Page 50 of The Fire Beneath the Frost

When the curtain finally fell and the lights came up, I was so hard I thought I’d pass out from sheer humiliation.

Korovin patted my shoulder on the way out.“Good lad,” he said, for no discernible reason, and I almost jumped out of my skin.

We filed out into the night, the city glittering around us.A breeze swept through the square, cool and welcome on my burning face.

“Well,” Vera said brightly, turning to Petyr and me, “I think we’re going to call it a night here.”

Petyr winked.“You are?”

Mira grinned and looped her arm through Vera’s.“Yes.We have wedding details to plan for my sister.Seating charts and tulle and arguments about cake.”

Vera looked between us, her smile suddenly sly.“Would you two mind spending the rest of the evening on your own?”

Mira gave me a wink as she and Vera turned and headed off down the block.

I looked at Petyr.

He looked at me.

And suddenly, the city didn’t seem so cold anymore.

Petyr grabbed my arm and pulled me up the street, his laughter bouncing off the stone walls of the surrounding buildings like music.Not the kind of music you hear in a concert hall, all stiff and official, but the kind that made your chest loosen and your feet want to move.I tried to keep my composure, but his happiness was infectious, and before I knew it, I was grinning like an idiot.

The wind tugged at our coats, but Petyr didn’t seem to care.He threw his arm over my shoulders like we were just two friends walking home from the factory after a long shift.Like this was normal.Safe.Real.

“This is perfect,” he murmured, leaning close so his breath tickled my ear.“With you dating Mira—my wife’s best friend, no less—we can see each other more often now.No one will be the wiser.”

I laughed, partly from joy and partly from disbelief.The absurdity of it all.A fake girlfriend, a life performed like a play in which we all had our roles.But under all that?This moment.His arm was around me.And his smile?Just for me.

“I’ve felt so alone these last few weeks,” I admitted, keeping my voice low.“Under my father’s roof, it’s like I’m made of glass.The only time I come alive is when I’m working next to you.Even then...we’re never really alone.”

Petyr squeezed my shoulder.“You’re not alone now.”

I wanted to believe that.I did.

“Aren’t you worried someone will notice?”I asked.“We’re walking down Nevsky like this, with your arm over my shoulder, and…”

Petyr stopped abruptly and turned in a slow circle, his eyes scanning the crowd.A pair of men passed us, one with his arm draped lazily around the other’s neck, laughing about something.Another man up ahead playfully shoved his friend against a shop window.

He looked back at me and grinned.“Stop worrying so much.Look around.No one cares.We only have a few hours—let’s make the best of it.”

I swallowed my fear and nodded.He was right.Paranoia wouldn’t protect me, not really.And it wouldn’t get me what I wanted, either.

“Where are we going?”I asked, trying not to sound too eager.

Petyr’s grin widened, and a gleam lit his eyes.“Sanctuary.”

The word hit me like the first sip of vodka on a frosty night—sharp, warm, and full of promise.Sanctuary.The abandoned bathhouse, our hidden world beneath the city, tucked between shadows and silence.Where the lights were soft, the air thick with smoke and freedom, and no one had to lie about who they were.Where Petyr and I could be just Petyr and I, without pretense or fear.

My heart beat faster.

He caught the change in my expression and leaned in again.“Hurry.We don’t have much time.”

ChapterFifteen

Petyr

We were walking fast—half jogging, really—our coats flapping open in the wind like cloaks in some ridiculous fairy tale.But I couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot.Vera’s plan was working.Her absurd, brilliant, carefully orchestrated plan.

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