Page 88 of Essence of Fear

She nodded. “Where are we staying, then?”

“I know a place.”

“Do you?”

“I’ll explain when we get there.”

“Okay.”

15.

“WHAT IS this place?” Viktoria asked as they climbed the stairs.

Pav’s fingers tightened around hers as he replied, “A loft.”

“Who lives here?”

He shrugged.

Viktoria laughed. “What was that?”

“What?”

“The shrug you just did. What, you don’t know who lives here?”

He tipped his head to the side like he was considering her words but continued to pull her up the stairs with him, all at the same time. It seemed like he was familiar with the place, so much so that he knew the code to get into the stairwell for the loft, and he’d barely passed a glance to the stragglers sitting at the bottom of the stairs. They either didn’t recognize him, or they did, and they didn’t care that he was there. She never thought to ask.

“I know whose name is on the deed now, and he always stays here,” Pav said, “but other people come and go, too. It changes.”

“I don’t understand.”

Pav smiled back at her. “Yeah, I know.”

He didn’t offer more of an explanation, and Viktoria didn’t press for more. He’d told her at the tattoo shop that he would explain when they got there, so she was putting her trust in him to do exactly that.

Was this a place he was allowed to come when they let him out of the Compound over the years? Did he know the people here?

At the top of the stairwell, a short, dark hallway led to a door. Like downstairs, there was an electronic pad on the door with keys to press in a code. Pav didn’t let go of her hand as he used his other to punch in a six-digit code. A loud buzz echoed in the hallway, and then a click sounded, too. He grabbed the doorknob and twisted to open it up.

Darkness welcomed them, for the most part. Lights had been dimmed, and the loft was quiet. Immediately, she took in the space as best she could. The shoes lined up along the entrance, and the coats hanging on hooks that had been nailed to the wall. The place seemed clean, felt warm.

It was only the figure coming out from a back hallway in the loft that made Viktoria take a step behind Pav. He didn’t tense or act like the person bothered him. In the shadows of the hallway, she couldn’t see the unknown man’s face, but the squeeze of Pav’s hand against her side was enough to tell her everything was fine.

She still stayed behind him.

Just in case …

“Pavel,” a man’s voice greeted. “Is that you?”

“Yeah, Grisha. It’s me.”

“Been a while.”

Pav laughed. “A couple years or so. Thought you might have changed the code.”

“I told you I wouldn’t.”

“Spasibo.”