Page 99 of Hunt Me

Nikolai appears in the doorway. Erik and Dmitri flank him immediately, a wall of Ivanov presence that suddenly makes the medical room feel smaller.

“You’re not meeting them alone,” Nikolai says. It’s not a question.

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“Good.” Dmitri crosses his arms. “Because this reeks of an ambush.”

Erik, who lives and breathes this kind of thing, moves to the window, checking sight lines. “Location?”

I pull up the coordinates on my phone. “Federal Building. Downtown Boston. Public space.”

“Public means witnesses,” Sofia says, standing by her husband’s side. “Harder to disappear people.”

“Unless they have warrants ready.” Iris touches her bandaged shoulder. “Federal jurisdiction. They could arrest us the moment we walk in.”

“Not if we control the narrative first.” I open a new window and start typing. “We leak portions of the Nightshade files, but only strategic pieces. We leak enough to make journalists ask questions and ensure the story is too big to bury.”

Nikolai’s eyes narrow, seeing the play immediately. “Insurance.”

“Exactly.” My fingers move across the keyboard. “Three major outlets. Encrypted packages. Time-delayed release unless we cancel the upload after the meeting—we will give them that chance.”

“How long?” Dmitri moves closer to watch my screen.

“Six hours after the meeting.” I finish the code. “Plenty of time if negotiations go well. Not enough time for them to stop it if things go south.”

Iris’s hand finds mine, squeezing tight. “They’ll know what we’re doing.”

“Good.” I squeeze back. “Let them sweat.”

The room falls silent except for my typing.

Sofia tilts her head. “So, what do we do in the meantime?”

I close the laptop and look at the faces surrounding me. My brothers. Sofia. Iris. Tash and Katarina. My family, and the people I’d burn the world down for. The people I’d already started burning it down for.

“We eat,” I say. “And we make sure Maya’s okay. We give ourselves eighteen hours to be human before we walk into the lion’s den.”

Nikolai raises an eyebrow. “That’s your plan?”

“Best one I’ve got.” I stand, helping Iris to her feet. “We’ve got eighteen hours until anyone can do anything. Might as well not waste them sober.”

“Finally.” Dmitri heads for the door. “A suggestion I can get behind.”

Erik grunts his agreement.

The compound’s dining room could seat thirty. We claim one end of the massive table.

Dmitri raids the wine cellar, bringing four bottles that probably cost more than most people’s cars.

“Starting strong.” Tash accepts a glass. “I like it.”

“We’re either celebrating survival or our last meal.” Dmitri pours with a heavy hand. “Either way, might as well drink the good stuff.”

Erik’s already in the kitchen, and he returns a few minutes later with containers from the commercial fridge. “Someone ordered Italian earlier this week.”

“That was me.” Katarina takes the heated-up lasagna from him. “Before everything went to hell.”

“Seems like a lifetime ago.” Sofia accepts wine from Nikolai. “When was that? Tuesday?”