Page 139 of Devotion

Hers doesn’t work. She grabs my hand, pressing my thumb to the bottom. We both freeze as the home screen pops up.

There are four unread messages.

I click them open before Vanya can argue for caution. She’s looking around the store as I read the first message.

Zero. Meat Lovers. Special Delivery.

“What the hell does this mean?”

“Tell you in a minute…”

North Pole. Eye. Sack.

Double. Nove.

Can’t figure out how to say this: Bring your girlfriend.

Vanya scowls at the screen for a few moments before thrusting it into my hands, shaking her head. She watches me, waiting for an explanation.

“It’s not what it looks like, babe. I only have eyes for you. But this might be a solicitation for a three-way, just FYI.”

“I am not worried about this. I am annoyed with nonsense.” She’s impatient. On edge.

“What nonsense?” I ask, pausing my flex-fest in the mirror. “Wait. What time is it?”

“Shit. Lemme change. We gotta go.”

We rush out, grabbing a cab. I tell him a rough area of town in my excellent Russian. He is impressed.

“Any other moment you never shut up, now you leave me in dark?” Her accent gets thicker when she’s pissed. So fucking hot.

“It’s a code. I didn’t want to say anything at the store just in case.”

“Whoever left you that phone is good. I did not spot a tail on us, other than Pyotr’s assigned goons.”

“Good use of ‘goons’!”

Vanya smacks my arm.

“Sorry. Zero is my nickname. Really, only one person ever used it. Same as this code. It’s really shit, but we always had fun with it.”

“Then it could be Ero? He would know this.”

“Nah. It’s the specifics that tell it’s not him. Particularly the North Pole thing.”

“You are infuriating.”

“I used to always joke when we were kids that Santa Claus must live in a church if he’s really a saint.Meat Loversmeansmeet.Special Deliverymeanssecret.”

“AndNorth Polemeanschurch?”

“Exactly!EyeandSackhad me for a minute. Then I remembered you pointing out St. Isaac’s when I first got here.”

“You are right. This code is shit.”

We step out of the cab, trotting along in the foggy cold. The days are getting straight up frigid. Slipping into the sanctuary, I maneuver to the side of the building along the wall. When I reach a hallway, I turn left.

“Time?”

---