Page 5 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

‘Riley Harker rarely leaves his Tower, but if Jules comes, maybe.’

‘Which he will. The more the noose tightens, the less Harker will want to let Julian out of his sight, I imagine.’

‘What are you scheming?’ he asks curiously.

The answer would hurt him.

Vasily would fight her to prevent it coming to fruition.

How she envies the simplicity of his goodness.

‘Many things, as always, my love. None to worry about.’

‘Everything will change soon, won’t it?’

Vasily is not asking her with fear or dread.

He’s not trying to be brave and face what’s coming with open eyes.

He is desperate for it to be true.

Blaire takes his hand in hers and gives it a brief squeeze.

‘It will.’

‘I trust you.’

‘And I you, darling. We will make what bargains we can, then.’

As they slip into the switch-out tunnels, Blaire’s mind is full of thoughts that never settle. One plan in particular must remain hidden from everyone, Vasily included. Like Céliane, he would stop her if he knew what she intended. But it must be done.

Some risks cannot be allowed to unfurl.

‘We always do,’ Vasily utters. Then, after a long pause, he says, ‘I think we should give him the journals.’

The journals that Vasily managed to snatch from the Estate before they fled together. The ones that Mikhail instructed be given to Vasily in the event of his death. They contain a vast history and a wealth of information.

Blaire has already read them front to back.

Hindsight is a shard of glass beneath a healed wound.

If only she had understood then what she does now. Until her final weeks at the Estate, her priorities were still aligned with her sister’s and narrowed to a single purpose: getting the children safely out.

Simpler, happier times.

‘They are your journals. It is your choice. Only take care at the Estate. They are getting smarter,’ Blaire says of the Resets. ‘Learning all the time.’

‘Learning from us,’ Vasily agrees.

The underground headquarters of the Moroz Front will soon appear through the second tunnel entrance. The whispers of the rain vanish.

She is disconnected once more.

Blaire takes a deep breath to steady herself.

Four more days.

‘Not only us,’ she whispers as the tunnel swallows them both.