She was a blur, she flew to me so fast. She threw her arms around my middle and stole my breath.
“You stayed!” Tatiana exclaimed joyfully.
“Of course I stayed.You’rehere,” I said to her quickly, giving her a hug.
“There was a fire!” she exclaimed.
I guided her onto the sofa next to me. “I heard! Was it scary?”
She nodded. “It was really scary. I ran away first. I smelled it. I looked for you in your room, but you weren’t there.”
“You looked for me? The first thing you do in a fire is get outside. Adults can take care of themselves.”
Tatiana nodded. “I hid, but Massi says I didn’t choose the best place.”
“Massi?” I repeated, a dull ache blooming in my chest. God, I missed him. I’d do anything to see his face right now.
“Massimo. He came for me, you know? When it was scary and hot everywhere. I don’t remember well. I was coughing so much. He carried me. I woke up in the ambulance, and guess what?”
“What?” I was aware of Sergei’s gaze on my face but didn’t want to turn and be reminded of where I was. I smoothed Tatiana’s hair back. It was clean and shiny for once, though I didn’t like the idea that someone here at this house had bathed her.
“Massi was still there. I opened my eyes, and he said... ‘Knock, knock.’”
My smile was unforced for the first time all day. “Hmm, and what did he say?”
She giggled. “He said, ‘I’m Colin.’ I said, ‘I’m Colin who?’ And he said... ‘I’m Colin an ambulance.’” She fell about in careless giggles.
I hugged her close.
The sounds of a game emanating from Rada’s phone caught her attention. She got up and hesitantly approached the young woman.
“Are you playing a game?”
Rada barely glanced up from the screen.
“Mm-hmm.”
“Can I play?”
“No.”
Tatiana stepped away, disappointed. I was just about to say something when Rada spoke again.
“You can watch me, though.”
Tatiana climbed up onto the sofa beside her, and Sergei passed me a glass with ice and a pale-amber liquid.
“Here. It’s a mocktail, give it a try.”
I held it with no intention of drinking.
“Now, that’s an interesting story Tatiana has... a man who saved her. A man I had no idea was working at Hallow Hall. A man whose story doesn’t add up.”
I met Sergei’s gaze unflinchingly. “What man?”
“Massimo, she said his name was.”
I shrugged. “Oh, right.”