“What’s going on? What have I missed?” Michael comes in with Dmitri and Roman and the room’s getting crowded but I don’t think Wallace would mind. I go over Dr. Greenwood’s findings again and Michael pulls a flask from his jacket, taking a huge gulp.
“Hey, where’s that been?” Dmitri says, grabbing for it. “Don’t drink it all, you selfishzasranets,you asshole!”
“I bow to all of you,” Michael says. “You managed to complete the mission in utter silence. There wasn’t a single sound until Wallace and Xavier broke through the banister and the chandelier came crashing down.”
“Right on top of that fucking bastard.” I smile, remembering his expression. I shouldn’t be so happy. I should be shocked, and disgusted.
But I’m not.
“Ooo, you owe so much money to the swear jar,” Morgan cackles. “So help me picture this. How did Wallace come through the window?”
“There were two guards on the third floor, positioned on either side of the door.” Michael explains. “They would have seen us. Based on their position, there was no way we could have taken them down silently.”
“Wallace crawled up the brick?” I wheeze. “On the outside of thehouse?”
“There wasn’t much choice,” Michael says. “He took off his boots so he could find the cracks in the brick. We used to rock climb in the Cairngorms Mountains when we were teenagers.”
“Aye, I remember that.” Kai reaches out for Michael’s flask, still making the rounds. “Not quite as high stakes as this, but a toast to life experience.” He drinks and passes the flask to Logan.
“Now it’s your turn,” Morgan points to me. “What happened then?”
I take Wallace’s bruised hand and kiss his palm. “Kholodov, he had me on the bed, pinned down.”
Morgan makes a low, pained sound.
“Murder Mittens charged out from under the bed and leaped on his head like a mountain lion.”
MM, who is sitting on Wallace’s left side - against the strong recommendations of the medical staff - haughtily licks her paw.
“Wallaceexplodedinto the room, he charged at Kholodov. They crashed through the door and against the banister.”
“I was busy killing the guards,” Michael says apologetically. “It slowed me down. You stabbed Kholodov, aye? I saw your arm go up.”
“I cut his throat.” I kiss Wallace’s hand again. “He fell.”
“Where’s Russo now?” Morgan asks. “I can’t decide if I want to poison her or give her a tip.”
“Alec went into Wallace’s accounts and sent herthe other twenty-five million,” I say, not sure if I want to kill her or thank her, either. “She could be anywhere by now.”
Dr. Greenwood finally loses his temper as all the MacTavishes and Morozovs get louder - how much booze can one flask hold? Who am I kidding, all these idiots are armed with a flask. Or two. The poor doc orders them all to leave.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Morgan puts her booted feet up on the couch, stretching luxuriously like her Familiars would.
We turn off most of the lights in the family area, and all the monitors surrounding Wallace give off a vaguely eerie glow.
“Do you know how Wallace found you so fast?”
“I thought Russo tipped him off?” I frown.
“She did, but he had you pinpointed immediately.” She leans over, lightly tapping my necklace. “The Triquetra. The sneaky little bastard put a tracking chip in it because he knew you’d never take it off. He must have hovered over you like a ghoul until you fell asleep one night so he could insert it. I have to respect that level of mendacity.”
“It’s not mendacity.” A groggy voice says, “That’s lying. Inserting the chip without her knowledge was clandestine.”
His beautiful amber eyes are open, and he smilestiredly. “Hello, wife.”
I hold his face in my hands, crying and kissing him as Murder Mittens looks disgusted with both of us.
Once he’s fully conscious and caught up on everything, Wallace insists on walking into his father’s room because he’s just that infuriating.
