Page 96 of Inked in Devotion

I trusted that witch.

I replayed every interaction I had with her. The subtle gaslighting? She made sure not to be too obvious, but I remembered my irritation when Theo had delivered the invitations. That had been before I started ingesting the tea again, and it gave me confidence that my erratic behavior was because of the psychosis-inducing substances.

“I don’t think Theo and Marena are working together,” I said.

“Honestly, I don’t see that either,” Lucy said. “I trust my instincts with him. He’s a shrewd businessman, but he wouldn’t harm family.”

“His ex-wife says otherwise,” Kolya said.

“I’m just eliminating the possibility that he is working with Marena,” I said. “I remembered that day Theo handed me the invitation to the wedding. Marena dropped a hint that it wasn’t because I was important to him, but it made good publicity by going to the shelter with Gage.”

“Ohh.” Lucy’s eyes widened. “She’s a sneaky one.”

“I know. I don’t know why Dora and I hadn’t picked up on it sooner.”

“This fucking bugs the hell out of me,” Kolya said. “She’s been doing the job for a while, and with the level she pulled this off, she must have had psychological training too. Which means we’re not dealing with a ragtag kidnapping ring.”

Lucy nodded. “Ilya is doing some digging for me. We couldn’t verify any information beyond five years.”

“Yeah, Ilya told me,” Kolya muttered. “He’s going to actually fly out and check school records from the high school in Gainesville, Texas. They’re easier to gain access to.”

Realization dawned on me. “The yearbook.”

“Yep,” Lucy said. “They might have altered online information, but the paper archives would take more elaborate scheming.”

“Wait, weren’t you supposed to tell me something?” I asked Kolya. “Sorry for the sidetrack.”

“No, that’s fine.” Kolya sat on the coffee table so he was facing me. The action itself made me wary and gave me another dose of anxiety.

“What?” I asked. “Just tell me.”

“That night of the storm when your mother thought assassins were after you?”

By the look on Kolya’s face, I could already discern the truth. “She was right,” I croaked, and there was no question in my tone.

He nodded. “Yes. And I was there.”

“What?” I whispered. Even when I was sitting, a wave of dizziness ran through me and I felt like falling.

“I wasn’t the assassin,” he added urgently when he decoded the conclusion in my head.

“Shit.” A whoosh of relief escaped me, but it left my limbs rubbery and my lips tingling with the return of blood to my head. “You should have led with that, Kolya.” My voice had risen thinly. Sebastian stirred.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I was there. Duncan tipped off Ivan, and Ivan directed me to intervene.”

“So you did?” Flashes of that night returned. My mom yelling, cursing Esther for not leaving us alone.

“It was Esther,” I whispered.

Kolya nodded. “Yes. She knew about the Vozhokari assassins, and there is a boatload of information about how she knew about them. Two Vozhokari assassins on motorcycles. I killed one; the other crashed into a quarry and the bike exploded but there was no body.”

“You were there.” I was still chewing over this information in disbelief. How my connection to Kolya spanned years without being aware of it.

“I was.” His jaw clenched. He regarded me for a beat or two. “There’s something else I need to come clean about.”

“Wow, is this true confessions time?” Lucy teased. “Should I be here? Is it something I already know?”

“Probably not. And it has to do with Anya,” Kolya told Lucy.