Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
“Keep talking, and I’ll shoot you,” he warns.
The words sting more than any physical blow. My stomach twists. I glance down, fighting to keep the tears from spilling. I can’t let him see me break.
We keep walking. The forest opens into a small clearing, moonlight pooling across wet leaves. My legs can’t take much more. I stumble again, and this time I don’t try to move. What’s the point?
“Get up,” he commands coldly.
I don’t move. I’m too tired. My whole body is shaking.
He presses the gun under my chin and forces me to look at him.
“Get up, Mari,” he says again, quieter this time.
But I don’t. It’s my last act of defiance. Honestly, I don’t think my body could move even if I tried. He presses his gun against the back of my head. I’m so tired. I just want this to be over. I’m not going to help him. I’m not going to betray Lev like that. So I stare straight ahead, refusing to cooperate.
28
LEV
The woods close in. Every branch looks like a blade, every shadow a threat. Fog hangs thick, and my men move through it in near silence, radios muted to clicks. Moonlight slices between the trees in thin slivers. Somewhere ahead, Mari’s footprints go shallow. She’s slowing. Or she’s hurt.
We’ve been tracking for almost an hour. Her trail isn’t easy, but it’s there if you know how to look. Bent grass. Blood on a stone. Torn moss where she caught herself. Marcus’s prints overlap hers here and there, larger and deeper. He’s pushing hard to catch her. He’s not far.
“Ridge team,” I whisper into the radio. “Status?”
“I’ve got a visual on fresh prints,” Pavel says. “Heading southeast toward the clearing. He’s closing in.”
My jaw tightens.
“Hold your line. No engagement until my signal.”
I shut off the radio and motion for Yuri to follow. We move quickly and quietly, our steps falling into rhythm. Every sound in the woods could be her. Or him. My heart hammers so hard Yuri can probably hear it. I’ve raided enemy compounds with steadier hands than this. I’ve never had to fight so hard for someone I care about.
A faint echo cuts through the stillness. It’s Marcus’s voice, low and furious. I can’t make out his words, but he’s close enough that I can hear the anger. I signal my men. Two flank left, two right. I keep Yuri with me.
We crest a rise and crouch behind a line of pines. Below us, the trees open into a clearing slick with fog. Moonlight catches on something metallic near the center. It’s Marcus’s gun. Marcus stands over Mari, who’s collapsed on the ground. The barrel of his gun is pressed to her head. I can’t tell if she’s conscious. Her jacket is torn. She looks exhausted, like she’s been running for hours. But she’s alive.
My lungs finally expand. Relief hits like a punch. I just have to get to her before he hurts her even more. Seeing her like that, so helpless, so completely out of steam, turns any relief I feel into rage. What the hell has he put her through today?
Yuri spots the angle before I do.
“We can’t get a clean shot from here,” he murmurs. “Let’s get closer, see if we can take him out.”
I nod once. We move low, careful not to disturb the brush. Every step feels like crossing a minefield. I keep my eyes on Marcus. His movements are erratic. He’s talking too much, pacing. He’s unraveling.
When we’re thirty meters out, I stop. I need him to see me first. I stand slowly, stepping into the faint light. His head jerks toward me, and he grabs Mari from the ground, pulling her up so she’s a shield between us. He trains the gun on her head, and it takes everything in me not to shoot him right there.
“Marcus,” I call out evenly. “It’s over.”
He laughs, a sharp, bitter sound. “It isn’t over until I say it’s over,” he says, his voice a little hysterical.
He drags her back another step, gun still trained on her head.
“Stay where you are, Lev, or I swear to God I’ll blow her brains out.”
I keep my voice calm, though it takes every fiber of my self-control.
“You’re surrounded. I’ve got men in the trees, more on the ridge. You pull that trigger, and you don’t make it another three seconds.”
“Bullshit,” he sneers. “You won’t risk me killing her.”
I take one step closer. “You’ve never understood me, and that’s where you’ve fucked up your whole plan.”
He smirks. “I understand plenty. You think you can scare me? I’ve got the Kozlovs and the Petrovs on my side. You’ll be dead by morning. They’ll burn your whole operation to the ground.”
I hear Yuri shift behind me, waiting for the word I haven’t given. My eyes stay locked on Marcus. He wants me off balance. He wants me angry. What he doesn’t understand is that I know how to keep my emotions in check when my back is against the wall.