Page 131 of Dual

It’s wrong of me to be doing this while pregnant. Red and I have had to stifle Anna more and more as the summer’s gone on. She about shits herself anytime we agree to go on another one of these dangerous missions. We should let Domhnall send in someone else, she keeps arguing. But who? Who else would we trust? One of Isaak’s men? Some other Navy SEAL?

Yeah, nope. Sorry, but our unique bit of crazy gives us not only the skills but the motivation to see this all the way through without wimping out.

Even if I feel myself slipping off the rails and becoming more animal than human some days. Ishouldbe afraid that it feelsgoodto give control over to Red. Ishouldworry about whether or not I’ll really be any sort of whole person at the end of this?—

But just then, the first guard appears around a bend, and I feel the familiar shift as Red takes control.

RED

My body moveswith lethal precision despite its altered center of gravity, the knife sliding between his ribs before the man can even register my presence. I lower his body carefully, making no sound.

The second guard is harder. I toss my night vision goggles behind my back right as I see him manage to light a candle. His eyes widen in surprise and he reaches for a weapon when he sees me coming.

I hold my hands up, well, one hand up, pressing the other to my large belly, and cry, as if in distress, “Pomogite! Svet!”Help! The lights!

He lets out a barrage of Russian at me, waving his gun as I continue waddling toward him, wailing. It’s too late before he realizes the overexaggerated waddle is an act. My garrote is already around his throat.

Four more bodies litter the tunnel before I reach the mainfacility. Each kill is clean and efficient. These men chose their side when they decided to traffic innocent girls. And when they chose to threaten my family.

The central chamber opens up before me—a converted cave system lined with modern amenities. Kozlov sits behind a massive desk, flanked by six armed men. He’s older than his photos suggested, with silver hair and cold eyes that have seen too much death to be surprised by me. Two half-dressed girls are chained to the wall nearby, but I don’t let my eyes linger. It’s enough to know that Mads’s guess was correct. There are innocents here amongst the guilty.

“Ah,” he says in accented English, “a pregnant assassin. You know, I was expecting someone more... intimidating.”

I step into the light, hands raised in apparent surrender. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“Oh, you haven’t. Not yet.” His smile is reptilian. “Do you know how much your head is worth? How many people want you dead?”

“Probably about as many as want you dead.” I take another step forward. “Funny how that works.”

The men shift nervously, unsure how to handle a heavily pregnant woman who speaks like she’s in control. That hesitation will cost them.

“You killed Pavel,” Kozlov continues conversationally. “Messy business, that. He was useful.”

“He was a rabid dog. I put him down.”

“And now you think you can do the same to me?” Kozlov laughs, a sound like broken glass. “You’re outnumbered,outgunned, and—forgive me”—his eyes skirt down my body—“hardly in fighting condition.”

That’s when gunfire erupts from the tunnel behind me, and I enjoy the shocked expression on Kozlov’s face for a brief millisecond before I dive for cover.

It’s Ian McKenzie appearing from the same tunnel I did, his rifle cutting down two of Kozlov’s men before they can react.

The rope ties I used on him were good quality, but it doesn’t matter the quality when you tie the knots loose enough for any Navy SEAL worth his salt to get free from, especially one with a sister to avenge.

I never intended to come to this mountain for a face-to-face like this. I spent the afternoon placing charges across the mountain. One press of a button andboom—an avalanche would have buried this entire resort.

But running across Ian out there made Mads wonder if he’d come this far, then maybe his sister wasn’t dead after all. Maybe she was here, inside, and?—

“Chloe, get down!” Ian shouts as the chamber explodes into chaos.

I drop behind the desk as bullets fly, coldly calculating the action playing out in front of me. Ian’s covering fire gives me the opening I need.

I move like water, flowing around obstacles and using my apparent vulnerability as a weapon. The first man I reach tries to grab me gently, probably thinking about my large belly. Oversensitive fool. His compassion gets him a knife inthe kidney.

The second learns from his colleague’s mistake and lifts his gun to kill me. But pregnant doesn’t mean slow, and I’m inside his guard before he can fire, his own weapon turning against him.

Ian and I work in deadly synchronization, two predators with a common goal. One of the girls at the wall lets out terrified, ear-splitting screams as we work, but neither of us is distracted. Ian’s military precision complements my lethal artistry, and within minutes, only Kozlov remains.

He’s wounded, bleeding from a shot to the chest, but still alive when I walk over to him. His eyes hold no fear, only calculating malice.