We barely made it inside the SUV before the first major explosion rocked the compound behind us. Flames shot into the night sky, illuminating the tree line with an orange glow that felt like a manifestation of my rage.
I cradled Mishka carefully in the backseat, positioning his bloodied head on my lap while Yuri jumped into the driver's seat and gunned the engine. The tires spun momentarily on the gravel before finding purchase, lurching us forward and away from the inferno that used to be O'Rourke's research facility.
Through the rear window, I watched secondary explosions bloom across the compound like deadly flowers. Whatever Mishka had done to the facility's systems, it was thorough. Nothing would remain but ashes and twisted metal—noresearch, no data, nothing O'Rourke could salvage to restart his experiments.
Despite the dire circumstances, I felt a surge of fierce pride. My little electronic manipulator had decimated an empire in a single night.
"Hospital?" Yuri asked from the driver's seat, his eyes meeting mine briefly in the rearview mirror. We both knew the question was a formality. He already anticipated my answer.
"No," I replied firmly, looking down at Mishka's pale face. Fresh blood trickled from his nose despite his unconscious state, and his breathing had grown more labored. "Home. Call Dr. Petrov."
Yuri nodded once, already pulling out his phone to make the call as he navigated the dark country road that would take us back to the city. The rest of our team followed in vehicles behind us, headlights cutting through the darkness.
"He needs immediate medical attention," Yuri pointed out after finishing his call to our private physician. "Petrov says he can be at the penthouse in thirty minutes, but—"
"But nothing," I interrupted, my voice leaving no room for argument. "We can't risk exposing him to outside scrutiny. Not with his abilities."
My fingers gently wiped a fresh trickle of blood from Mishka's ear. His skin was cold to the touch, and the faint electronic signature I'd grown accustomed to—that subtle hum of energy that surrounded him like an aura—was flickering erratically.
To my enhanced senses, it was like watching a light bulb in its final moments before burning out.
"If we take him to a hospital," I continued, "every medical scan will show anomalies. His neural patterns alone would raise questions we can't answer. By morning, he'd be a researchsubject for every intelligence agency and criminal organization on the continent."
Yuri's eyes flicked to the rearview mirror again. "Including what's left of O'Rourke's people."
"Exactly." I cradled Mishka closer, my massive hand engulfing his smaller one.
My bear whimpered beneath my skin, an unfamiliar sensation of distress that I hadn't experienced in decades. The animal recognized Mishka as part of our territory now—no, more than territory, part of us.
When had that happened? When had this electronic manipulator who crashed into my restaurant, running for his life, become essential to my existence?
I ran my thumb over his knuckles, noticing how delicate his hands appeared compared to mine. These hands that could bring technological empires to their knees with nothing but thought and will. These hands that were now limp and cold in my grasp.
"Stay with me,malysh," I whispered, my voice breaking with emotion I couldn't disguise. Even Yuri, who had seen me weather wars, betrayals, and the brutal rise to power in the criminal underworld, had never heard me sound like this. "Don't you dare leave me now."
The SUV swerved suddenly as Yuri took a sharp turn, and I curled protectively around Mishka's form to prevent him from being jostled. My bear growled beneath my skin, territorial instincts in overdrive.
My senses were heightened beyond even their usual enhanced state—I could smell every drop of Mishka's blood, hear every labored breath, feel every faint pulse of his weakening heartbeat.
"Drive faster," I ordered, not caring how the command revealed my fear. A century of carefully cultivated control was crumbling in the face of possibly losing him.
Yuri didn't question the order, merely pressed harder on the accelerator as we merged onto the highway leading back to the city. The lights of downtown glittered in the distance, each mile bringing us closer to home and the medical help Mishka desperately needed.
I bent my head close to Mishka's ear, speaking words meant only for him. "I know you can hear me somewhere in there," I murmured, my Russian accent thickening with emotion. "You've survived O'Rourke once before. You're going to survive this too."
His only response was the shallow rise and fall of his chest. His eyelids didn't even flutter. Whatever damage he'd done to his brain by pushing his abilities beyond their limits, it had pulled him far beyond normal unconsciousness.
"You are not allowed to die for me," I continued, my voice barely audible now. "I did not give you permission for such a sacrifice, Mishka."
As we sped through the night, I focused my enhanced senses on the faint electronic signature that marked Mishka as uniquely himself.
To most, it would be imperceptible, but to me—especially with my bear so close to the surface—it was like seeing a dim blue glow pulsing erratically around his form.
Each time it flickered, my heart seized with fear.
"How long until we reach the penthouse?" I demanded, not taking my eyes off Mishka's face.
"Twenty minutes in this traffic," Yuri replied, weaving between cars with practiced skill. "Petrov is already on his way with equipment."
