jackhammers in my throat, but I can’t speak.Don’t open it. Don’t?—

Too late. The seal cracks under her thumbnail. The letter inside comes rustling out.

Ariel’s smile dies mid-sentence.

I see the exact moment the words sink in—the blood draining from her face, her knuckles whitening around the paper. Her lips move soundlessly, tracing some fresh horror.

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