“Let’s go for a walk.”
I nod and take it, letting her lead me into the hallway. I can feel Maksim andPapi’seyes on us as we pass, but neither says a word.
“I’ve shared a lot of my life with you through the years. And like you said, you know me, know who I am. No sugar-coated truths.” She pauses, eyes on the hallway floor, before meeting mine again. “I’ve done a lot of bad shit, Vali. Seen worse. Come across monsters, the worst this world has to offer…and maybe, I’m one of them.”
I let her words sink in. I don’t refute them because she’s right. But I’m not sure how all this relates to the issue at hand.
“You know I don’t care about any of that,” I say, hooking her elbow and leaning my head on her shoulder.
“I know.”
I stop just outside Uncle Silas’s office, but she doesn’t hesitate and keeps walking. I follow her inside. Intrigued. She moves with purpose, rounding his massive desk and crouching beside it.
Before I can ask what she’s doing, there’s a faint beep, and the heavy piece of furniture shudders, shifting to the side. A hidden seam splits open near the floor, revealing a trap door like something out of a movie.
Eight-year-old me would’ve killed to know about this little secret hiding spot.
Then again, I should’ve guessed. My parents have their own version of this. I only found out about it years later.
The air grows cool as the trap door slides open. Without waiting for her to ask, I’m already on the steps, my hand smoothing along a concrete wall as I descend. Lights flicker to life one by one with each step, guiding us down a narrow corridor that ends at a thick metal door.
“Go ahead,” she says, nodding toward the panel.
“Me?”
Her chuckle is soft. "It’s just you and me here, sweetheart.”
I press my palm against the smooth black plate, and a thin green light sweeps across it, chiming a breath later.
“How could I open this thing? I’ve never?—”
She tugs me forward and pushes the door open. “You’ve been leaving little handprints in my home since before you could walk, Vali. And you’re one of the few people I trust to have access to this place.”
Then she turns, a wall of weapons as her backdrop, stretching from floor to ceiling, and all the way around.
Aunt Leni’s eyes glint with something between fragile and fierce. A look so uniquely hers.
“And the only person I’ll ever want as the keeper of my son’s heart.”
I rush forward, throwing my arms around her and letting my tears fall freely. My biggest worry was always how my father would deal with Maksim and me as a couple. But Aunt Leni—if there was anyone whose blessing I truly wanted, it was hers. I’ve admired her my whole life and spent nearly as much time in this house as I did in my own.
She already gave me her approval that night, but standing here now, in this room, hearing her tell me how much she loves and trusts me, it undoes me completely.
“Thank you,” I murmur. “That means everything.”
She smiles, blinking back tears. “I didn’t bring you down here to cry.”
“I’m sorry,” I say with a shaky laugh, and look up at her. “I love him, Aunt Leni. I think…I think I was always meant to. Is that crazy?”
With a watery smile, she cups my face and shakes her head, her thumbs brushing away what’s left of my tears.
“Absolutely not. This world is dark and ugly, but even in the chaos, we all find a light that’s meant to be ours.”
“I haven’t told him yet. I’m afraid.”
“I know you have your reasons,” she says softly. “You’ll say those words when the time’s right. Just as he will.”
She presses a kiss to my forehead and crosses the room to a shelf in the corner. Two fingers rest on a hidden plate, and a faint hiss follows when a slim panel slides open.
