Read Online The Diamond Secret by Suzanne Weyn - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Suzanne Weyn
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The man with the scar is chasing her.
It's a dream! It's a dream, she tells herself urgently.
But her terror is so real!
There is no one else in the station to help her. It's completely empty. The scarred man snatches at her, but each time she manages to duck away.
"I want the diamonds," the scarred man shouts, momentarily halting his pursuit. "They belong to me."
Nadya is still barefoot and in a white nightgown; her hair is no longer short but long and wavy. "Leave me alone. I don't know where they are. I don't!"
"I will have those diamonds," the man screeches, lunging at her.
She turns to run from him, and she hits a solid black wall. The stench of body odor tells her it is no inanimate obstacle. Looking up, she faces the sneering visage of Grigory Rasputin. Before Nadya can react, he seizes her shoulders in a crushing grip.
Nadya screams until the sound of her terror fills the station with a white noise so intense it becomes visible as a cloud of blinding illumination that obliterates everything.
"Nadya! Nadya!"
The all-encompassing white snapped into utter blackness.
Staring dazedly into the abyss of nothingness, Nadya began to see silvery forms gradually taking shape before her eyes; first the ovals of eyes appeared, then the slanting ridge of a nose. "Ivan?" Nadya asked the disembodied form hovering in the blackness above her.
"Thank goodness you're okay. I've been looking for you for hours. How'd you get down here? Are you hurt?"
"Where am I?" Nadya asked. Ivan's arm was around her now, and the solidness of and heat from his body was reassuring.
"You're at the bottom of some kind of ravine. I used my last match, or else I'd show you. You must have fallen and rolled down here. When I spotted you sprawled on the ground, I thought you were dead."
Shaken by this news, Nadya bowed her head and covered her face with her hands. "Oh God--I don't want to be dead."
Ivan tightened his hold around her. "No. No. Don't be dead. I'm so happy you're not dead." He kissed the top of her head. "Definitely don't be dead."
In the darkness, Nadya tilted back her head and reached up her hand until her fingers contacted the smooth surface of his lips.
Tenderly, he kissed her fingertips.
Then Ivan pulled her closer and sought out Nadya's lips with his own, kissing her gently at first, and then with growing passion. Nadya returned his kiss, somehow aware that all these days of traveling together had been leading them to this moment.
Ivan stroked Nadya's hair tenderly and then stood. Taking her hand, he drew her to her feet. "Do you feel well enough to walk?" he asked.
"I think so. Do you know the way back?"
Ivan hesitated uncertainly. "Not really," he admitted. "Let's see what we can find."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Lessons in Royalty
By the time Nadya and Ivan finally had found their way back to the campsite, dawn's first rays were breaking. Sergei sat by the dying embers of their campfire. When he saw that they were back, he rushed to them. Thank goodness they'd returned. He'd been so worried!
Alarmed by the purple bruise on Nadya's forehead and the bump beneath it, Sergei reached out to touch her but then drew back, worried he might hurt her further. "What happened?" he asked.
"She fell," Ivan answered for her.
Nadya tapped the bruise and then cringed. "I had the most terrifying dream," she confided, and then, leaning against a boulder, went on to relay it to them.
Sergei looked to Ivan, his eyes full of questions. "She dreamed of Rasputin?"
"The whole country has nightmares about that charlatan," Ivan replied. "Did you know that Rasputin was not even his real name? It was a label given to him by the people of his village. It means something like 'dissolute' or 'disreputable.' Luckily, he's dead."
"From what I hear they had to poison him, shoot him, and then drown him before he would finally die," Sergei recalled.
"But he is gone?" Nadya was eager to confirm.
"That's what they say," Ivan told her. "We can
It's a dream! It's a dream, she tells herself urgently.
But her terror is so real!
There is no one else in the station to help her. It's completely empty. The scarred man snatches at her, but each time she manages to duck away.
"I want the diamonds," the scarred man shouts, momentarily halting his pursuit. "They belong to me."
Nadya is still barefoot and in a white nightgown; her hair is no longer short but long and wavy. "Leave me alone. I don't know where they are. I don't!"
"I will have those diamonds," the man screeches, lunging at her.
She turns to run from him, and she hits a solid black wall. The stench of body odor tells her it is no inanimate obstacle. Looking up, she faces the sneering visage of Grigory Rasputin. Before Nadya can react, he seizes her shoulders in a crushing grip.
Nadya screams until the sound of her terror fills the station with a white noise so intense it becomes visible as a cloud of blinding illumination that obliterates everything.
"Nadya! Nadya!"
The all-encompassing white snapped into utter blackness.
Staring dazedly into the abyss of nothingness, Nadya began to see silvery forms gradually taking shape before her eyes; first the ovals of eyes appeared, then the slanting ridge of a nose. "Ivan?" Nadya asked the disembodied form hovering in the blackness above her.
"Thank goodness you're okay. I've been looking for you for hours. How'd you get down here? Are you hurt?"
"Where am I?" Nadya asked. Ivan's arm was around her now, and the solidness of and heat from his body was reassuring.
"You're at the bottom of some kind of ravine. I used my last match, or else I'd show you. You must have fallen and rolled down here. When I spotted you sprawled on the ground, I thought you were dead."
Shaken by this news, Nadya bowed her head and covered her face with her hands. "Oh God--I don't want to be dead."
Ivan tightened his hold around her. "No. No. Don't be dead. I'm so happy you're not dead." He kissed the top of her head. "Definitely don't be dead."
In the darkness, Nadya tilted back her head and reached up her hand until her fingers contacted the smooth surface of his lips.
Tenderly, he kissed her fingertips.
Then Ivan pulled her closer and sought out Nadya's lips with his own, kissing her gently at first, and then with growing passion. Nadya returned his kiss, somehow aware that all these days of traveling together had been leading them to this moment.
Ivan stroked Nadya's hair tenderly and then stood. Taking her hand, he drew her to her feet. "Do you feel well enough to walk?" he asked.
"I think so. Do you know the way back?"
Ivan hesitated uncertainly. "Not really," he admitted. "Let's see what we can find."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Lessons in Royalty
By the time Nadya and Ivan finally had found their way back to the campsite, dawn's first rays were breaking. Sergei sat by the dying embers of their campfire. When he saw that they were back, he rushed to them. Thank goodness they'd returned. He'd been so worried!
Alarmed by the purple bruise on Nadya's forehead and the bump beneath it, Sergei reached out to touch her but then drew back, worried he might hurt her further. "What happened?" he asked.
"She fell," Ivan answered for her.
Nadya tapped the bruise and then cringed. "I had the most terrifying dream," she confided, and then, leaning against a boulder, went on to relay it to them.
Sergei looked to Ivan, his eyes full of questions. "She dreamed of Rasputin?"
"The whole country has nightmares about that charlatan," Ivan replied. "Did you know that Rasputin was not even his real name? It was a label given to him by the people of his village. It means something like 'dissolute' or 'disreputable.' Luckily, he's dead."
"From what I hear they had to poison him, shoot him, and then drown him before he would finally die," Sergei recalled.
"But he is gone?" Nadya was eager to confirm.
"That's what they say," Ivan told her. "We can
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