I watched it burn until it disappeared out of sight.
Then I watched my Inessa.
I watched her breathing.
I watched her sleep in peace.
The two of us now completely free.
15
LUKA
I breathed in deeply as I saw the bright lights of New York glitter in the distance. Zaal sighed beside me. “Thank God,” he muttered, and I nodded my head. I felt exactly the same.
I glanced to the back of the plane. The doctor had attended to Inessa for many hours. She had been cleaned, courtesy of Maya, and was now sound asleep. The doctor had given her drugs to help her sleep peacefully. He said she needed sleep to heal. Ilya had had to be restrained when he’d seen the doctor about to inject her with the needle. Valentin had been able to calm him, promising it was nothing like those Master administered.
The doctor had removed her bracelet, too. The drugs and medication he had given her, and would administer over the coming days, were designed to clear the Type B drug from her system. When she woke, she would be cleansed of the drugs she had been forced to endure for years.
I next looked to Ilya. For most of the long flight he had kept vigil by Inessa’s side. Eventually, he had washed and changed into spare track pants and a T-shirt. His hand still lay in Inessa’s, his head resting on her narrow mattress. Maya slept in a chair at the end of the bed. Valentin sat in the closest seat to his sister. The scarred male hadn’t said much on the flight home. Like Zaal and me, he had washed and changed. But then he had moved to be near his sister and hadn’t moved since.
I’d caught him watching Ilya from time to time. But it wasn’t in aggression. Valentin had always been an enigma. I had never, since the day I had met him, gotten a handle on what he was thinking at any given moment in time.
His eyes were always cold and assessing. The only time I had ever seen him soften was when he was with Zoya. Only that female seemed to be a balm to the torture he endured inside. Yet since Inessa had been found, since she had called his name in her delirious state, since she had wrapped her finger around his, something within him had changed.
Zaal and I had braced ourselves to hold him back from Ilya. But as Ilya never left Inessa’s side and he now slept beside her, his hand tightly hanging onto hers, Valentin had watched him with a new expression—acceptance … maybe happiness?
The male appeared happy. His sister had found love. Like he had with Zoya, Inessa had with Ilya. We had all learned that life was easier to adjust to when you had someone beside you, helping you along the way.
“We will be landing in ten minutes,” the pilot called over the speaker. I let my head rest against the seat.
My knee bounced up and down in excitement. In ten minutes I would see my Kisa. We would all be reunited. I allowed myself to sigh in relief that we had all come home alive. The chances that one of us would not had been high. I couldn’t have faced that person’s female lover if that had been the case. I knew that neither Zaal nor Valentin could have faced Kisa if it had been me.
I thanked God that we were all home safe.
Minutes later, the plane’s wheels touched tarmac. When we rolled to a stop, Viktor helped the byki open the plane. I looked out the window, and my heart flipped and swelled in my chest when I saw Kisa get out of a car. Her brown hair blew in the evening breeze. I could see her eyes searching for me through the windows. Several more cars arrived. I smiled when Zoya and Talia got out and stood beside my wife.
I felt Zaal tense beside me. He immediately heaved a sigh of relief when he saw his fiancée. The door opened and the stairs were brought to the plane by one of our males that worked at the airfield.
Valentin got to his feet, pressing his hand to Ilya’s shoulder. Ilya jumped to his feet, his fists braced to fight. Valentin didn’t flinch. Ilya blinked the sleep from his eyes and then relaxed his shoulders. His blue eyes immediately looked down to Inessa.
“She is okay,” Valentin told him in his gruff voice. He guided his thumb toward the window and announced, “We are home.”
“Home,” Ilya repeated and bent down to Inessa. “Did you hear that, moy prekrasnyy? We are home.”
Inessa didn’t move, still asleep under the medication. The doctor came from the back of the plane and began preparing Inessa to disembark. Valentin bent down to look out the window. His eyes closed momentarily, and he whispered, “Zoya.”
“Go,” Ilya said, seeing Valentin’s conflict. “She’s my female. I have her,” Ilya assured him. Valentin paused, then nodded.
Turning, Valentin headed toward Zaal and me. Not stopping, he brushed past us and turned to leave through the door. Zaal and I followed behind. Valentin rushed down the steps. When Zoya saw her male heading straight for her, she smiled the widest of smiles and ran to him. Valentin wrapped Zoya in his arms and held her close.
I couldn’t hear what was being said. Before I could listen in, I heard my sister’s excited shriek. Zaal flew down the steps two at a time. Talia jumped into his arms. When Zaal drew back, she began kissing him all over his face.
I glanced down the plane to see Ilya and the byki lifting Inessa onto a stretcher. Maya hovered at Inessa’s side. I could see by her face that she was terrified.
Leaving them to it, I stepped out of the plane onto the top of the stairs. As soon as I did, I saw Kisa smile in relief. Her hands were on her swollen stomach as I walked down the stairs. Zoya was hugging Zaal, checking her big brother was okay.
As I reached the bottom step, Kisa’s tear-filled eyes met mine and my heart almost split in two. “Solnyshko,” I whispered, and held out my hand. Kisa didn’t hesitate. She came straight to me and folded into my chest. I breathed in her sweet scent and simply held her close.
“You came home,” she said, sighing.
“Always,” I whispered. Placing my hands on the side of Kisa’s head, I drew her back and studied her beautiful face. “I have missed you,” I confessed, and wiped away a happy tear from her soft cheek.
“I have missed you too, lyubov moya.” She placed my hand on her stomach and laughed as our baby kicked. “We both have.”
My pulse thudded, and I pressed another kiss to her lips. When I drew back, I heard, “Am I gonna get a hug, big brother?”
I smiled as Talia pushed her arms around my waist. She squeezed me tightly and I laughed. When she pulled back, she looked up at me and asked, “Are you done now?” Although her voice was playful, I could hear the sincerity of the question in her tone. I could see it in her worried expression. Kisa’s hand took hold of mine and she squeezed. She wanted to know, too.