Katie nodded, her eyebrows clearing of confusion as she looked back at Daniil. “Sure. We can do that.” She motioned for them to follow us, muttering, “It’ll give us a chance to talk.” She glanced at Daniil, who in turn smiled at her charmingly.
When we went through a side door and started progressing down the hallway toward the kitchen, Katie started walking slowly and Daniil did the same, Artur and I moving ahead. I blinked, glancing back, and Katie was talking quietly to Daniil, who stared down at her—respectfully—while she spoke, and nodded, saying something to her in return. Katie sighed and started speaking again, which Daniil shook his head and spoke again. And Katie glanced at me, looking somewhat calmer than what she had before.
I was guessing she was giving him the dressing down his kids had given me, and Daniil was amiable with her just as he had been with our parents. I wished I had that gift. I spoke more in fact. Bluntly. Not everyone appreciated that.
“Where to?” Artur asked, glancing to the left and right as we came to a fork in the hallway.
“This way,” I motioned to the left. “So, you like Katie, huh?”
He sucked in a harsh breath—yep, not everyone liked my blunt ways. Continuing to walk with a casual swagger slash stalk that all of Daniil’s kids seemed to have, he said quietly, “I don’t even know her.”
I smiled. He liked her.
The service was…a bit educational and a lot humorous. After Ember and Grigori had taken the girls to the children’s area, the whole group sat in the pew behind my family. Before service Mom must have rushed off to tell Dad they were all here, because he hadn’t looked surprised when he came out. It fact, he welcomed them specifically. His sermon was about forgiving yourself and your past, asking forgiveness to God, and moving on to a brighter future of love and happiness through God’s will.
I was pretty sure he had made two sermons available for today. One for if Daniil attended, and another if he didn’t, because this sermon was perfectly tailored for those with dark pasts. It hit home pretty hard for myself. What I had been thinking of for a full week. The things I had done in my past work history. Never showing any type of mercy. Always striving for the truth, and then putting it in print no matter the cost to anyone else. Letting go of how horrid I had been was a hard thing to do, and I wasn’t sure I could do it so easily. I felt like I had a lot of penances to do, and I wasn’t honestly sure I could change my ways so easily…because I truly enjoyed it. I would have to think more on it and come up with a middle ground, or I was going to start messing up work wise.
Right about the time I had figured that out, there was a light snore behind me. After covertly glancing back—as much as I could—I saw Zane was asleep, right along with Grigori. Ember was sitting between them. She elbowed both of them hard, waking them with a jolt. And honestly, most of their group looked pained to be sitting there, not hiding their emotions very well.
It tickled me from my own sour musings; especially since I knew they would have to keep coming back every Sunday if Daniil had anything to say about it...and they knew it, too.
After the service had concluded, we went into the large dining and rec room area where folding picnic tables had been placed and a buffet style lunch set up with all of the goodies brought in for the potluck. And I was in hog heaven. All of the comfort foods of my past were on display, and I filled my plate to the brim, and then made my way next to a few of my cousins, since I couldn’t make it too obvious Daniil and I was together.
“So, who are the newbies?” my cousin Mary asked. She was nineteen and my Aunt Ella’s daughter. She also had strawberry blonde hair like me, but hers was long and naturally curly—in the pretty way. Not inhuman hair. Just very normal. She pushed her pink glasses up on her nose, brown eyes staring at Daniil and crew as they loaded their plates. She reminded me of a butterfly today with wisps of different material that looked a lot like scarves mismatched together to make a dress. She was the artist of the family now that Katie no longer danced. An introvert and weird were what others sometimes called her, but she was sweet and smart, and I loved her despite her oddities.
Katie bit into some macaroni. “The Russian Mafia and some employees from Lion Security.”
“Oh,” Mary stated calmly, her gaze even more curious and not at all scared like most would be. “That part time job I got a month ago is right under Lion Security. I ride the elevator with some of them.”
Surprised that she had gotten a normal job, I asked, “Who are you working for?” My Aunt Ella paid for most of Mary’s expenses right now, so I didn’t think she needed cash.
“Jericho Advertising.” Mary shrugged. “I’m just a filing clerk. But it’s helping pay for some of my school tuition since I didn’t get a full grant.”
Katie and I nodded, stunned. I couldn’t imagine Mary…well, keeping anything organized much less a busy advertising agency’s workload. Her small apartment always looked like a tornado went through it.
She grinned, glancing at us. “I’ve color coded everything in tie-dye. My boss loves it.”
Tie-dyeing and color coding didn’t really go together in my opinion, but I lost track of that thought when Grigori, Ember, Nikki, and Beth sat down at the end of our table with Daniil sitting next to his oldest directly across from us, the rest quickly following. Daniil glanced at my plate, and his eyes hooded, but a small smile lifted his lips. Scanning his plate, I realized I had twice as much as he did…or anyone else at the table. And pathetically, I had already eaten some off it, so that was really saying something.
Katie didn’t miss the interaction, and she stared at my plate, really taking it in for the first time, and she started chuckling…which she quickly cut off when Artur sat next to his dad. She and he both went oddly mute. Hell, they both were interested in each other.
Zane sat across from Mary, and she leaned forward, her head cocked. “You work at Lion Security, don’t you?”
Zane actually appeared a little startled since he had been ready to bite into his roast beef sandwich, but he politely put it down, looking up at her. Mary and I have the same tendency to get glued on a subject when our minds were on something. It was like all we saw was what in front of us. A one-track mind, my mom usually said. Zane assessed her, nodding. “Yes. I do.”
Mary smiled, nodding back. “I think I’ve seen you in the building. I work for Jericho Advertising. It’s right under your office.” She nodded down the table where Grigori and Ember sat. “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them, too.”
Mary also has a tendency to make people feel welcomed—again, a trait I wished I had, and Zane and she started up a conversation about a ‘wonderfully adorable’ café across the street where Mary had eaten lunch at. Zane actually laughed a few times, all of us staring as they hit it off instantly, quickly becoming fast friends. An odd duo to say the least. Zane had to be in his early thirties and was harsh and scary looking—still extremely handsome—while my cousin was still in her teens—almost out, and looked innocent of ever doing any wrong even though Lord knew she wasn’t so innocent.
I think we all blinked at their easy interaction.
Mary pushed her glasses up on her nose, grinning like the evil imp she could be. “You were sleeping in service today.”
Zane choked on his drink. “Hopefully, the preacher didn’t see.”
“Uncle James wouldn’t care…too much.”
Everyone’s attention went to her hair.
