Page 150 of Fallen Empire

“Boss, what the fuck happened?” one of them demanded.

Aleksei didn’t even glance their way. “My new friend decided to have a little fun.”

The words turned my stomach, but not as much as what came next. Nothing. No outrage. No grief. They stepped around the fallen like they were stepping over trash bags, their expressions unreadable.

It was sickening. These men didn’t care that their brothers lay in pools of blood at their feet. They didn’t care about the lives lost, only the orders still to come.

This was Aleksei’s team. Soldiers built on arrogance, not loyalty. They didn’t fight for each other, only for the man who made them believe they couldn’t be touched.

Nothing like Jaxson and Ben.

I’d watched them work. They trusted each other, protected each other. And god forbid one of them ended up like the men I’d just taken out—Jaxson and Ben would burn the world down to make it right.

Aleksei flicked his hand toward one of the men. “Get him off her.”

The man stepped forward, snatching the gun out of my hand before grabbing the dead weight of the body pinning me down and dragging it away. His blood had already soaked through my clothes, hot and sticky, clinging to my skin. The coppery scent filled my nose, thick and metallic, coating the back of my throat until I wanted to gag.

Aleksei’s hand closed around my arm, yanking me to my feet. At least this time, it wasn’t by the hair.

Across the room, Savannah’s eyes locked on mine.

We didn’t need words.

No begging. No promises.

Just a silent understanding. Whatever it took, we were getting out of here alive.

Aleksei glanced at one of the men. “Bring another chair.”

The order was carried out in seconds. A chair scraped across the floor and was shoved beside Savannah’s. Aleksei’s hand clamped on my shoulder, forcing me down until I hit the seat.

Someone stepped behind me, rough hands jerking my arms back. Rope bit into my wrists as they bound me tight. I didn’t bother struggling. There was no point. I’d lost the advantage the second I pulled that trigger. Anything I did now would earn me more pain, and Aleksei had a thousand ways to deliver it.

When the man finally stepped away, I gave a single tug on the rope. Just enough to see if there was any give. There wasn’t.

My mind spun, sifting through every possible move, every word I could say to claw my way back to some kind of upper hand. It had to be something that would stick. Something that would dig under his skin and stay there.

And then I knew.

I turned my head just enough to meet his eyes. My voice was steady, cold.

“When they come for us—and they will—they’ll do what they’ve done for years. They’ll take what you think belongs to you. And leave your little soldiers in the wake.”

I saw it—the moment my words struck. A slight curl of his upper lip into a snarl before he straightened to his full height.

The same blade from before lifted above his head, catching the dim light, before it slammed down into my thigh. The pain tore through me like fire, stealing the air from my lungs. The scream that ripped free was instinct, uncontrollable, dragged from somewhere deep inside me.

“I believe the two of you are my most prized possessions anyway, Millicent,” he said, his voice almost reverent. “This will be the most fun I’ve had in my entire life.”

Instead of twisting the blade like he had with Savannah, he yanked it toward himself. My flesh tore open in its wake, hot blood pouring down my leg. My vision blurred and bile clawed its way up my throat. I tried to fight the darkness creeping in—for Savannah’s sake. But the pain surging through my body consumed me.

And I gave in to the silence.

Chapter 31

Ben

The gunshot cracked through the air, but the sound wasn’t what gutted me.