Page 83 of Arseni

She’s okay.

Nikita wants them to kill me.He would tell them to capture her, not kill her right away.He wants me to find them and try to stop them.He’s banking on it.

She’s okay.

It’s okay.

Just a little bit further.

But it’s only seconds before my head is spinning with what happens when theydokill me.No one will know what took place.No one will protect her.

Tossing Hudson a glance, I bring my phone to my side and slyly type out another message to Luka.

Route 94 out by the lake.

Hurry,I add.

I tuck my phone back under my thigh and ignore it when it immediately buzzes.He’ll come.I’ve been blowing him off for six months, and I broke his ribs just days ago, but … he’ll come.

Regret hits me so hard, I double over, resting my forearms on my knees.If I’d just listened.If I’d just been less selfish…

She never would’ve been here to begin with.I never would’ve come across her.The need for revenge would never have surfaced.

She wouldn’t be fighting for her life right now.

When Hudson’s phone rings yet again, he holds up a finger to tell me to be quiet.

“Sergeant Peters,” he says into the phone.At first, I think he’s talking to Sergeant Peters, but his authoritative command that follows makes it clear that heisSergeant Peters.It occurs to me that I’ve never paid attention to Hudson’s last name.

When he gets off, I give him a puzzled stare.“Sergeant?”

He looks at me and shrugs.“My uh, adoptive father, I guess you can say, is the Chief of Police.Helps to know people.”

I nod and face forward, the first piece of water coming into view.

Almost there.

Hang on, Margot.

30

MARGOT

Shrubs.

The only cover I have is fucking shrubs.

I hate the desert.

“Ready or not, here I come,” a man coos in a thick, Russian accent.Water drips from my hair as I crouch as low as I can behind a pathetic bush more stick than leaves.My drenched shirt clings to my body while my skirt soaks up the dirt it lays in.

The gaping hole in the concrete barrier of the bridge is clearly visible from where I hide, though the sun is just beginning to rise.It’s dark enough that the men have flashlights scanning the area in search of me.When a beam hits me, I hold my breath, but it continues to scan.

I’m gonna die.

Every moment for the past ten minutes—that have felt like an eternity—I’ve had that same gut-punching thought.

It was too late before I realized I was doing the men a favor by driving out of the city in favor of rural roads, but as soon as I did, I knew it was over for me.Their SUV knocked into me over and over, nearly making me spin out of control before I shoved harder on the gas and prayed my car was faster than theirs.It wasn’t.