The Russian Cage by Charlaine Harris

Author:Charlaine Harris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press
Published: 2021-02-23T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I didn’t sleep long enough, but I slept heavily. You would have thought I’d wiped my thinking slate clean during the night, but the first thing on my mind was how ignorant Tsar Alexei must be. His great-uncle, the man who’d tried to kill Alexei to supplant him, was the man in charge of state security. How’s that for stupid? Alexei ruled a chunk of the former America, but he didn’t seem to have a clue how to ensure his own safety and that of his wife and child. Someone needed to take him in hand.

As I dressed, I realized I should be counting my blessings. Since no one had shown up to arrest me in the night, Veronika and the girls must have convinced the police no one else had been at their house.

The minute I thought this, there was a knock on my door.

I stuffed my shirt into my jeans and answered it.

Both Peter and Felix barged in without asking, steam practically coming out of their noses. Peter’s mom had called him lest he hear the news from someone else, and Peter had called Felix, who had had to get a trolley to reach the hotel, whereupon he’d seen his own car parked outside. The moment I shut the door behind them, they launched right into telling me the official story, yackety yackety yack. All horrified and angry that neither of them had been there to defend the women.

I sat on the bed to pull on my socks and boots and let them get it out of their systems. I didn’t even try to get a word in edgewise.

When they ran down, I said, “I don’t know why you’re mad. I killed Brightwood and Natalya. They were holding your mother and your sisters hostage. They were scared, and they were humiliated, but they’re okay, and they’re tough women. They’re going to be fine.” I was pretty sure I was right. Maybe I only wanted that to be true? No. I was right.

“My mother and my sisters were abused. By an air grigori!” Peter said, so angry his jaw looked like iron. “From Eli’s own guild!” He hadn’t taken in anything I said.

“I know. I was there. I killed him.”

And Peter took a deep, shuddering breath. The fire died out in Felix’s eyes. All the heat left the two men. I still couldn’t figure out why they’d decided to bring all this anger to me, but at least their brains were cooling off.

“Thanks,” Felix said. He still sounded stiff. “Thank you, Lizbeth Rose.”

“You’re welcome, Felix.” If Felix didn’t watch out, he might end up thinking I was worth the air I was breathing.

“So the tsarina tells me that Grand Duke Alexander is in charge of security,” I went on, when neither of them seemed to have anything to add. “And since he’s the one who wants to replace Alexei, I think that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard. The grand duke’s the one who let Brightwood go. Don’t

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