Page 10

10

OLEKSI

We hit the rendezvous point just after midnight. Having landed a good distance away from the site, we were met by waiting vehicles. My nerves are on edge, and my impatience to get Sabrina out is growing by the second. Eventually, the SUV’s tires crunch into the gravel with a sound that somehow manages to feel louder than a gunshot, making me cringe. I know I’m not being realistic, they can’t hear us in the compound from where we are, but I can’t afford anything to go wrong tonight. If it does, I know they’ll move Sabrina somewhere we’ll never find her after an escape attempt.

I glance around as I climb out of the vehicle. Clyde and Ivan are already there, crouched behind the wreck of an old grain silo, eyes sharp, guns ready. Syd is perched a few feet away like she’s born from the shadows—lean, wired tight, and hungry for a fight. Behind them, I count four of Timofey’s top men. No uniforms, no insignia—just the cold, heavy quiet of people who know how to kill.

Nadia steps out behind me, leather jacket pulled tight over what looks suspiciously like tactical gear. Her boots thud in the frost-hardened dirt, she doesn’t say a word, just scans the treeline, then pulls something from her inner pocket.

A rolled-up map.

“I’ve marked four possible escape routes,” she says. “Valeska sent them to me. Each one depends on what’s clear when they start to leave in...” She glances at her wristwatch. “Ten minutes.”

I nod, then split the team fast and clean—two for each exit, and leave one group keeping eyes on the perimeter.

I pair Syd up with Nadia, turning to scan the compound looming in front of us. My heart is thudding like this is my first operation, but I know it’s because of what’s at stake.

I don’t like the fact that Sabrina is going to have to clear the inside of the compound on her own, guided by someone I don’t know. I’m just having to put my blind trust in Nadia Voronina-Dragunov and hope she’s a person of honor like her grandfather was.

I notice the phone in Nadia’s hand light up. There’s no buzz or ring, just the light.

She turns and walks off. That’s when I see the glint of something metal hooked into Nadia’s waistband under her jacket—it's a gun.

My brow furrows as my eyes travel over the outfit she quickly changed into when the helicopter touched ground. The jacket, the boots, the layered dark gear—she’s dressed like a hunter about to go on a night hunt. My eyes narrow with respect. Nadia is an enigma. One born from the necessity to hide her true identity from the people she loved, the family who were supposed to love her unconditionally.

My thoughts are interrupted when Nadia spins and marches toward me

“Here, Valeska needs your help,” she says softly. “Make it fast, as we don’t have a lot of time.”

She steps back, giving me a bit of space.

I take the phone, and before I can ask what’s going on, the screen clicks on, and I see her. She looks disheveled and confused and it’s the best sight I’ve seen all fucking week.

Sabrina.

* * *

SAbrINA

I wake with a hand over my mouth and a shadow leaning over me.

Panic hits me like a gunshot. My limbs jerk before my brain catches up. Then I hear it—a soft female voice. My eyes widen to find eyes boring into mine, sharp and focused.

“Don’t scream,” she whispers. “It’s me, Valeska.” She watches me intently. “Please nod to say you understand. Sabrina, if you scream, the guards will come and you’ll ruin everything.”

My muscles freeze, breath stuttering beneath her hand. I nod.

“What is going on?” My breath is labored, and my heart is pounding like a trapped bird.

She pulls back, not giving me a direct answer. “We don’t have long. My girlfriend’s arranged to help get us out here.”

“What?” I blink at her. My brain is still fuzzy from sleep, and I’m still not sure if I’m dreaming. “Who is your girlfriend, and why would she want to help me?” My voice cracks.

“I don’t have time to get into all this right now,” Valeska says again, quietly but with a steel edge. “I promise you I’ll explain everything later. Right now, we need to move.”

I narrow my eyes as the sleep fog finally clears and my mind catches up. “How do I know this isn’t another test? Some loyalty trap from your daddy?”

She doesn’t argue or even get defensive. She just sighs like she expected this. Then reaches behind her back and pulls out a phone.

“I figured you’d need proof.”

Valeska presses a button. The screen lights up—and my heart stumbles.

