“Are you sure about that?” Vera gestured around her. “This looks like being locked up to me.”
Tension filled me, a heavy weight that didn’t seem to move from my chest. I knew what I needed to ask but felt my courage failing me. But I needed to know, for Tatiana’s sake as well as my own.
“Sergei told me he doesn’t know about all the things that go onat Hallow Hall. Like what happened to Mira.” I watched Vera carefully. “Is that true?”
Vera sighed and sat on the edge of my bed. I had to fight my instincts not to push her off. She eyed me up and down again, her expression scathing.
“What does your angel inside your head tell you?” she mocked.
Right. Of course Sergei was involved. He was profiting off it all. I’d long expected that the company paying the bills for Hallow Hall had been the one running the trafficking operation. Not to mention the conversation I’d overheard in the hallway between Benedict and Sergei, before Benedict had met his untimely demise thanks to Massimo.
“It tells me... that Sergei and everyone associated with Hallow Hall are sinners. And they need to pay,” I said evenly, turning to grip the sideboard sitting just under the window. I needed that hard surface to hold me up. To give me strength for what needed to be done.
“Sinners? People like you aren’t qualified to call me a sinner,” Vera sneered, and got to her feet. “Anyway, I’ve wasted enough time here with you. I have Tatiana to mold in my image. I don’t believe in sparing the rod when rearing a child. I’ll finally get to teach that little brat how to act.”
“No, I don’t think that you will.”
I sensed Vera moving closer in an attempt to hear me. She’d come here for a purpose, and she wanted to gloat and get my reaction. After all our time together in Hallow Hall, it was personal to her.
“I don’t think you’ll be around to teach her a single thing,” I murmured, and then swung around.
The Bible in my hand was a hardback and thick. I put everything into that spin. All the fear and disappointment and regret ofthree years of imprisonment. I slammed the book into the side of Vera’s face, and she spun around with the impact.
She went down hard, and I was already standing over her. I grabbed her by the hair as she flailed around on the floor and hefted the book again, beating her face with the spine, again and again, until blood dripped onto the carpet. Her nose smashed in, and then her eye.
She let out a gurgling noise. I dropped her bloody head and staggered back, panting. I could barely breathe. The sudden burst of exertion and the anger, thick and suffocating, made my heart pound and my head feel light.
She rolled away from me on the floor, curling in to protect herself. But there was no protection from the karma she had earned.
I drew my foot back and kicked her in her middle once, and then twice. All the times she’d maliciously dragged me to my BS therapy sessions to be abused and exploited. All the times she’d locked me in solitary. All the times she’d smiled when a patient begged her for help, before sending them away. All the times she’s sniped at Tatiana just for being a sweet little girl and punished her for no reason at all.
“The angel in my head doesn’t exist, Sister, there was only ever me.” I sighed and crouched near her head.
Her face was a bloody mask. I was shocked and intrigued at the same time. After years of inaction, years of torment and feeling powerless, I felt free.
“You reap what you sow. You are going to understand that tonight... and so is Sergei.”
She gaped blearily at me. “You didn’t come here to let your father take care of you?”
I laughed. It was funny, really. I shook my head.
“That man isn’t anyone to me. I don’t know him... But I knowwhat he’s done. I came here for Tatiana, and thanks to you, I’ll be going to get her now.” I fished the set of keys out of Vera’s pocket and dangled them in the air before her. “Thank you for your help, Sister.” I straightened up and stepped back. A quick check in the mirror showed me I was a little bloodied, but nothing too drastic. I made for the door, unlocking it and listening carefully before opening it.
The hallway was empty. I seemed to be in one of the turrets, since there was a perilous, winding staircase to my room that didn’t go anywhere else. Sergei gets his daughter home and locks her in the tower. That seemed on-brand for him.
I reached the top of the stairs and peered down. It was quiet below, and I couldn’t see anyone moving.
I’d just taken the first step when a rough grunt hit my ears. I twisted in time to see Vera barreling toward me.
“You don’t get to win!” she roared at me, or tried to, through a mouthful of crushed teeth.
I didn’t stop to think, I just acted. She went for my middle, and I spun around, throwing myself against the wall. She brushed past me, her momentum carrying her toward the steep stairs. Only one of her hands reached out and snagged my sweater, threatening to pull me with her.
We both came to a stop. I was pressed to the wall, bracing both our weights. She hung by that handful of fabric.
Her eyes met mine, and I saw her fear, and she must have seen my resolve, because her lip trembled and she shook her head slightly.
“Enjoy hell,” I whispered, slowly prying her hand from my dress.