Page 153 of One For my Enemy

But then Lev had fallen onto the sofa, exhausted and wrung out with loss, and as Sasha had curled into his side, he’d realized why his brother hadn’t said anything. After all, the gift was obvious, wasn’t it? Marya and Dimitri had given Sasha and Lev the simplicity—the beautiful normality—they themselves had never been permitted. Dimitri had given Lev freedom from a life he’d never wanted. He’d given him choices. Last words would have been paltry in comparison to this: the Antonova witch who kissed him goodbye with the wordslet me go,because she would be back. She would be back, and she would be his.

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, selecting her name from his contacts.

LEV:miss you already

SASHA:lev you are the absolute corniest

SASHA:don’t forget we’re having dinner with galya tomorrow

SASHA:also, make sure eric looks for a job today. remind him drug dealing is not a marketable skill and neither is overusing bath bombs

SASHA:if he gives you any lip tell him I’ll punch him again

Lev chuckled.

LEV:sasha

SASHA:yes lev what is it

LEV:this is my favorite book

SASHA:GROAN

SASHA:but yeah

SASHA:ok fine

SASHA:me too

A pause. He watched her typing.

SASHA:I love you

This, he thought with certainty.

This was why Dimitri hadn’t left him a note.

He would have known Lev would have precisely what he wanted him to hear, even if it came from someone else.

LEV:I love you too

SASHA:come see me tonight ok? I mean it

LEV:don’t read into this too much alexandra

LEV:but I was definitely going to even if you told me not to

SASHA:ok cool

LEV:see you then

He slid his phone back in his pocket.

“Sometimes death is peace,” Roman had said, after all of it. “Then again,” he mused, pointedly eyeing Lev, “I suppose sometimes death is only temporary, isn’t it?”

Lev smiled at the thought.

“Sometimes an end is just a cleverly disguised beginning,” he’d replied, seeing that he was someone who would know.

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