I looked away from Martin and let go of the illusion I had crafted.

“Yurochka, what…?” Kseniya stuttered with horror and tried to back into the corner. He reached out, murmuring what sounded like an endearment.

He loves her, Val said, bemused.

It was a revelation I wasn’t quite ready to process so I focused on dismantling the false persona as delicately as I could. Her eyes glazed as I delved through her consciousness and I could feel Val sifting through her memories.

She doesn’t know, she said, this is something we could use.

Val…

They will chew us up and spit us out if we let them, she snapped, this is just a little leverage.

It’s not that simple.

Finished, I watched reality return to Kseniya. She flicked her eyes between Martin and I, embarrassment and longing clear in her expression. Silently she got up and went to the door.

“I don’t know whether to hate you or thank you,” she whispered then went into the bathroom. The sound of running water didn’t quite cover her sobs.