Endless (30 page)

Dread began at her feet, filling her bit by bit until she thought she might drown in it.

“Stay close, Maria,” her mother whispered, ushering Maria and her sisters closer, while their father held tight to Alexei’s hand.

It was the terror in her mother’s eyes that frightened Maria the most. Even with all that had happened, all the whispering, rumors, and threats, her mother had never seemed truly afraid until this moment. In fact, both Mama and Papa had gone to great lengths to see that their routine was maintained. Even while moving between Alexander Palace, the Governor’s mansion in Tobolsk and, most recently, Yekaterinburg, their tutoring had continued, often at the hands of Papa himself. There had been many tense moments, many meetings and interrogations. There had even been a slow winnowing of the luxuries to which they were accustomed. They had not had coffee or butter in months, and their staff had been reduced to a shadow of its former size. But through it all, her parents had seemed calm, their innate regality giving them a sense of dignity even in the most frightening of times.

But this was different.

This time they had been roused in the middle of the night and ordered to dress. Maria could hear shouting outside the room in which they were being kept. Voices rang through the halls of the house. Urgent. Nervous. Sharp. She cowered closer to her sisters, wondering if Nikolai was safe. Would he do as he’d promised? Would he come for her? For all of them? Or had he already been tried as a traitor because of his love for her?

With a bang, the door flew open and the Bolshevik, Yurovsky, marched in, holding his head high and his back straight in the way that men did when they wanted others to think them important but knew deep down that they were not.

“You and your family will accompany us,” Yurovsky said. “Now.”

Her sisters began to weep. Maria looked questioningly at her mother, waiting for the nod of her head that would indicate they should obey. A moment later, it came. Maria took her sisters’ hands and followed her parents and Alexei from the room, Yurovsky and his guards on their heels.

She had no idea where the men were taking her, but people lined the halls as they made their way through the house. Some of them stared defiantly—one even spitting at Papa—but many averted their eyes, as if by looking at Maria and her family they would somehow share their fate.

She tried not to think about the jewels sewn into her clothing. They scraped against her skin through the fabric of her dress. It was the least of her worries. Whatever else was happening she needed to know where Nikolai was, to find out if he was all right. Her eyes searched the crowd frantically, desperate for just a glimpse. A sign that he was alive.

But it was another face that got her attention as they approached the back of the house.

Sergei.

He glanced at her, his eyes wild, trying to say something to her. The man next to him—the man who was his father, who had served Maria’s own father for many years—said something and Sergei spun around.

The family arrived at a set of stairs. Maria gazed downward, watching her parents and Alexei, along with his maid, Anna, descend into the unknown. She knew for certain they were going down there to meet their doom, every one of them. This was no relocation. No move from one ill-maintained residence to another.

This was the end.

Even as she thought it, she knew there was nothing to be done about it. She fought against the panic that made her want to turn around and run, though that would only mean a quicker death.

“Hurry along now, Princess.”

The words were gentle and came from a guard to her right. His eyes were kind and sad, but she stepped down anyway. Her parents were almost at the bottom. There was nowhere to go without them, even if she could. Her sister’s footsteps on the steps behind her propelled her forward.

All of them were ushered into a small, concrete room at the bottom of the staircase. Instinctively, they huddled near one another, though Papa still stood straight and tall. Maria watched with fearful eyes as the guards stepped into the room, armed with guns and bayonets, fanning out along the walls on either side of the door.

Yurovsky arrived and stopped on the landing.

Behind him, Maria could see Sergei and his father. Sergei’s face was red as he shouted at his father. She was close enough to hear.

“You can’t do this! You can’t let this happen! They’re children. Innocents.”

Maria watched Sergei’s father’s reaction. His face showed he was unbowed. “You were not asked for an opinion. You will demonstrate your loyalty to your country or you, too, will be considered a traitor.”

“Me?” Sergei stared at his father in shock. “I’m your son.”

The older man nodded. “Yes, but only loyalty to Russia matters.”

Through the shadows, Sergei’s gaze found Maria, his blue eyes meeting hers. He turned back to his father. There were so many conversations taking place around her, Maria could only partially hear him.

“Father—”

She lost the next few words.

Then: “Don’t let them do this! It is—” The next phrase was indecipherable, but she caught his last plea. “Spare the daughters. Just the daughters. Please.”

Maria held her breath.

Then, the older man lifted his hand and slapped Sergei hard across the face.

The sound echoed in the basement room. All talking stopped as everyone turned to stare at the father and son.

Yurovsky turned to Sergei’s father. “Is there a problem, Captain?”

“None at all.” Sergei’s father didn’t take his eyes off his son. “My son simply needed a reminder that the command has changed.”

Yurovsky turned his steely eyes on Sergei, who held one hand to his face as if to hide his shock and shame.

“Has your father made things clear or do you require a more … forceful demonstration?”

Sergei hesitated before shaking his head. He dropped his hand from his face and then raised it to salute. “No, sir.”

Yurovsky nodded. “Very well.”

“You will leave before you further shame our name,” Sergei’s father said, his voice cold.

Sergei’s eyes returned to Maria’s one more time, silently pleading with her to forgive him.

But before she could nod to absolve him, his father pushed him in the direction of the stairs.

Sergei turned crisply on his heel and disappeared from view.

Yurovsky descended into the stairwell, his footsteps echoing like gunshots on the stairs leading to the basement. He entered, closing the door behind him and pulling from his pocket a piece of paper. He began reading.

