Andrei
“We will be there in a couple hours, sir,” Hubert said, grinning up at me from under his mustache. “How is the girl? Awake? Did you untie her yet?”
“Yes, awake and untied, at my own peril. She’s furious with me for saving her,” I said. “But what can you do? Once she takes a shower and gets some rest, I expect she’ll be fine.” I gripped his shoulder. “Thank you, Hub.” I nodded at the co-pilot, small and dark Imogen. “Imogen.”
“As always, it is my honor, Mr. Z,” Hubert replied.
Imogen rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, what else is new?”
Leaving the cockpit, I groaned internally. The last thing I wanted was to have Faye glaring at me for another two hours. Perhaps I could have Ulma keep an eye on her and I’d just sleep.
Walking back to the seats, I expected to meet Faye’s brown eyes and see them filled with a reproachful, suspicious death glare. One that the seemed to rip apart my very soul. It was so infuriating she thought I, Andrei Zima of all shifters, could be a traitor.
What I hadn’t expected was to find Faye curled up in the corner of the couch, huddled like a lost cat, with low sobs choking out of her. The sound of it brought an ache to my own throat.
Idiot, I chided myself. The picture was too much. She was already overwrought.
For a second, I hesitated, wondering if I should get Ulma. Then, taking a deep breath, I awkwardly sat down next to her and patted her back.
She flinched and twisted away, swollen eyes squinting at me. Without thinking, I moved in closer and said, “It kills me that you do not trust me, Faye. I would do anything for you.”
A hard look came over her face as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her arm. “Why?”
I gaped at her for a moment. “Roy, of course,” I finally spluttered.
That was it, of course.
Right?
Her eyes went to the table, where my phone sat and the screen had gone dark. “He looks well.” Faye’s chest was rising and falling rapidly. “Is he okay?”
My mind flashed to the ugly fight we’d had in Boston, Soraya intervening and placing her hands on Roy’s face. You can’t blame Andrei for this…
“He has Kesari,” I said after a beat.
“That didn’t answer my question,” Faye replied and her hair fell into her eyes. My fingers twitched with a sudden longing to brush it back. “He’s hurting, isn’t he?”
“Faye, I am not sure what you want me to tell you,” I said. “I show you a picture and you go to pieces. That was not my intention…”
“I miss them,” she said, her eyes closing. “They’re my family.”
An overwhelming urge to hold her came over me and I leaned back, clenching my hands. “They miss you too,” I said in a low voice. “Everyone does. Desperately.”
Even I have missed you and I had never met you, I thought.
“Oh, God,” Faye whispered, her head falling.
“Faye, you need to get a grip,” I heard myself say in a crisper tone, sounding like my grandfather. “I understand you’re tired and weary. As am I. But once you eat and shower, you will feel better. Stronger. And then we can figure out how to get you home.”
I went to move away, when a hand gripped my wrist and Faye said, “Andrei.”
My name in her voice made me break out in a cold sweat and I swallowed hard as I met her eyes. Good God, what the hell was going on with me lately? Was I coming down with something?
“Rasoir said if I returned home – if I even tried to get a message to them about what I saw or that I’m alive…” Her lips trembled. “The TLO would go after them.”
“They have no idea you left with me,” I said, thinking rapidly. Hm, that changed things. Damn, perhaps it was a good thing I hadn’t gotten through to Mirois. “Thank you for telling me that – it’s alright. We can work with this…” Giving into a sudden instinct, I placed a hand over Faye’s and squeezed. “I will handle this. No one will get hurt. I promise.”
I expected Faye to give me a contemptuous look but instead, she smiled. My breath caught.
“Roy said you made a big deal about promises,” she said in a light voice.
“That little bastard,” I said, glancing away and shaking my head. “Making me sound like a sentimental fool instead of the man among men I am.”
“Andrei,” Faye said again, sounding amused and this time a hot spike of nerves shot through my veins. My palm was becoming sweaty and I pulled away from her hand. “Thank you.”
