Adeline tosses her hair back, shrugging. This displeases her father, who must be telling his daughters they should stay put.
“This is not the time for an army,” Yelena tells Dimitri.
The man still has his phone to his ear. “We are facing a Spider!”
“One man.” Yelena opens a gun safe, pulling out a weapon.
“Just the one. . .” Elijah murmurs, watching his stepmother cautiously.
“Despite what many men think, excess is not always a strategy worth pursuing,” Yelena says.
“Of course I’m going,” Max tells his mother.
“You have a child,” she replies. Despite her calm demeanor, she speaks tightly.
Max’s scowl deepens. “Russet asked me to help. So I’m helping.” What he means is he’s not letting his mother meet the remaining Spider without him.
Fair enough, considering his brothers are also here.
We’re outside the city, the forest thick and the air hushed. I slam the door shut, standing beside Tris as we watch the family dynamic.
“Your job is to protect your?—”
Max cuts his mother off. “I know the expectations of this life, Mother. We don’t want to be late.”
Yelena lets out a deep breath.
“You know Elijah is married, right?” Max calls over his shoulder.
“Really?” Elijah lopes after his brother. He’s in a three-piece suit, but it’d be more unusual to see him frolicking through the forest in anything else.
“Excuse me?” Boris asks. He’s had his work cut out for him the past hour, fighting with Ads and Lennie to stay back. His efforts have been rewarded with a psychotic son-in-law.
“I guess Len didn’t like the cathedral?” I say to Tristan.
He holds my hand for a second, squeezing before dropping it, ever the professional. “I don't think a big wedding was ever on the cards.”
It’s so quiet I think I imagine the snort coming from Yelena. For a split second she wears an expression oddly similar to one I’ve seen on her stepson’s.I could have told you that.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Tristan snaps. Ian rounds one of the parked SUVs, blending into our small group.
He drops a used butt, and before my boyfriend can complain about fire safety, Ian’s boot ensures the cigarette won’t cause any problems.
“What?” He shrugs. “I needed a smoke.”
I push forward until I’m walking beside Yelena, leavingTristan to deal with Ian. Max falls back, reluctantly falling into line with his dad and brothers. They murmur in Russian.
A tree branch snaps, and feet pound into the soft ground, breaking up the peace. “What happened in Kyiv?” Dimitri asks for the thirtieth time.
I’ve always liked Dimitri. He’s a good shot and keeps his cool. He is not suited to the forest, tripping over a rock for the third time. I think if Boris wasn’t scowling at the back of Elijah’s head, he’d find his friend’s struggles amusing.
“No, I want all the details,” Dimitri says when Yelena opens her mouth. Like he knows she’s about to give some watered-down version.
I suppose it’d be hard to relive that memory. I’ve only let myself think about the tarmac a few times, and each time, my chest has squeezed tight as the adrenaline and fear course over me again.
Dimitri is a man who has always appreciated the nitty-gritty details. It’s why he’s so good at his job.
“Now is hardly the time,” Max instructs his uncle. Either because he’s trying to protect his mother or because we’ve reached a clearing.
