Page 99 of Dancing for the Devil

She snorted, turning away, still shaking her head. I smiled. “In any case, I am no fool. I know what this means. I don’t plan on bringing her to any meetings or telling her anything she doesn’t need to know. But she is in my life, and I intend to keep her there.”

Katya nodded. “I understand.” She turned, smiling at me. “I even approve, like I said. She’s a strong one. She’ll make a good mate for you.”

“Oh, if I haveyourapproval I must be on the right track.”

She punched my hand. “Anyway. If you want to go take care of her, I got you. I’ll deal with what needs dealing with here.”

I looked at her,reallylooked. When she’d left for Russia, she’d still been a child with some growing up left to do. This young woman in front of me though… she was someone I could trust. “Thank you. If you have questions my phone is on. Call me.”

“I will.”

I nodded. Then picked up my iPad and left my office to her. Both of us had spent a lot of time with my father, following him around as he worked. She knew as well as I did what needed to be done.

I went to find Nora, who was curled up on the sofa, fast asleep. Regretfully, I woke her up. “Hey, sorry to wake you, but we gotta go. Do you want to come back to mine?”

She shook her head blearily. “I gotta go home and tell my Lita what happened.”

I nodded holding out my hand to her. “I’ll take you.”

She placed her hand gratefully in mine and smiled. “Thank you.”

We drove to Brooklyn where she lived in a small stucco house with her grandmother. In my mind, I already had them moved out of there and into my place. Nora sat in the car staring ahead, as if frozen. I gave her the time she needed to gather the courage to go forward.

Before she could quite get there, the door opened, and a tall thin woman with salt and pepper hair emerged, dressed in blue jeans and a white sweater. Her arms were crossed as she peered nearsightedly at the car.

Immediately, Nora opened the door and got out.

“Lita,” she said tearfully, her voice breaking, and the woman immediately held her arms out to her. Nora ran to her, burying her head in her grandmother’s chest. I stayed where I was, wanting to give them their moment.

Eventually Nora disengaged and turned, gesturing for me to come over. I exited the vehicle, smoothing down my shirt and cursing the fact that I hadn’t bothered to change. I had to hope there was no blood on my shoes.

I walked towards them, a smile on my face trying to look… regular. The perks of my job are that I never have to do the whole meeting the family schtick. So this was foreign territory to me.

“Lita, this is Alexei. He helped me so much in my search for Celia.”

Lita looked up at me and held out her hand to be shaken. She had paper-thin skin and bones, so I was careful to hold it very delicately as I shook it. She had no such qualms and squeezed my hand with a firm grip.

“Pleased to meet you. I take it that you have news.” Her eyes said she already knew what the news was especially since Celia was not with us.

“I found her Lita. I found Celia.”

She grasped her granddaughter’s hands with both of hers, looking intently into her eyes.

“And?”

Nora kind of shrunk, pursing her lips, swallowing, and shaking her head. I decided to save her the anguish of breaking the news. “We did find her alive, but she did not make it. I’m sorry, Mrs. Young.”

“It’s actually Mrs. Gonzalez,” she said absently, looking in the distance. “I knew it. Last night, I woke up, her name on my lips. I felt her presence, my lips tingled as if she’d just placed a kiss on them. Then she was gone.”

I had no idea what to say to that.

“Oh, Lita.” Nora grabbed her and hugged her tightly. I stood awkwardly to the side. I had experienced a lot of death in my life and attended many funerals, but I had somehow managed to avoid consoling any bereaved. I had no idea what to do.

Nora finally released her grandmother who grabbed her arm. “Let’s go inside,” Mrs. Gonzalez said, pulling Nora along. Nora turned to look at me with pleading eyes as I hesitated between going to the car or following them in. Clearly, she didn’t want me to go.

I followed them inside.

Ms. Gonzalez wanted to make us some tea, but Nora tried to persuade her to sit down. I figured that even I could whip up a cup of tea without bungling it too bad. “I can make it, if you like.”

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