I looked over at her, aware of my heart pumping away in my chest. “Finally believe me, eh?”
She inclined her head. “I do.”
“Not just saying that to make me drop my guard?” I asked, giving her a dubious look.
Faye let me go and swatted my shoulder. “Is there a single Zima who isn’t annoying?”
I thought about it. “Maybe Tulila, but she can’t talk yet. She’s my new niece,” I said, unable to keep a note of pride out of my voice. An odd look flickered in Faye’s eyes. “I’ll show you pictures later. And I might have more pictures of the twins and Roy if you can promise not to blubber over them. That phone can only be submerged thirty feet, you know."
To my relief, Faye rolled her eyes and sat back, giving her attention back to her breakfast. I lingered for a moment, watching her and she looked up. “What is it?”
Shaking my head, I said, “Uh, the shower is back through there. Ulma can help you. And I brought you clothes and wigs, to help you blend in. Got everything.”
Christ, I was almost blabbering at this point. Maybe a vodka for lunch was not the way to go.
“I look that bad, huh?” Faye asked, tossing her hair and making a face.
“No,” I said quickly. “Not at all.” She shot me a coy smile and I shook my head. “I can see why you and Soraya are best friends.”
At that, she laughed. “She has a habit of rubbing off on you.”
I nodded and walked into the back. Ulma was there, reading something and she gave me a puzzled look as I came in, grabbing a coffee from the counter.
“I could have got you that, Andrei,” she said reproachfully in Russian.
“No, no, I wanted to get it myself,” I said. “Needed some space.”
“You sound a bit flustered,” Ulma observed and I winced.
“Me? Never,” I said.
“Boy, I have known you too long for you to fib to me with that innocent face of yours,” Ulma said. Only Ulma would call my face innocent. “That lovely girl has bewitched you.”
I let out a strangled sound and stared at her. “Ulma, beautiful Ulma. No.”
“Fight all you want, Zima men always do and that only makes it worse,” she commented. “Look at you, I’ve never seen you like this. It is about damn time. She’s a fine woman.”
I was spluttering now. “Ulma, no, you’ve got it all wrong, it’s nothing–”
“Where should I put this?” asked a voice from next to me and I jumped. Faye was there and holding up her plate, looking at us both with round, curious eyes. “Sorry to bother you.”
“It’s fine,” I said in Russian, then shook my head.”
“Here,” Ulma said in her heavy accented English, shooting me a smirk. “I vill take that, dear. Oh, you barely ate. Not to your liking?”
“No, no, I tried,” Faye said with a sigh. “Sorry, my stomach is jumpy.”
“Poor thing,” Ulma clucked as she stood up. “Why don’t you take a hot shower? Hub says ve shouldn’t hit any turbulence for a bit. And I vill make you some nice ginger tea, yes?”
“Alright, thank you,” Faye said softly, twisting her hands.
Ulma bustled forward taking the dish and chuckling to herself. “Nothing,” she said in Russian to me. “Hmph, the lies the Zima men will tell themselves.”
“I’m not lying,” I replied in Russian, trying to laugh and grimacing instead. Faye was giving me a curious look and I smiled at her.
“You hide your accent well,” she commented.
“Only ven I need to,” I said, exaggerating it and she gave me a small smile.
“Come along, dear,” Ulma said, putting an arm around Faye and leading her away. “Andrei, shoo. We don’t need you back here peeking.”
“I would never!” I burst out and Ulma winked at me.
“He is very frazzled this morning, poor boy,” she said to Faye as they went through another door. “I can’t understand it. He is not usually like this, don’t hold it against him.”
“Oh my God, Ulma,” I muttered to myself.
She’s out of her mind, I thought and I made a mental note to tell Faye as much. Although, as I made my way into the narrow bedroom area of the plane, I couldn’t help but wonder why now every time Faye’s eyes landed on me I wanted to smile.