I’m in nothing but boxer briefs. My bare feet make it easier to creep across the floor, and the lack of clothing gives me freedom of movement as I hide against the wall, peeking into the kitchen.
I do as Killian taught me, choosing the darkest shadows and keeping my eyelids low as I peak around the corner and into the kitchen.
The stairwell is our weakest point.
The locks should hold, but then again, if that were true, someone would not have made it into the stairwell to begin with.
I don’t see anything or anyone, so I crouch down, making my way to the door. There is a plate glass door at the very top of the door, added recently because I wanted to be able to see into the stairway. Most of the time, it’s fogged. But when the building goes into lockdown, the glass goes clear.
But as I slowly stand to check the stairs, another face appears on the other side of the glass. Sver.
I’d recognize his piercing green eyes anywhere.
I snarl, locking eyes with the fucker. “You.”
He stares back, his eyes ice cold. “I want Sasha.”
“Over my dead body.” The glass is bulletproof, as is the door, but energy still runs down my arm to the pistol in my hand.
“That can be arranged,” he answers and then reaches for the lever.
The door starts to open, and I push it back closed, giving a snarling roar as I press my weight against it.
I don’t know how he bypassed the locks, but to get into this apartment, he’s got to outmuscle me and that isn’t happening.
The door slams shut again. I feel him push, but I don’t budge. “The guards are seconds from charging the stairwell,” I say as I hold firm. “You can’t shoot your way in, and like I said, I’ll die holding this door before I let you touch one hair on her head.”
Just like that, he stops pushing. “Not even one?”
What kind of fucked up shit is he talking about? I’m not being fooled into taking my weight off the door. “There isn’t anything I won’t do to keep her safe. You remember that, motherfucker.” I keep my eyes locked with his. I want him to hear me and know.
I’m not saying he can’t kill me. Maybe he can.
But I won’t go easily or quietly.
“Where is Katarina?” he spits the question.
That one catches me off guard. How does he know that I would know? Does he know?
But that’s when I hear another door open in the stairwell. “How the fuck—” I ask, my teeth baring as our gazes remained locked in battle.
“Liar,” Sver snarls, slamming the door with his fist. “I see it in your eyes. Tell me where you’ve hidden Katarina.”
That’s when I catch Killian out of the corner of my eyes. He’s moving with silent stealth up the stairs, gaining ground on Sver. I smile, knowing that Sver is about to meet his match.
But Sver sees him and, in a move I did not expect, jumps over the rail in a single swoop of fluid muscle. He lands on the opposite side, a floor down, where he swings himself over the rail again and starts vaulting down the stairs. Killian takes after him, breaking into a run. Slamming open the door, I follow.
I hear the guards flood the stairwell from the garage and I roar out a victory howl, knowing that we’ve trapped him.
“Fuck,” Killian yells, as the thumping of flesh hitting concrete echoes up the stairs. I round the next bend to see several guards splayed out on the floor, just as the door to the parking garage slams shut again.
Killian sprints after Sver, but when he gets to the door, it’s locked. “Open it!” he roars, slamming his hand on the metal. How Sver managed to lock them again, I have no fucking clue, and I don’t have a second to figure it out before the lock buzzesopen. We surge forward, Killian and I spilling out into the parking garage, but it’s empty.
The guards fan out, checking every nook and cranny, but I already know the truth. Sver is gone.
I cross my arms over my bare chest, my feet spread wide as I stand in front of the stairwell door.
No one is getting up these stairs without pushing through me. I ignore the coolness of the night air and the cold concrete beneath my feet.
