Page 57 of Dancing for the Devil

I sighed in defeat. “What do you want?”

She ran a hand down my arm, and she dropped her playful demeanor. “I want to help you,” she said. “I loved her too, you know. I mean… we might not have been serious, or exclusive, but she meant something to me, and I want to know what happened to her as much as you do. Well… maybe notquiteas much as you do, but you understand.”

She moved away from me, going to sit on Alexei’s desk and crossing her long legs. She stared expectantly at me, but I was still at a loss for words. “You… knew Celia?” I said quietly.

She nodded. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

“And you were like… together?”

“Yeah. I mean, no. Not really. We fucked around, we talked, she was a friend as well as a lover.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t even know she...”

“Well… she wanted your approval. Maybe she thought you wouldn’t—”

“I would never have—” I spat fiercely before she stopped me with a raised hand.

“Hey, I know. I was just speculating. We lie the hardest to the ones whose opinion matters to us.”

“Does your brother know?”

She shrugged. “Not really. He doesn’t ask. I don’t tell.”

“I wish she’d told me,” I said miserably.

“What difference would it have made?” She looked genuinely curious.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. It might have brought us closer together.”

“And she may not have disappeared?”

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“Oh, if only it were that easy to save our loved ones from themselves.”

I frowned at her. “What are you saying?”

Katya sighed, shrugging with studied nonchalance. “People are who they are. You can’t really save anyone Nora…” She gave me a sharp look with those piercing eyes. “Except yourself. You should get out before someone finds out what you’re up to.”

“And by someone, you mean your brother?”

“Yes.”

I looked away. I couldn’t trust this woman whether she claimed to have been Celia’s friend or not. This whole thing could be a trick. Katya hopped off the table and came up to me, standing flush against me and cupping my face in her hands. Her blue eyes peered into mine, and I felt like a fly, caught in a spider’s web.

“You’re not built for this life, Nora. Cece knew it, I can see it. I think even my brother can see that. You’re out of your depth. And if my brother finds out you’re lying to him…” She shook her head.

“Do you know what he does?” I asked, mostly out of curiosity.

“Of course. Doyou?”

I just blinked at her. “Not really. Not the details. But I know what he is.”

“So, you know why you should quit while you’re ahead.”

“She’s my sister.”

Katya let go of my jaw with a sigh. She paced around the desk. “What if I offered to find out what I could? Would you get out?”

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