Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Years past, I would’ve come here with guns blazing. I would’ve killed every single man on board this vessel and made sure their names were stricken from the world as if they had never existed. My fury would’ve been indescribable.
Rosie changed everything.
She’s a priority bigger than myself. She’s bigger than my organization. Fuck my title, fuck my people, fuck the money and the drugs and the power. My daughter is more important than all that.
Medved knew it, and he used her against me.
The bastard’s always been clever.
But this is too far, even for him.
Elias looks sad as he turns to meet my gaze. “Forgive me, Massimo,” he whispers, too quiet for me to hear, but I can read his lips.
Satya frowns down at him in confusion.
Until the old hidden Dragon attacks.
Elias launches himself at Satya’s legs. He grabs onto her as she screams and loses her balance, toppling sideways. She slams into the railing and would’ve gone over if it weren’t for Elias’s weight keeping her legs down. She clutches Rosie tighter as he draws something from a pocket of his thick, heavy insulated pants.
He stabs a knife into Satya’s stomach over and over.
Nobody thought to check the legless old man for a weapon.
But Dragons are always dangerous, even if their talons get clipped.
Satya screams in horror. I run for them, sprinting as fast as I can. Nobody moves, not even Medved. It all happens so fast, and they must be stunned to see poor dying Elias use the last of his strength to murder an old woman.
Blood splatters everywhere. Elias keeps stabbing and stabbing as Satya tries to get away the only possible direction she can.
Over the railing.
“No!” I shout, my legs pumping, arms reaching, but it’s like I’m struggling through glue. Satya’s weight shifts as she pulls herself from Elias, but the old Dragon keeps clinging on as suddenly their center of gravity changes direction.
It’s not over the deck anymore.
Rosie’s wailing as Satya tips off the edge. Elias clings to her, the pair of them plummeting down, one moment suspended on the edge and the next—
Nothing but clear air.
“Enzo!” I scream into my microphone. “Hit it now!”
The deck comes to life. Guns crack, and Medved’s shouting in Russian as I launch myself at the inky black water, chasing after my daughter. I don’t see anyone down below as I dive after them. Bullets spray around me for only a few moments until there’s an explosion on the forward section, blowing the massive gun to pieces.
Shrapnel falls all around me. I hit the water like a blade, sliding down into the dimness, forcing my eyes open despite the salt burning them.
Rosie, Rosie, Rosie, where the fuck is Rosie? I swim, kicking hard, shedding layers to make it easier to move. I don’t see them, don’t see anything. It’s all chaos and debris down here, and the water makes it so hard to see.
But then there’s a flash. Light reflects off a knife down to my left.
Elias is still in the water. He’s holding onto Satya, dragging her down as she struggles to swim, blood spilling from her wounds, guts and intestines streaming behind her like a tether.
Floating above them is Rosie.
I swim hard. I’ve never swum so fast in my life. I reach my daughter in several powerful kicks and drag her to the surface. She sputters, coughing, and instantly starts to scream.
Which is good. She was only under for a few seconds at most.
But it’s bad since now the whole fucking boat knows where we are.
“I’ve got you, baby.” I kick, swimming for my vessel. It’s still tethered off to the side. More explosions rock the water. Screaming men throw themselves overboard, at least one of them very much on fire. He hits the water with a hiss.
I don’t see Satya or Elias. I can’t imagine the old Dragon can swim very well without legs. If I don’t dive down for him, I’m not sure the old man will survive.
But he knew what he was doing when he attacked Satya.
I’m not a praying man, but I’ll hold Elias in my dreams until my dying day for what he just did.
I reach the boat and heave myself on board. Rosie’s drenched and crying, her lips blue with cold. I find an emergency blanket in a first aid kit and wrap her tightly. “We’re going home.”
The sky is filled with drones. They buzz, bombing the boat. Medved’s men are attacking back, and dozens of the whirling quadcopters flutter into the water, pinging down beneath the surface.
I turn the engine to full and aim our nose back the way we came as another swarm of drones descends to act as cover.
“Got your back,” Enzo says through my earpiece, which miraculously survived the dive. Must be some waterproof shit. “Keep going.”
“Elias is still in the water.”