Page 196 of Toxic Salvation
The room goes silent. Dead silent. I can hear Luka’s ragged breathing, Vesper’s gentle murmurs, Ihor’s panicked gasps.
He looks ghastly. “You know?”
“Vitalii told me.” I cock the gun. “My brother wasn’t as blind as you thought. He knew for a long time that Luka wasn’t his biological son.” I stand, raising my voice so Luka hears every word. “It didn’t matter, though—because he loved Luka from the moment he held him. He may not have been Luka’s father, but he chose to be. Just like I’m choosing to be his father now.”
Ihor’s face pales. I can see his death in his eyes.
“Vesper, take Luka outside,” I order. “Osip, go with them.”
Vesper wraps her arm around Luka’s shoulders and they leave with Osip.
Pavel steps beside me. “Your men held us up outside,” he tells Ihor. “I was worried I wouldn’t get to see you die.”
“No chance, brother. I was always going to wait for you.” I pat Pavel’s shoulder. “Together, we avenge Vitalii.”
We raise our guns at the same time.
I aim for Ihor’s head.
Pavel aims for his heart.
“No—!” is all Ihor manages before our guns ring out. Two bullets fired in perfect unison.
I’m not sure which bullet hits first. It doesn’t matter.
The only thing that matters is that he’s dead.
When I walk out of that building ten minutes later, Vesper cries out my name.
But she doesn’t leave Luka’s side. They’re sitting on the stoop of the neighboring building. There’s a blanket wrapped around Luka’s shoulders while Vesper cradles him, rocking him gently.
His eyes are open but glassy. Haunted. He has every right to be after what he’s seen today, what he was forced to do.
“Luka…” I whisper, kneeling in front of him.
He peeks at me, still hiding half his face against Vesper’s chest. “I killed her,” he whispers. “I killed my own mother.”
“No. You didn’t. Yana is still alive.”
“What?” Luka sits up straight, and I finally see his whole face. One cheek is redder than the other, both stained with tears. He looks older. All the innocence he had left has fled in the last hour.
“She was breathing,” I assure him. “She’s alive.”
“So I didn’t kill her?”
“No, son. You didn’t.”
Luka gasps, then bursts into tears. Vesper pulls him back to her and we both hold him while he cries.
Once he settles, I sit on the stoop beside them. “I want you to know how proud I am of you. You protected Vesper and defended yourself today. You’re a hero, Luka.”
“You’remyhero,” Vesper agrees, kissing his forehead.
He smiles through his tears—the first sign he’s going to be okay. “I had to protect Mama. It’s what you would have done.”
“You’re a lot like me. You’re a lot like Vitalii, too.”
Luka’s smile fades. “What Ihor said?—”