“Oleksi?” His name tumbles from lips poured out from my heart.

His face fills the screen; his eyes squint to see me in the dim cell light. He looks like he hasn’t slept in days. “Jesus. Sabrina… baby, it’s good to see you.”

My throat burns. And then, out of fucking nowhere, my eyes sting. My nose runs and before I can stop them tears are streaming down my face like my eyes sprung a fucking leak. Jesus—No! I never cry. I’m not that girl.

But right now, I am.

“No, baby,” Oleksi breathes into the phone. I see his face crumple with concern as he reaches out to the screen. “Don’t cry, sweetheart. Valeska’s there to get you out. Go with her. We’re waiting just outside to take you home. I love you.”

The line cuts right then leaving me stunned.

Did he just say I love you? I can’t breathe. My chest squeezes like someone wrung out my heart with bare hands.

“First time?” Valeska asks softly beside me.

I blink at her. “What?”

“First time he said it?” She gives me a little smile. “You know the first time he said I love you?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“Then come on. Let’s get you out of here so you can say it back properly.”

Valeska helps me up, leans down, and picks up a pair of sturdy boots. “Get these on. And this.” She pulls a warm coat from the bottom of the bed and helps me up while I swipe at the waterworks dampening my cheeks.

“Sorry… I don’t know why I?—”

“It’s okay,” she says. “We all break at times.”

I pull on the boots and jacket, then reach beneath the pillow on the bed to pull out the candy bar she’d left for me. “Thanks for these, by the way. They came in handy.”

“You’re welcome,” Valeska replies. “Now let’s get the fuck out of here.”

We slip into the hall. The lights are low. Doors closed. It’s eerily quiet—like the place is holding its breath, hoping we don’t get caught as we navigate the corridors. I follow her down a side stairwell I didn’t even know existed. The metal creaks under our boots, and each step seems a little too loud, like it knows we’re running.

We’re almost to the exit when we hear it.

Footsteps and they’re coming fast and heavy.

“Fuck,” Valeska whispers as she looks over my shoulder. “It’s him.”

Before I can even process who ‘him' is, she shoves me into a shadowed alcove and steps out into the corridor.

“Out for a stroll?” I hear a deep voice say to her in Russian. I peer around the wall. There is a tall, blonde, handsome man staring down at Valeska.

“I thought you weren’t due back until tomorrow?” Valeska’s voice is defiant, but also a hint of fear. I see him take a step closer to her, and she stiffens.

“I came back earlier to see my favorite girl,” his voice lowers, becoming seductive. His hand slips into her waistband, yanking her closer. “I haven’t had a good fuck in days and I’m so fucking horny right now.” He starts pawing at her breasts and leaning in to kiss her throat. “I want to plow my cock into every hole you have until you're screaming and begging me for mercy like you always do…” He starts rubbing himself against her.

“Stop!” Valeska tries to push him away. “You’re disgusting."

“You love it, you fucking whore and you know it.” His hand grabs her crotch, and he squeezes it.

“You’re hurting me.” Valeska tries to push him away again, but he grabs her and crushes his lips to hers. “Mikhail… stop!”

I freeze and instinctively draw back into the shadow—Mikhail, Valeska’s brother? My stomach lurches… what the fuck.

“Stop I said,” Valeska says more forcefully right before Mikhail yelps.

“You fucking bitch—you bit me?”

I hear the slap and the thud. My head turns to see Valeska drop to the ground.

Before I can stop myself, I launch out of my hiding place. “Leave her alone you fucking pervert!” I ram the full force of my five-foot-four frame into him, and he barely moves an inch.

And I feel like I’ve just hit a fucking brick wall. My vision swims for a few seconds. Mikhail becomes a blur of movement, reaching to grab me by the arm and dragging me toward him.

“And who do we have here?” he sneers, voice curling like smoke. “A new pet for me to play with.” He draws in a breath as his leery eyes rake over my body. “You’re tiny, aren’t you?”

I twist, kick, and try to claw at him.

But he just laughs, holding me like I’m a mere feather, and compared to him, I feel like one. He’s stronger. So fucking much stronger.

