Killing Eve: Bloodline (22)

The twenty-second episode of a new Killing Eve adventure, published exclusively on Substack

            Eve sleeps, on and off, for much of the next day. When she finally wakes, not quite sure where she is, it's getting dark outside. There's a note on the bedside, written in Oxana's looping hand:

            Sleep well детка. I'm on the move, keeping our lost sheep from the wolves.

            I read the note several times. The language is cryptic, not like Oxana's at all. And yet the note's unquestionably from her. The first part seems straightforward enough. She's looking after Valentin, making sure that they keep a step ahead of any other assassins or abductors. So why do I feel that something's not right?

            Eve dresses, feeling weirdly dislocated, and goes down to the kitchen, where she finds Anastasia drinking a glass of rosehip tea.

            'Nikolai tells me how greatly we're indebted to you,' Anastasia says. 'You saved our son's life. Thank you.' She takes Eve's hands in hers.

            Eve hesitates. 'Perhaps it's not my place to say it...' she begins.

            'Please.' Anastasia smiles faintly.

            'This role he's being asked to play. Endorsing Volkonskaya. The heir to the Romanov bloodline. That's why he's in danger.'

            'I know that, Eve. I know it better than anyone. I've lived in the shadow of the Russian political system for my whole life.'

            'So...'

            'So it's a matter of duty. Valentin has his role to play. We all do.'

            Eve looks away. She has a sudden, Oxana-like craving for scrambled eggs. 'Can I ask you something? Between ourselves?'

            'Of course.'

            'If Valentin was your natural son, and not adopted, would you put him through this?'

            'I would.' Anastasia regards her steadily. 'I consider Valentin one hundred percent my son. Can I make you some... I suppose it must feel like breakfast time.'

            'It does, yes.'

            'Well, let's see what I can manage.'

            'I can do it.'

            'Please. I'm not a complete trofeinaya zhena.'

            Eve smiles.

            'I knew you understood Russian. It would be odd if you didn't, given that your...'

            'Partner?'

            'Yes. Given that she's Russian.' Anastasia takes eggs and butter from the fridge. 'So can I ask you something?'

            'Fire away.'

            'Have you always, you know... been with women?'

            'No. I was married to a guy for several years.'

            'What happened?'

            'Oxana happened.'

            'And that was it?'

            'Not immediately. But in the end, yes.'

            'She's an impressive young woman.' Anastasia takes a whisk from a drawer. 'With a big appetite, I've noticed.'

            Eve smiles. 'Yup.'

---

  

---

          Polastri. What an utter, unregenerate bitch. That punch hurt. It really fucking hurt. It was like a grenade going off in my brain. And now I'm sitting in a hospital room whose decor gives me thoughts of suicide, my nostrils are packed with dried blood and bandages, I'm breathing through my mouth like some primitive life-form, and my entire nose has to be rebuilt from scratch. Honestly, I wish that 'E' Squadron maniac had put a bullet through Polastri's head, or her fat arse, rather than poor Oxana's ear. Although come to think of it, fuck Oxana too. Concentrate on the positive. Concentrate on the fact that, by some amazing turn of fate, and I honestly don't remember having much to do with it, I'm engaged to be married to the astonishing Miss Ilieva, she of the taut biceps and the stormy grey eyes. Hold onto that, Balice. Hold on to happy ever after.

            It's dark when the bell rings. Eve hurries to the front door, sure that it must be Oxana and Valentin. But it's a young blonde woman in overalls, carrying a fortified suitcase. Standing behind her in the drive is an unmarked van.

            'I'm from the Kensington Extermination Bureau,' the woman says. 'I've come for the rat.'

            'I'll get Mrs Dominik,' Eve says, wondering where Oxana is.

            Anastasia greets the blonde woman, and leads her into the house. 'Eve will show you around, if that's all right with you both,' she says. 'I'm not brilliant with rats.'

            'That's fine,' Eve says. 'Come with me, um...'

            'Bili.'

            'Come with me, Bili.'

            Bili picks up her case, and follows Eve to the landing on the stairs. 'I'm going to need some cheese,' she says, lowering her case.

            'Sure, how much?'

            'A big block. Hard, not creamy.'

            'OK, I'll see what I can do.' Descending the stairs to the kitchen, Eve forages in the fridge, and returns to Bili with a sizeable wedge of Emmental de Savoie.

            'Thanks,' says Bili, and starts to eat it.

            'I thought that was for the rat.'

            Bili looks surprised. 'No. I have peanut butter for the rat. I just had a craving for cheese. My fiancée had a medical emergency, and I didn't have time to eat.'

            'Oh my goodness, is he all right?'

            'She. Yes, she'll be fine. This is good cheese.'

            'I'm so glad.'

            Finishing the cheese, Bili opens her case, and carefully lifts out an electronic drone and remote control, a small stainless steel canister, a jar of peanut butter, a spoon, a saucer, and a pet carrier lined with tissue paper.

            'This looks very complicated.'

            'A giant rat is a highly intelligent creature. You can't just set a trap and wait.'

            'How about shooting it?'

            'Then it would be dead,' Bili says, spooning peanut butter into the saucer.

            'Well, you are an extermination bureau.'

            'I need this rat alive.'

            Eve stares at her. 'What for?'

            'Personal reasons. Please show me where you last saw it.'

            Eve shows her, and Bili lays down the saucer of peanut butter.

            'Now we wait. Maybe at the top of the stairs. Do you have some cushions?'

            While Eve finds cushions, Bili moves her equipment upstairs. Anastasia passes them on her way to her room. 'No word from Valentin and Oxana?' she asks Eve.

            Eve shakes her head. 'No. But I'm sure they're fine. You can trust Oxana.'

            'Have you rung her?'

            'A couple of times. Her phone's switched off.'

            Anastasia frowns.

            'I'm sure all's well,' Eve says.

            'I hope so. I really hope so.’