“Hold on,” Artyom grits, yanking the wheel.
We swerve again. Tires scream against the asphalt. The world narrows into blurs of motion. I grip the seat with white knuckles, blood roaring in my ears.
I’m back there again—Geliy grabbing his gun, me screaming, the smell of gasoline and burnt rubber thick in the air.
“There’s protection under the seat!” Artyom yells.
“Protection?”
He locks eyes with me. “Just in case, Miss.”
“I can’t...” Guns terrify me, especially since Viktor was shot. “Just get us somewhere safe—please!”
He doesn’t question my reluctance and takes a hard left onto an access road behind a construction site, kicking up a cloud of dust and gravel. It’s deserted—nothing but fencing and the skeleton of a future shopping complex. Steel beams jut into the sky like ribs torn from a giant’s chest.
We’re boxed in on three sides.
One way in.
And only one way out.
Artyom hits the brakes, throws open the door, grabs his gun. He aims at the SUV barreling toward us. It brakes harshly, sliding into a skid and screeching to a stop ten feet away.
The doors fly open.
Three men leap out. Big. Burly. Not amateurs. Not randoms.
I grip my leather seat, grabbing under it until I feel cold metal. It’s heavier than I remember.
Artyom crouches behind the door and aims. “Get down!” he roars at me.
I do as told. Let the gun fall to my feet as I duck.
Artyom’s first shots crack like thunder, echoing off a steel beam.
My mind drifts back to that car chase with Geliy. That danger. That all-consuming panic I felt then and am feeling again now.
What kind of world have I stepped into so willingly again?
What kind of world did I ignore because I thought I was safe?
And have I ever been truly safe with Viktor?
The sound of gunfire is rapid. It keeps coming. Artyom curses as he reloads.
I chance a look—one man is down.
But it’s not enough.
Terror claws at me. I squeeze my eyes shut.
Did I really think it ended with Gennady?
A bitter sound bubbles up my throat, but I swallow it down.
A squeal of tires tears through the air.
My head lifts just in time to see another SUV racing in behind the first.
