Page 106 of Fall of a Kingdom

She moved to the window and shut the blinds. The dying sunlight winked out of existence.

“The kids,” I whispered.

“I’ll make sure they’re fed and bathed,” she assured me.

My face sank into the pillow as the bedroom door shut, but I wasn’t alone.

“Sleep,moya krasotka,” Igor whispered. “Just sleep.”

* * *

I was pulled from my dream slowly, like being gently kissed awake. My mouth was pasty and tasted like iron. I waited to see if there was any lingering pain in my head, but there wasn’t. Just a residual fog as if someone had blown smoke into my brain and given it a good stir like a dry martini.

Hunger had me swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I reached for my cell phone on the nightstand to check the time, but it wasn’t there.

After ambling my way to the bathroom and quickly doing my business, I washed my hands and then cradled them below the faucet. I drank my fill, greedy and parched.

I wiped my face on the hand towel and then turned off the bathroom light.

The house was quiet as I padded into the hallway. I listened for sounds, but there was nothing.

My stomach was empty, and it rumbled with the demand to be fed. I walked into the kitchen and stopped. Ash was sitting at the kitchen table with her hands clasped around a mug of tea.

“You’re awake,” I said, glancing at the microwave clock and noticing that it was just past two in the morning.

“Never went to bed. I have too much on my mind.”

“Yeah, I understand that.”

“How’s your head?”

“Better. Thanks. Have you seen my phone? I want to check my messages, see if Flynn called and if there’s an update about Ramsey.”

“I haven’t heard anything yet,” Ash stated. “And you left your phone on the kitchen counter. I kept your cell phone on me just in case Flynn called. So he didn’t worry if you didn’t answer.”

My cell phone was resting on the table next to her mug. She picked it up and waved it at me. “You did get a few calls. I let them roll to voicemail.”

I walked across the kitchen to her and was about to take my phone when at the last moment, she held it just out of reach.

“Who’s Dr. Elmond?”

I paused at her question, not having been prepared for it. “A doctor.”

Her eyes pinned me with intensity. “Isn’t your primary care physician Dr. Bristow?”

“Yes. But I’m switching doctors,” I lied.

She nodded slowly. “Interesting.”

“What’s interesting about it?” I asked, sounding far testier than I would’ve liked.

“Well, Dr. Bristow called too. Barrett? Why are you having two different doctors calling you after normal business hours?”

I fell silent, unprepared for the onslaught of her questioning.

“What aren’t you telling me? I’ve known you for years,” Ash stated. “You’ve been acting strange for weeks. Something’s going on with you. I want to know what it is, and I want to knownow.”

Chapter37