Polly waves away my concern and spreads the picnic blanket under one of the sycamores. “Whatever. I can deal with him when the time comes.”
I watch as she puts the picnic basket down and starts pulling out Doritos and Milky Ways. It’s not until everything is unloaded that she looks up at me. “What? You’re staring at me kinda weird.”
“Why would you deal with him on my behalf?”
“Because us girls gotta stick together,” she says with a shrug. “And because… I think you may be good for my brother.”
That takes me by surprise. I lower myself down onto the blanket and take the soda that Polly’s offering me. “Thanks.”
She smiles self-consciously. “It’s nice to have someone to hang out with.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “It is.”
56
URI
If Boris Sobakin didn’t know I was coming for him before, he certainly does now. There’s a dead vor’s head on his doorstep to attest to that.
Wearily, I climb up the steps to my room. I’m passing the gaming room when I realize that there’s sound coming from inside. It’s uncharacteristically late for Lev to be up. When I push the door open, I find him sitting on the floor, eyes rooted on the screen. Polina is spread out on the sofa just behind him, her hands tucked beneath her face. She used to sleep like that as a kid, too.
There was a period right after the accident when she would sneak into my bedroom at night. The only reason it stopped was because Lev started having his nightmares and he needed me more than she did once the sun fell. But seeing her like this again… it brings me back.
I wave a hand in Lev’s face to alert him to my presence. He grunts at me but doesn’t take his headphones off until he’s finished his game. I sit down beside Polina, moving her legs aside just a little to make room for me.
“You and Polly had a good day?” I ask him.
He mumbles something under his breath but I don’t quite catch it. Pretty sure I heard something like pinky swear but that’s all I can decipher.
“Do you wanna tell me about it, buddy?”
“No.”
I frown. He’s not usually so abrupt. “No? Surely you can tell me something about it.”
He’s not meeting my eye, which is a surefire sign that he’s done something he’s not supposed to do. Sighing, I pat his shoulder. “If you’ve been down to see Alyssa, it’s okay. You’re not in trouble.”
He still doesn’t really relax. Instead, he keeps looking at Polly. “Can’t tell you about my day.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Why?”
“Polly and me agreed.”
All I’m hearing is that he and Polly are making headway. I’m willing to forgive a lot if it means the two of them can get closer.
“Well, then, if Polly and you agreed, you don’t have to tell me what happened today.”
Lev looks mollified by that reassurance. “I can tell you about my morning!” he says with enthusiasm.
“Go for it.”
“I went downstairs to see Alyssa.” Big shock there. “And she was playing video games.”
That takes me by surprise. “Alyssa was playing video games by herself? Without you?”
“Yeah, she really likes it. She’s even made friends.”
I stop short, unease spreading through me like wildfire. There’s no way… “Friends, you say?”
“Uh-huh.”
Then it hits me. She can connect with people online. She can track down friends and family just as long as she has their usernames. Fuck.
Fuck.
I get to my feet slowly so that I don’t startle Lev. “Buddy, it’s late. You should get to bed.”
“Should I wake Polly?”
“No, leave her. She looks comfortable.”
“Can I sleep in your bed?”
“Yes,” I agree distractedly without putting up a fight. I have another fight to gear up for.
The moment Lev is inside my bedroom, I storm into my office and hack into the console downstairs in order to access any and all conversations that Alyssa might have had in the last few weeks.
Scrolling doesn’t do me any good, though. Every conversation box has been cleared. She’s deleted everything. This’ll take more technical expertise than I have available to dig up the records.
I slam my fist against the table. “Goddammit!”
I fly out of my chair and storm downstairs towards the basement. I fucking trusted her. That’s the only thing running through my head as I burst into the basement, causing Alyssa to jerk upright in bed.
She’s wearing that thin slip again and her hair is disheveled. “What’s going on?” she gasps. “Is it Lev? Is Polly okay?”
The fact that her first thought is for them makes me even angrier. She doesn’t get to be concerned for them. They’re not her fucking family. And she’s not ours.
“They are none of your concern,” I growl.
Her eyes widen as the sleep drains off her face. “Listen, it wasn’t a big deal, okay?” she says cautiously as she gets out of the bed. “I only went up for a couple of hours and—”
“What?”
She stops short, clearly having assumed I know more than I do. “Um…”
“You came upstairs today?”
She sighs, her eyes darting from side to side. “I just needed some fresh air, Uri. It was no big deal. As you can see, I’m back in the basement prison.”
“Who did you use?”
Her eyes flash back at me. “I didn’t ‘use’ anyone. Polly and Lev—”
“Polly and Lev!” I explode. “You manipulated my brother and sister to get out of the damn basement?”
Now, she looks as pissed as I feel. “They came down to see me. We decided to go upstairs together for a bit. And it was great! Lev and Polly got along, we laughed, we talked. It was amazing and I won’t let you make me feel guilty for that.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” I spit. “You think we need you? You’re not the fucking Bugrov sibling whisperer.”
Her face screws up, jaw tight and eyes flashing. “I don’t claim to be anything like that. But I do know that those two kids seek me out for a reason.”
“They’re bored—that’s all it is. They seek you out because they’re bored. Just like I do.”
Her entire body tenses. Then she grabs a pillow and flings it at me. “Get out! Get out of my basement!”
I probably should listen to her. I’m entirely too stressed and too pissed off for this argument. But I’m not about to let her win, either.
I stalk over to the gaming area, rip the Xbox out of the socket, and turn to her with the wires dangling to the ground like severed arteries. “How long has this been going on?”
Her face ripples with awareness. She knows exactly what I’m talking about.
“Answer me.”
She flinches, her entire body recoiling like someone electrocuted her. “It was innocent, okay?”
“Who did you contact?”
“Elle. She’s the only person I talked to and I didn’t tell her anything.”
“You really expect me to believe that?”
“Yes!” she snaps loudly. “Yes, I do expect you to believe that, because it’s the truth. I contacted her last week! If I’d told her anything at all, the cops would have swarmed this place days ago.”