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“He’s okay,” the woman says. “Just knocked out.”

She leads me down the path past the old castle, toward the cliffs. A car waits, black and silent. Familiar.

I freeze. “What the fuck is this?”

“You need to go.” Her tone sharpens. “You don’t want to be here when Ruslan gets his next test.”

My blood runs cold. “What test?”

“He’s about to find out everything about you.”

My stomach knots. “Then why help me?”

The woman looks at me. “Because you helped someone I love and paid a price. I’m returning the favor.”

She hugs me fast. Hard.

“Be safe, Tara.”

She pushes me toward the car. I slide inside, heart racing.

A hooded figure sits beside me.

I know that cloak. It stirs an old forgotten memory from my childhood.

“I saw you at the ceremony,” I say.

The woman nods. “Correct.”

“So, are you deporting me again?” I lean slightly forward, trying to see her face. “Because the last time we met, I was blindfolded and you took us to the airport.”

“And you should never have returned. It is not safe for you here, and Ruslan should know better.” Her voice is low. Measured. “I’m getting you out again until it’s safe. Which I hope will be very soon.”

“I want to go home,” I confess. For some reason, I don’t feel threatened by this woman. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I have nothing to fear from her for some reason. “I want to see my family. I miss them dearly.”

“Not yet,moya golubka,” she says. Her voice is warm but firm.

My little dove!The terms of endearment spark something inside me, and more memories from a forgotten childhood teeter on the outskirts of my memory.

“Why can’t I see them?”

“Because we are on the brink of collapsing an evil organization,” she tells me. “One that will come for you as someone has alerted them to your presence.”

“Who?” I ask. My heart is pounding. “You’re talking about the RMSAD, aren’t you?”

She nods. “I need you,moya golubka, to be as far away from Russia as possible.”

“But my family. Won’t they come for them too?” Worry courses through me. “My sister… My… my niece. My mother!”

I see her flinch. “Don’t worry, they will be taken care of. I promise you. And as long as you are not with them, no harm will come to them.”

My fists clench, and I nod. A pain rips through my heart at the thought of not being able to see Elena or my family just yet.

“Ruslan will come for you,” she warns. “Especially now that whoever alerted your presence to the RMSAD, also managed to get the truth you were trying so hard to cover up to the Dragunov High Council.”

She exhales. “So Ruslan’s going to know… everything?”

“Only about you,moya golubka,” she assures me. “Not about that adorable little cherub in your sister's care.” She sucks in a breath. Her voice catches, and it rings with fear for a few seconds. “No one can know about her, Tara. Not yet. Maybe not ever.” She leans forward and takes my hand. “There is so much more about yourself and Elena that you do not know. I wish…” She pauses, and there is a catch in her voice. “I wish I had the time to tell you.” She picks up a wrapped present from beside her and hands it to me. “Hopefully, this will help.”