Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65104 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65104 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Radimir floors it, the engine snarling as we tear through the streets. My eyes are locked on the road ahead, every muscle in my body coiled and ready to rip apart whatever stands between Lyra and me.
Minutes stretch into something unbearable. The road forks, and I spot faint tire marks veering right.
“There!” I bark.
We take the turn so fast I’m thrown against the door. The SUV fishtails before it straightens, the headlights catching nothing but empty asphalt and shadows.
I know before Radimir says it. We’ve lost them.
The admission burns worse than any wound I’ve ever taken. My fist slams into the dashboard hard enough to crack the plastic, and I curse, the sound raw in my throat.
“Don’t stop,” I snarl. “They can’t be far.”
We keep going, combing every street, every alley. I call back to headquarters, my voice clipped and cold as I order the rest of my men to sweep the city.
“I want eyes everywhere. Cameras, traffic feeds, street contacts, everything. If a rat crawls out of a hole tonight, I want to know which direction it’s running.”
The replies come in rapid Russian, and I end the call without waiting for more than confirmation. My mind is already racing ahead, running through every possible angle. Where would they take her? What would they do first? My hands clench into fists again, nails biting into my palms.
We go straight back to headquarters and start laying out strategy. All our plans for Rurik are secondary now. He has her, so our timeline moves up. The task is finding him, rescuing Lyra, and putting an end to this once and for all.
I send one group of men to start checking license plates at abandoned warehouses across the city. Another group is tasked with calling hospitals and making sure no one matching Lyra’s description is brought in. It’s a slim chance that Rurik will go that route, but I won’t risk leaving any stone unturned.
Worst-case scenario, they’re holding her hostage and they’re going to torture her. I’ve been in this business long enough to know what men like the Vasilievs do to women they take. That thought alone is enough to make my vision blur at the edges. But this isn’t just any woman. She’s the love of my life and the mother of my child.
That makes this fucking personal.
I don’t just want her back. I want to make them wish they’d never been born. I want to burn down every building they’ve ever set foot in and salt the ashes.
Once everyone has an assignment, Radimir, Alek, and I get back into one of the SUVs and start combing the streets again. Everyone has orders to inform me the second they have even the slightest whiff of a lead. I don’t care how small or unimportant it might seem. Anything that could bring me closer to Lyra is worth investigating.
A few calls come in throughout the night, and we check every single tip we receive, but nothing pans out. With every failed tip, I feel my dread start to grow. I have to get her back. I promised to protect her and our child. Now I’ve probably gotten her killed, or worse.
Radimir glances at me as we speed toward the next possible location. “Boss, we’ll find her,” he says in a voice I’m sure is meant to be reassuring.
“We’d better,” I mutter. My voice is steady, but there’s a storm of anguish and fury building underneath.
The phone rings again. Alek answers, speaking rapidly before hanging up.
“We’ve got chatter,” he says. “One of our guys picked up something on the Vasiliev frequency. They’re talking about moving someone tonight. No name, but…”
“It’s her,” I finish for him. It has to be.
Radimir pushes the SUV harder, weaving through late-night traffic. The tires scream around corners, and I keep my eyes on the road, scanning for any sign of that car. Every second counts, and every second she’s out there feels like a failure that digs deeper into my gut.
“Get more men to that location,” I order. “And tell them to keep eyes on it until we get there. No one goes in without me.”
Alek relays the message, and I sit back for half a second, forcing myself to breathe. I can’t go in there wild. Not if she’s inside. I need to be smart, precise. The rage will have to wait until she’s safe before I can unleash it.
Still, the image of her, blindfolded, gagged, and scared, burns behind my eyes. I don’t know if it’s the truth or my own mind torturing me, but it doesn’t matter. Either way, it fuels me.
They don’t know what they’ve done.
25
LYRA
They shove me from one surface to another until I lose the map of my own body. Rough hands clamp my elbows and grip my hair when I stumble. Boot soles scrape, drag across concrete, then metal. A hollow thud announces the van’s step under my feet again, the engine vibrating through the floor. Russian wraps around me the entire time, a river of hard syllables and clipped orders that runs together until it stops being words.