I burst out laughing, the relief ripping out of my throat. I stood in the forest, my laughter bouncing around between the trees. Viktor smiled, but he looked unsure.
Axel walked to us. He had a split lip and an eye already turning black, but he looked like he was in a good mood. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m not sure,” Viktor said.
I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to stop giggling, but I just couldn’t help myself. I think I was in shock.
“This is a hell of a mess to clean up,” Axel commented, looking around.
Viktor nodded. “I’ll make a call.”
“It would be good if the police aren't involved,” Axel said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
I glanced at him. He was running from something, too. He and Viktor fought in a way that wasn’t normal for civilians without a dark past. But that didn’t explain who he was going to call.
“Who are you calling/”
“I know people who deal with this sort of clean up discreetly.”
I started trembling. My adrenaline had run out. I felt cold, so I pressed my hand against my forehead and closed my eyes. His statement didn’t make me feel better.
“What’s wrong?” Viktor asked, tuned into my needs and concerned.
“When this is over, I want your whole story,” I told him, my breath more panting than breathing. I saw stars for a second. “I feel faint,” I said in a breathy voice.
“She’s in shock,” Axel said.
“I’m not in shock, just freaking out,” I retorted. My head had cleared, and I stared into Viktor’s eyes. “The whole story. The truth. Or I’m gone.”
“You deserve it and you’ll have it,” he promised, and I nodded. “I think it’s time we go home.” He glanced at Axel. “I’ll have this handled quickly,” he said, gesturing around us at the bodies.
He thanked Axel for his help. I mumbled something inaudible. I was struggling to think straight, struggling to make normal conversation. When we left, I was in a daze as we walked slowly through the forest to Viktor’s cabin.
He stoked a fire in the pit outside and put a pot of water on to boil. I stayed at his side the whole time. Finally, he took me inside and brewed a cup of tea from leaves I didn’t recognize. He added honey, making it sweet, and offered it to me. I took it from him and blew on the top.
I sipped the tea. I took deep breaths in and let them out slowly, trying to calm myself. Slowly, I started calming down.
Viktor sat opposite me, his eyes resting on my face. He was worried about me. But I was alive, and so was he. And the danger was over.
“What?” I asked, feeling his stare on me so intense it drew me out of my thoughts.
“We have to get you home.”
I wanted to fight him. I started shaking my head, but he was right. I couldn’t stay up here forever. As it was, I was going to miss my flight. And it was high time I headed back to see my mom again. She had to be worried about me, she had to wonder what was going on, what was taking so long.
“Okay,” I finally said.
I finished my tea before Viktor and I hiked down to Snowmass, where we went through the same process of getting a car to take us to Grizzly Falls. This time, Viktor stayed with me at all times, his arm protectively around me. He didn’t outright threaten the driver, but the guy feared for his life by the time we climbed into the car.
Nothing was going to go wrong. I was going home.
I must have drifted off in the car. When we pulled up in front of my mom’s house, I woke up on Viktor’s shoulder. He gently nudged me and opened the door for me.
“You’re home, Angel,” he murmured.
I looked at the house, and it felt surreal to be here. It had only been a week since I’d been gone, but everything felt strange and out of place. I felt like I’d been ripped from a dream and was being shoved into a strange, harsh reality.
“Thank you,” I said.
Viktor and I climbed out of the car. We walked halfway through the garden, in full bloom with my mom’s flowers, when Viktor stopped.
“This is as far as I go, Angel,” he said.
I frowned. “Don’t you want to meet my mom?”
Viktor shook his head. “I’m not the man she wants to meet.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “She’ll love you.”
“People don’t love me,” Viktor said carefully. “But that’s not what it’s about.”
“Then what is it?”
Viktor hesitated for just a moment. He ran his fingers over my cheek, brushed my hair out of my eyes. His eyes slid over my face like he was studying it, committing it to memory. And I got a terrible hollow feeling in my stomach.
“What’s going on, Viktor?” I asked.
His eyes slid to mine again. “I don’t think we should see each other again.”
His words crashed into me like punches. Breathless, I asked, “What? How can you say that?”
“Your life is different from mine. And it will become even more so when you leave.”
“I don’t want to leave,” I said in a small voice.
“But you will. Because you need to. You need to take care of the people in your life, and that’s how you’ll do it. Your life has no space for a man like me. And it’s better that way.”
I shook my head, tears welling up in my eyes. He was serious. Dammit! He was serious.
“You can’t do this to me,” I whispered. “I don’t want to say goodbye.”
“I know, Malen kiy,” he murmured.
I was suddenly angry. How could he hurt me like this just after he’d fought to protect me? He’d told me loved me! And I loved him… wasn’t that worth something? How could he just walk away from me, from everything we’d been through?
“Don’t call me that,” I said, tears welling in my eyes again. Dammit, I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want him to know how much he was hurting me. “You don’t get to call me that.”
Viktor sighed. “I’m sorry, Angela.”
I shook my head and looked away from him, incapable of speaking.
“Good luck on your new adventure,” he said.
I nodded and turned my back on him, walking away. I didn’t know how long he stayed there looking at me. Maybe he’d just made sure I was inside safely. But after I’d closed the front door behind me and peeked through the window, Viktor was gone.
“Angie?” my mom called, coming from the living room, her eyes wide with surprise. “Oh, Angie!” She ran to me and wrapped her arms around me. “I’m so glad you’re home!”
“Me too,” I said, even though I felt like I was falling apart. “Me too.”
Viktor
Three Weeks Later
Getting back to life as usual after Angela was a hell of a lot harder than I’d thought it would be. I’d only spent a week with her. And three weeks without her. I’d walked away from a lot of things in my life. It had been a fucking breeze every time.
Walking away from Angela had been like ripping my own heart out of my fucking chest. It had been hard as hell, and even though a few weeks had passed, none of it hadn’t gotten easier.