“Nikolai Aleksandrovich, in view of the fact that your relatives are continuing their attack on Soviet Russia, the Ural Executive Committee has decided to execute you—”

Her father stepped forward. “What—”

He didn’t have time to say more. The room seemed to both split open and collapse as the guards stepped forward and fired. Papa dropped to the floor like a stone, but the guards did not stop. They turned their guns on Mama. On all of them.

There was screaming. So much screaming. It was almost as deafening as the sound of the guns firing. Maria cowered with her sisters, pulling Alexei down with them, trying to shield him from the ricochet of the bullets as well as those that would surely be aimed their way soon.

Something stung Maria at the base of her neck, a duller thud hitting her in the chest and stomach. She felt the impact only vaguely, the stones in her dress providing a barrier between the bullets and her skin. Still, she felt herself sinking to the floor. Falling and falling, trying to keep hold of her sisters’ hands. Trying to catch sight of Alexei.

There was a clatter at the door as someone burst through. And then, a man’s voice.

“What have you done?” A moan followed by footsteps rushing toward her.

Her torso being lifted into strong arms.

“What have you
done
?” he cried.

Another crashing as more bullets flew, and Nikolai, her Nikolai, throwing his body over hers. Then, a silence so great Maria thought the world had stopped turning.

Everything had ended.

Everything.

She blinked as she saw a flash of silver. One of the guards advanced on them with a bayonet. Nikolai’s body still warm next to hers, his green eyes looking at her as if there were only the two of them in the whole world. He reached out to her, his hand finding the wound at her collarbone, trying to cover it as blood trickled through his fingers.

“I’ll find you,” he said softly. “I’ll find you, Maria.”

And then silence.

Jenny awoke to screaming. It took her a minute to realize that she was the one making all the noise. She was on the floor, kicking and thrashing. Still living out the nightmare from the past.

“Jenny! Jenny!” Nikolai stood over her. “It’s alright. You’re alright.”

He slid to the floor, pulled her into his arms, cradling her like a child. Adrenaline surged through her body, her heart slamming against her chest.

“Shhhhh,” Nikolai soothed, brushing her hair back from her face. “I’ve got you. I won’t let anyone hurt you again, I promise.”

She looked up into his face, into his green eyes. The same eyes she had seen in the final moments of her dream.

I’ll find you
, he’d promised.

And he had.

But there had been someone else there, too. She sat up, remembering Ben. He sat on the edge of the couch, his head in his hands.

“Ben?”

It took him a minute to look up. She saw the torment in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I’m so sorry.”

She shook her head, trying to dispel the horror of what she’d seen. No, of what she’d
lived through
. She had been the girl named Maria, and she’d been brutally executed along with her whole family.

Ben stood up. “I couldn’t face my father. Not even to save you. I was a coward in that lifetime, and I’ve been a coward in this one, too. But now, I’m going to stop it.” He lunged for the door.

“Ben, wait!” She got up and ran after him. “I’m coming with you.”

He shook his head. “No, you’re not.”

“I
am
,” she insisted. “We’re in this together. Have been in it together since way before now.”

“It’s too dangerous.” He turned away from her, muttering under his breath, “Don’t you think I’ve let you down enough for our two lifetimes?”

Figuring out the past so they could have peace in the present had been the point of using the music box again, but Jenny couldn’t help being terrified of the consequences. Ben’s dad had almost killed Ben’s mom last time. What would he do if Ben stood up to him now?

“I’m going,” she insisted.

Nikolai stood next to her. “If you go, I go.”

She looked up at him and shook her head. “The Order will be looking for you.”

“I’m not arguing the point.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes taking on the flinty shine that Jenny already recognized as a determination she would be powerless to change.

“I don’t really care who comes,” Ben said. “But I’m leaving now. The store closes any minute, and I need to get there before it does.”

*

They took the Audi. Nikolai drove with Jenny up front while Tiffany sat with Ben, tense and silent, in the back. Jenny watched the glow of the clock on the dashboard, knowing Ben was doing the same. When it changed from 9:59 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., he leaned forward.

“Can’t you go any faster?”

Nikolai stepped on the gas a little harder. The engine roared under the pressure of his foot.

Main Street was deserted like only Stony Creek could be at ten o’clock in the middle of summer. Nikolai pulled into one of the many open spots in front of Books. Ben was out before the car was even turned off.

Jenny turned to Tiffany. “Stay here. Text me if you see any sign of the Order—a black car with their symbol, one of the monks—anything.”

Tiffany nodded. “Jen … don’t you think we should call the police?”

“There’s no time. Besides, nothing’s happened. We’re just picking up Ben’s mom, that’s all.”

Jenny stepped out of the car, following Nikolai to where Ben stood at the entrance of Books. The sign on the door was already flipped to closed.

Ben banged against the glass so hard Jenny thought it might break. “Mom? It’s Ben. You still in there?”

Jenny peered inside, trying to see through the slits in the blinds. She thought she saw the flicker of candles and a light toward the back of the store, but that was all she could make out.

“Mom!” Ben tried again, banging harder.

“Careful,” Jenny warned. “You’ll break the glass.”

“I don’t give a damn about the glass,” Ben said under his breath. He checked his phone and then shoved it back into his pocket. “She hasn’t texted me, which means she has to be inside. She knew I was coming. She wouldn’t leave without letting me know.”

“Maybe she’s in the storage room or something and can’t hear you.” Jenny looked around. “There’s another entrance in the back. Sam uses it for deliveries and stuff. Come on.”

She led them around to the back of the building. She was worried the door would be locked, but when they got there, it wasn’t even shut all the way. She reached for the handle.