As Vladim moved to turn the locks, I heard Genya whisper. "You definitely owe me a kiss after all this, Don't think I won't hold you to it."
I laughed lightly. "We'll see."
"There is no seeing, you will, if I have to be the one to do it then so be...
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!smut-ish!
I WAS ON MY KNEES WHEN I CAME BACK TO MYSELF, my hands clutching the windowsill, my forehead pressed against the wooden slats of the boarding wall. Outside, I could hear the faint jingle of prayer bells. Inside, there was no sound but the hitch of my breath, the rasp of my sobs as the whip continued to fall, and I bent my back and wept. That was where they found me.
I didn't hear the door open, or their steps as they approached. I just felt gentle hands take hold of me. Genya sat me down on the edge of the bed, and Tamar settled beside me. Nadia took a comb to my hair, carefully working through the tangles. Genya washed my face, then my hands, then my tangles. Whispering sweet nothings into my ringing ears.
We sat there, saying nothing, all of them clustered around me.
"He has the students," I said flatly. "Twenty-three children. He killed the teachers. And Botkin." And the woman hanging in the tree. "Genya—"
"I know," said Genya softly. "We heard you screaming it."
I think some part of me expected blame, recrimination— some part of her to hate me. But all she did was kiss my forehead and whisper "I love you" into my ear. Tamar squeezed my hand.
This wasn't just comfort though. They were leaning on me— as I was leaning on them— for strength. I have lived a long life, rich in grief. Had the Darkling had friends like this? People whom he'd loved, who had fought for him, cared for him, and made him laugh? People who had become little more than sacrifices to a dream that outlived them?
"How long do we have?" Tamar asked.
"Five days."
"This must mean something, it has too," Nadia said. "If Genya..." she paused and glanced at me, I nodded for her to continue. "Is an amplifier like the Darkling says, then that must also mean.."
"Mal is too." Tamar finished.
"But why?" I asked shakily.
"Didn't Baghra say that she killed her sister?" asked Genya.
I nodded.
"It must be some sort of test then..." she paused. "Irrationality but it does make sense. She lashed out of anger because she lost something."
"But what does that have to do with you being an amplifier?" asked Tamar.
"You lose something that means something to you," Genya said. Her eyes found mine, "something you love."
