Page 53 of One For my Enemy

Stas lifted his chin.Neither did you,he made sure his posture replied, and Ivan turned away without a word, disappearing into the corridor.

“Go home,” Yaga said to Stas, moving to enter the locked door of her bedroom again with a final glance at him over her shoulder. “You are right, Stanislav, that she loved you well.”

Yaga paused, toying with something, and for a woman who famously felt no remorse, he thought perhaps he saw a glimpse of it.

“If your love is dead along with my daughter, Stas, then bury it,” Yaga suggested. “I will ask nothing more from you.”

Stas bristled, catching the undertones of a threat. “And if I don’t?”

Yaga’s cool expression hardened. “Then you will not like what you see,” she replied simply, and slid through the doorway, closing the door behind her.

III. 5

(It is the Nightingale.)

The twinkling sound of his phone alarm woke Lev with a jolt, his arms tightening briefly around Sasha. She shifted, leg still slid between his in the tangled mess of sheets, and reached across his chest, turning the alarm off.

“I should go,” she said, moving to sit up, and Lev vigorously shook his head, pressing his lips to her shoulder and holding her in place.

“Not morning yet,” he murmured into her skin. “Look,” he added, gesturing to the window. “Still dark.”

“That’s just an ill effect of winter, Lev,” Sasha sighed. “It’s morning. Your alarm? Remember? You set it yourself, and you know I can’t stay here—”

“Stop.” He kissed her arm, luring her back towards him, and she let out a falsely irritated sigh, letting him draw her against his chest. “Stay.”

“I can’t stay,” she murmured, shaking her head. “You know I can’t.”

“But if you go now—” He shivered. “Sasha. I have the worst feeling.”

“Have some tea, then,” she advised, moving to pull away again. “And anyway, if anyone were to catch me here, I imagine that feeling would be much worse.”

She paused, glancing over her shoulder as he pressed his lips to her spine.

“You’re being dramatic, Lev,” she murmured to him, her hair cascading down her back, soft and lush. “Normally it’s endearing, but at the moment, it’s very unhelpful—”

“I’m not trying to help,” Lev assured her, pulling her back into his arms and rolling the both of them over, pinning her shoulders against the sheets to drop his lips once more to hers. “Unless I’m doing it very badly,” he murmured, smiling with satisfaction as she drew her legs up around his hips, “I’m trying to keep you in my bed.”

“LEV!” came a shout from downstairs. “Lev, are you home?”

He slid a hand quickly over Sasha’s mouth as she gasped aloud, the sound muffled into his palm.

“Quiet,” he warned, and she glared at him. “You should go—”

“Weren’t you just the one being unhelpful? See how it feels, then,” she mused, swatting his hand away. She teased her fingers down his stomach with positively villainous delight, forcing him to stifle a groan. “It’s barely morning,” she murmured, kissing his neck. “Just tell him you’re asleep—”

“Levka,” Roman’s voice came again, somewhere on the other side of the door. “Are you sleeping? Wake up. Lev, I—”

He turned the knob, and Lev thrust a hand out, spelling the door shut.

“What thefuck,Lev—”

“Siblings,” Sasha whispered, shaking her head in mock disapproval, and Lev gave her a scolding glance.

“You have to go,” he hissed, trying not to groan aloud as her hips shifted against his. “Believe me, I don’t want you to, but if he catches you in here—”

“Lev,” Roman growled, “open the door. We need to talk,now.Has Dima been here?”

“Dima?” Sasha echoed, suddenly sitting up as Lev leapt to his feet, gathering her clothes and tossing them to her. “I thought he was—”

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