He slams me into the wall. My head cracks back against the concrete, and stars burst in my vision. One hand wraps around my throat. The other claws at my shirt, lifting as his hands seek out my breasts. Fear courses through me, and still I try to fight, squirm away from his hands, but he leans into me.

“You’re so small and feisty,” he purrs. “Good. I love that. It’s going to be such fun breaking you in.” He rams his rock hard cock against me. “I bet your pussy is so fucking tight that my huge cock is going to rip you in half when I fuck the shit out of you.”

I thrash beneath him, scream again, even as his hands grope my chest. Fingers bruising. Pain flashing. “Oh God your tits are so firm.”

He squeezes one of them again, and the pain rips through me. My breasts are so sensitive from being pregnant that I feel the bile rise in my throat.

“Get the fuck off me!” I squirm again and again, but he just leans harder against me and starts to grind into me, his mouth crushing against mine. I’m trying to move my lips away and keep them from opening, but he forces them and I feel his teeth grind against my lips and taste blood in my mouth.

My breathing becomes labored as his weight is crushing into my chest. I start to feel dizzy, and then there’s a sound.

A crack. Like a bone breaking.

He stumbles.

I turn and see Valeska standing behind him with a metal pipe.

She swings again. This time, the blow sends Mikhail to his knees. Valeska doesn’t stop. Over and over—she beats his body like she’s exorcising a demon.

And maybe she is.

He goes down, blood pouring from his temple.

She kicks him in the ribs. Once. Twice.

“Feel better?” I rasp, still catching my breath.

She spits on his unconscious or possibly dead body. “A little.”

We don’t waste another second. We limp-run down the hallway, turning corner after corner.

“Just a few more feet and through that manhole into the tunnel.” Valeska points to a metal cover sticking up from the ground in front of us.

We have to creep along the wall to keep from being caught by the spotlight swinging across the grounds. We’re almost to the maintenance hole when the alarm howls to life, loud and sharp.

We turn, and my blood runs cold—Mikhail is shouting and barking orders to the guards.

“He’s still breathing,” I gasp.

“Obviously, I didn’t hit him hard enough,” she growls. “Quick.”

We make a dash for the maintenance hole that is already open. “I see you’re prepared.”

She nods, pulling it back and letting me go first before dropping down behind me.

The metal lid slams shut, and she switches the flashlight on her phone, leading the way through whatever sludge is squelching beneath my boots. But at this point, I don’t even care, especially if freedom is just ahead, and I would karate chop my way through thick cobwebs right now to get there.

Soon, we clear the tunnel and double-time it toward the southeast exit, through another small, pipe-like tunnel with a round wooden door at the end, which Valeska kicks open. Then there it is—freedom.

As I pop out of the pipe behind her, I freeze when a woman steps out of the darkness. My eyes widen with shock.

“Irina!”

“No.” She shakes her head. “Nadia. I’m Irina’s twin.”

Before I can say more, Valeska flies into her arms, and they embrace, sharing a passionate kiss. I step back toward the tunnel we’ve just popped out of to offer them some space. Then, nearly get the life scared out of me when someone else appears out of the darkness.

Syd!

“For fuck sake!” I hiss, holding my chest where my heart nearly jumped out through my throat.

“We’ve got them,” Syd says into her earpiece, then steps forward and does something so unlike Syd—she hugs me. “What was I supposed to do? Knock?” She chuckles. “It’s so good to see you.”

As my nerves start to untangle, Syd moves away. I’m about to ask where the rest of the team was or if there was a rest of the team. As I’m not sure if I dreamed it or not, but I could have sworn I spoke to Oleksi right before our escape.

As I open my mouth, I see Syd lurch toward me. Confusion spirals through me, and once again, fear explodes in my chest when an arm like a steel band wraps around my waist and a large hand grips my throat. Syd goes for her gun.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Mikhail warns Syd, looking pointedly at her gun. “I can snap her neck like a twig before you have a chance to pull the trigger.”

“Let her go!” Valeska hisses.

“You didn’t think you’d get away that easily, did you?” he hisses into my ear. “Pretty new little pet.”

“Let her go!” Valeska shouts again in Russian.

