Keep Me Safe by Duka Dakarai

harm?”
     
    “I think so. I mean, yes. I do.”
     
    Jack and Kane exchange frustrated looks. Jack speaks first. “Alexei, tell us what you know. We don’t have long before you’ll be too tired to talk and need to rest again. We’re not risking Sky’s safety by to-ing and fro-ing at your beck and call.”
     
    Alexei grunts his dissatisfaction. “Alright, alright. I can give you a name. I don’t know if she planned this on her own…..I doubt it. Part of me is still reluctant to tell you. If it was just me alone that was the target, I would not tell you. You understand? I would sort this out my own way. But after the attempt to harm Miss Sinclair…..it had got out of hand.” He breathes heavily, resting for a moment.
     
    “ Got out of hand? So the prostitute was just collateral damage….is that what you are fucking saying?” John Keaton growls. “Tell that to her family!”
     
    Alexei shakes his head sharply. “I have not forgotten her. She was happy and alive when I left her. She was drinking champagne, dancing……I did not harm her. Whatever you think of me , I am not a monster. There is one person who was also there that night……and also the night that I too was poisoned. My brother’s mistress…….”
     
    I interrupt him. “Natalya Asmik?”
     
    Alexei snaps his head in my direction. He nods quietly.
     
    I press on. “ You are certain it was her that poisoned you? Did you see the syringe….or…..?”
     
    “ Unfortunately, she was the last person I saw before the pain and then blackness……it can only have been Natalya. We were alone in my study.”
     
    “She attacked you?” I try to urge him quickly as I see him tiring.
     
    “No, she did not attack me. She made it easy to distract me……use your imagination.” He leans his weary head, his eyelids beginning to flutter.
     
    “Alexei! Alexei!” Jack Mercer barks towards him to press on. “ Is Georgy behind all of this? Is he pulling Natalya’s strings? Why would your brother want you dead? Money?”
     
    Alexei shakes his head softly, never leaving the comfort of the pillows. “To stop me……”
     
    I clasp his hand tightly, leaning my face to his. He mumbles inaudibly. I press my ear close to his mouth. “Alexei…..to stop you? To stop you doing what? Please try.”
     
    He whispers so softly that I can barely he ar the words. “Your papa, Sky…..I know who killed him……” The words fade away into slurs as he loses his fight against consciousness.
     
    His words hit me with the force of a freight train. My legs collapse beneath me as retched sobs convulse through me. I fall across his body as my own screams echo in my ears. Words spew from my mouth “No! Alexei…..tell……me……wake up……wake…..” I try to shake him awake as Kane lunges at me, pulling me away and lifting me into his arms. I wrap myself around him crying into his neck. “He must tell…..he must……”
     
    ***
     
    I don’t remember getting into the car or the drive back to the Safe House. I do remember lots of voices surrounding me as I was carried inside and taken into a bedroom. I do remember not wanting to let go of the arms that held me as I clung to their comfort. I do remember his soft kisses on my neck as I was pulled tightly against him and soothed to sleep.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Sixteen
     
     
     
    Kane brushes a loose tendril of hair from my face before softly placing a tender kiss on my forehead. He cups a hand under my chin thumbing my bottom lip. I offer him a quiet, watery smile.
     
    “I brought you a cup of tea. Or I can make you something else?” He smiles kindly.
     
    I shake my head. “Tea is fine. Did you stay with me all night?”
     
    He nods. “Do you want to talk about Alexei? Do you feel up to it? Jack is downstairs. I can tell him to come back later if you want to rest.”
     
    I pull myself up. “I don’t really want to, to be honest. But putting it off will only prolong what I’m