Natalia slaps me hard enough to knock me to the ground, and the look on her face tells me she’s beendyingto do that for a long time. Hauling me back up like a bag of dirt, she shoves me toward the waiting jet. “Get up those stairs or I’ll drag you by your hair.”
Miss Kevin is pushed up after me and as we enter the jet, she leans in close enough to whisper, “Have strength.” Ivan pulls us apart again, putting her in the back bank of seats and me in the front.
I spent the five-hour flight to Moscow castigating myself. I should have known. I should have known what my father was doing, where the money came from that sent me to fine arts school, paid for my expensive clothes. Why didn’t I ask more questions? Why didn’t Iseemore?
The MacTavish Clan have spent years and countless resources tracking these evil bastards down and I wasright there.Who knows how many girls I could have saved from the horrors of what Stepanov planned for them?
Ivan seats himself across from me, settling comfortably in the big leather seat. This must be a Stepnov jet, it’s too ostentatious, even for my father. Everything is coated in gilt and the walls are wallpapered in a dark, flocked red, making me feel like I’m in the throat of a carnivorous beast.
“You’ve caused a great deal of trouble for yourself.”
“How can you work for those scum?” I hiss, “They sell women and children. Do you partake? Are you a child rapist? You must be so proud.”
He rewards me with a backhand on the opposite cheek of his wife’s slap.
Nice,I think, a little dazed,I’ll have matching bruises.
“You should learn to shut your mouth, though I suspect you’ll have a cock stuffed in it for the rest of your miserable life.” Ivan’s got that bland, blond handsomeness that is stereotypical Norwegian, but right now he looks like a troll to me, something misshapen and hideous, like his soul.
“Why did you take Miss Kevin?” I persist.
“She would have raised the alarm in less than an hour if she wasn’t clear on your whereabouts. Did you think she was just a butler?” He laughed at me.
“Miss Kevin is an excellent butler!” I snap. Why that is what offends me the most, I don’t know, but it does.
He ignores me, of course. “The MacTavish Mafia has caused endless problems for the Bratva, but that should end soon. You had better pray that they think you are as valuable as you assume.”
Chuckling mirthlessly, I shake my head. “I don’t think that at all, I suspect your hopes are unrealistic. I was kidnapped as a hostage, remember? Just to keep Stepanov from marrying me.”
He leans forward, hands on his thighs. His eyes are an icy blue, a chilling oscillation of hate, cruelty, and malice. “You’d better pray to all your Russian gods that you’re wrong. It can always be so much worse than you could imagine.”
My handcuffs were beginning to cut into my wrists as they hauled me off the jet, but the SUV waiting for us was smaller, so Miss Kevin and I were shoved in the back together.
“Are you all right?” she barely whispered, but Natalia heard her, whipping around from the front seat to punch her in the face. Miss Kevin calmly turns her head, spitting the blood flowing from her split lip onto the window.
Pressing my knee against hers, the only part I could reach, I gave her a small smile, and she nodded back. I should feel guilty that this woman’s been dragged into my mess - and I am - but I’m so grateful she’s here with me.
My heart sinks the deeper we drive into Moscow. The parks and beautiful buildings slowly disappear, the houses smaller and more poorly kept, and then we’re deep into the industrial area in the Tverskoy District. It looks like Cameron didn’t flush out all the Stepanov rat holes. The car comes to a stop near a warehouse next to the train tracks, and we’re hauled inside. Men are shouting at each other and I catch just enough to know things are not going as planned.
Stifling a smile, I feel a wave of love sweep over me for Cameron. He has been relentless, driving these lowest of men to their bloody finish. I may not be there to see it, but at this moment, I cannot be happier.
In the confusion, Miss Kevin has been inching toward me and I catch her looking at all the exits. That’s right, Mala taught me. Always look for your way out.
The arguing is reaching some sort of crescendo and Ivan turns back to us. “Enough of this shit!” He looks at me. “Natalia, put her on the train.” His gun comes up and I scream, trying to lunge at him. “You, Miss Kevin, are no longer useful.”
The gun goes off and I see her fall to the grimy concrete floor. I kick and thrash violently, ignoring Natalia’s curses and slaps as she drags me out the door. As we approach the open doors of the train car I can hear the terrified sobbing of human souls inside. An electric-white flash of light bolts through my skull as the agonizing pain hits from Natalia’s gun slamming into the back of my head. Then, my eyes go as dark as the interior of the train.
Chapter Thirty
In which things can always get worse. And they do.
Morana…
I’ve seen my father do terrible things. Unspeakable things.
Sitting in the dark, rattled around by the movement of the train cars and hearing the subdued sobbing and moaning around me, I wonder when he went from simply being evil to an utter stain on humanity, a scourge. How could any human being see what’s happened here and feel anything other than horror? The girl chained next to me can’t be older than sixteen, and her pinched face and painfully thin body make me wonder if this is her first trip to hell. Maybe she’s been there before. Her torn slip doesn’t cover much, so I pull off my sweater.
“Here, hold your arms up,” I show her the sweater, but she stares at me blankly. “You’ll be warmer in this, okay? Can I help you put it on?”