“I don’t think so.” He laughs. “I’m not about to let either of you go.” His eyes land on Nadia. “Hello, Nadia.”

I see her visibly stiffen, and the flicker of fear flitters through her eyes. But she raises her chin, not breaking eye contact with the sick bastard.

“Let her go, Mikhail,” Nadia orders. “You’re not going to win tonight.”

“I think I already have.” He looks at Syd, then snorts nastily at his sister. “You are a fucking little idiot aren’t you?” He shakes his head in disgust. “You bring two little women to rescue you.” He laughs. Then turns to them. “You two are welcome to come back with us. There is plenty of me to go around.”

“Why don’t you let Sabrina go and come over here to show us what you’re made of, asshole.” Syd takes a step forward.

“Don’t.” Nadia blocks her. Her voice shakes. “You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

Mikhail grins. His eyes rake over Nadia like filth.

“That’s right, Nadia, tell them,” he taunts. “Tell them how I was the first dick you ever had. How I had you screaming and begging…”

“Shut up,” Valeska snaps. “I should have killed you back there.”

“You didn’t swing hard enough earlier,” he says, tightening his grip. My lungs burn. My vision blurs as he starts to cut off my oxygen, and all I can think of is my baby. “I always told you, you’re pathetic at everything you do, except spreading your legs.”

“Shut up, you fucking…” Nadia’s eyes blaze fire, and I see her hand reach behind her back, but this time, Syd’s the one who stops her.

Happy with his victory over them, Mikhail turns his attention back to Valeska.

“Now, Val, I’m not going to tell you again. Get back into the compound. I will give you five seconds to comply or I’ll snap her neck.”

I can’t swallow as his grip tightens to prove he's not joking. I can feel my face turning red. I can’t even grip his hand as he has my arms pinned to my sides. “Five. Four. Three.”

“Okay!” Valeska’s voice breaks.

She steps forward.

“No,” I croak. “Valeska, don’t.”

“It’s okay, Sabrina.” Valeska’s eyes go blank as she gives me a sad smile. “I’m sorry.”

“Not… your…” I’m struggling to draw breath as his cruel fingers dig into my throat, and Valeska brushes past me.

“Well ladies, it’s been fun, but I’m fucking horny and I have two bitches that I need to teach a lesson,” Mikhail tells them he takes a step back and I feel his body jerk as if he’d been stung along with a noise that sound like like gravel scraping metal—once, twice, three times.

Then Mikhail jerks again. I feel a warm trickle run down my back as his grip slackens.

I stumble forward.

A hiss escapes his lips. “You bitch?—”

I turn to see him stumble. Blood is pooling from his side. Valeska steps forward with a bloody dagger in her hand. Her face is pale and void of all emotion as she watches him. Still, Mikhail tries to lunge toward Valeska. A gunshot echoes like thunder through the still night. The bullet hits Mikhail dead center between his eyes.

He drops.

Dead weight. Then there is nothing but a heavy silence.

I stand staring at his lifeless body and wide, blank staring eyes.

“You’ll never touch anyone again,” Nadia says, stepping forward with the still-smoking gun in her hand. Her eyes, like Valeska's, have no remorse for what they’ve done as they stare at Mikhail's lifeless, bloodied body.

Valeska kneels beside him and touches his throat.

“He’s dead,” she says quietly.

“You sure?” I ask. The words tumbling from lips that feel numb. My brain seems to have left my mouth on autopilot as more stupid words escape. “The last time he got up. Like the fucking Terminator.”

Valeksa nods but feels for a pulse once again. “Not even genetic enhancements have a chance against a bullet.”

“Unless they’re a cyborg.” More fucking stupid words spew from my mouth and I shove my hand over my lips feeling something sticky on my fingertips. I look at them—blood!

Just then, I hear my name yelled from the dark.

“Sabrina!”

I turn and see him.

Oleksi.

He’s running toward me, face drawn tight, eyes locked on mine like I’m the only thing that matters in this entire fucked-up world.

And for the first time in days, as he wraps his arms around me, lifting me effortlessly off the ground and crushing his lips to mine. The pain fades away, and I feel like I can finally breathe again after five days of holding my breath.