**Chapter 15: Vows in the Ashes**
The chapel's roof had collapsed decades ago, letting in a sieve of moonlight that pooled over the cracked altar. Viktor set Anya down on a pew cushioned with his coat, her small body shivering even in sleep. Ashley knelt beside her, brushing dirt from their daughter's face. "She's burning up," she whispered.
Viktor lit a stolen candle, its flame guttering in the damp air. "The warlord's poison. It's in her blood now."
"There's a cure," Ashley said, not looking at him. "There's always a cure."
"Not for this." He hesitated, then pulled Dmitri's journal from his pack. The pages fell open to a sketch of Margaret—Ashley's mother—her smile eerily mirrored in Anya's face. "Dmitri made me swear an oath. If the bloodline ever awakened… I was to end it."
Ashley went still. "You mean kill her."
"Yes."
The word hung between them, sharp as a blade.
---
**The Confession**
Viktor sank onto the pew, his shoulders bowed. "I was supposed to watch you, Ashley. Report if you showed 'signs.' But when you held her for the first time…" His voice broke. "I couldn't. *Wouldn't.*"
Ashley turned to him, tears glinting. "All these years, you stayed to protect us. Not because of some pact."
"No." He met her gaze, raw. "Because every time you looked at me, I forgot I was a monster."
She cupped his scarred cheek. "You're not a monster. You're the man who walked into hell for us."
---
**The Vows**
Anya stirred, murmuring in her sleep. Viktor tucked his coat tighter around her. "She deserves more than this. More than *me*."
"She deserves a father who fights," Ashley said fiercely. "And I deserve a man who stays."
He froze. "Ashley—"
"Marry me."
The chapel held its breath.
"Here? *Now?*"
She pulled a ring from her pocket—a crude band forged from Bratva bullets, looted from Lev's corpse. "No priests. No lies. Just us."
Viktor's laugh was ragged. "You've lost your mind."
"Probably." She slid the ring onto his finger. "But I'm yours. Always."
He kissed her then, slow and deep, his hands trembling against her waist. When he pulled back, he pressed a matching ring into her palm—a twisted piece of reactor steel. "To the end, *zhena*."
*Wife.*
---
**The Night**
They built a nest of moth-eaten curtains and old hymns, Anya curled between them. Viktor traced the scars on Ashley's arms, each one a story. "I never thought… *this* would be my life."
"Regrets?"
"Only that I waited so long to love you."
Outside, the wind howled. Inside, they clung to each other, their breaths syncing as Anya's fever finally broke.
---
**The Dawn**
Ashley woke to Viktor's voice, low and urgent. "They're coming."
Bratva trucks growled in the distance. Anya blinked awake, her eyes clear for the first time in days. "Mama?"
Ashley kissed her forehead. "We're right here, baby."
Viktor loaded his guns, his wedding ring glinting. "Stay behind me."
"No." Ashley stood, gripping her pistol. "We fight together."
---
**Chapter End**
Anya's whisper cut through the tension. "The bad man's gone. For now."
Ashley and Viktor exchanged a glance. *For now.*
But as the engines roared closer, Viktor laced his fingers with hers. "Together."
"Always," she said.