"Lazar!" I shout. "He's gone. Fuck!"
Lazar appears in the doorway with his weapon drawn and a grim expression as he surveys the scene. "Christ," he breathes, "you were right. Fuck's sake… They drew us out just to take him?" Lazar stands in the doorway gawking as my mind flashes to Noemi.
I can barely breathe. If they took Sasha, they went for Noemi too. They were in separate rooms down the hall, but there's no way they came all this way just to leave her. Marat isn't a stupid man. He will use anything he can as leverage to keep me away from him.
I race down the hallway toward the room I shared with her last night, and now I am panicking. Koslov has my son and who knows what he'll do to him? That fucker has no regard for human life. Knowing Sasha is related to me only makes him fair game in this war. They won't spare him simply because he's a child.
But at my room, the door looks fine from the outside. This one hasn't been busted in like the last one at all. I pause for a second and listen to the door, but I’m not stupid enough to press my ear to it. That's asking for a bullet to the head. Still, with as quiet asthe rest of this motel is, I can hear Sasha's crying and my heart eases slightly.
"He's in there," I tell Lazar, and I pull out my key card and swipe it, and the lock clicks open as the light turns green. There is no flurry of movement or sounds from the other side, so I push the door open and step inside and something cold presses against my temple.
"Close the door behind you," a voice says. "Slowly."
I freeze in place. My gun's still in my hand, but I can't see into the room far enough to know where Sasha and Noemi are. I won’t risk firing if I could hit them. One wrong move and my brains are going to be all over the wall. I know behind me in the hallway, Lazar is probably preparing himself for a blood bath, but he doesn't get a chance to take any action at all.
"Just you," the voice continues. "Tell your friend to stay outside or I'll put a bullet in your brain right now."
"Lazar," I call out without turning around. "Stay back. I've got this."
There's a long pause while I hold my breath, and I know Lazar is weighing his options, trying to figure out the best play that doesn't end with me dead on the floor. But he's not foolish either. He's going to find a different way of helping because I know he won’t give up.
After a few seconds, I hear his footsteps retreating away from the door and focus on the sight in front of me now, leaving him to his own devices. He's smart enough to wait for an opening instead of rushing in blind.
"Smart. Now close the door and come inside. Keep your hands where I can see them."
I close the door with my foot and step farther into the room, moving slowly so no one gets trigger happy. The man with the gun stays behind me and the barrel never leaves contact with my skull. And finally, I see the reason I'm here and what's really at stake.
Noemi is on her knees near the window with her head tucked down, and there's a man standing over her with a pistol aimed at the back of her skull. Her face is bruised, one cheek swollen and red, and her eyes are wet with tears. Sasha's in a chair by the wall, shaking so hard I can see it from across the room, and the man holding the gun on Noemi is none other than Marat Koslov.
"Hello, Fyodor," Marat says pleasantly. "So nice of you to join us. I was starting to think you'd never figure out where we were." He nods, and his buddy slides a hand down my arm and takes my weapon away.
"Let them go. This is between you and me." What the actual fuck is this man doing away from his protection detail? I get that he has his little gun-toting buddy with him, but is he a complete fuckwit?
My confidence surges when I realize it's just the two of them against me. Yeah, they're armed, but I've been in this situation before. The odds might be stacked against me, but they don't know me or what I’m capable of.
"No, I don't think it is." Marat moves around so he's facing me, keeping the gun trained on Noemi's head. "Don't you realize your poor choices left them unguarded?" He shakes his head and clicks his tongue like a disapproving parent, while I look down atSasha and my chest tightens. He's crying, tears streaming down his face, and he's trying so hard to be quiet about it that his whole body is trembling with the effort.
"Sasha," I say calmly, cautious not to make any sudden movements. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
He shakes his head, but I can see the terror in his eyes. He's been through so much already, and now this. I'm seriously going to slaughter these fuckers. They won't even know what hit them.
"Noemi. Are you hurt?" I ask her, and she lifts her chin up higher. The expression on her face is odd, like she's trying to say something to me but not use words. Unfortunately, we're not really close enough for me to know what she's thinking yet.
That has to change.
"I'm okay," she says, but her voice is shaky and I can see the bruise on her face darkening by the minute. Someone put their hands on her and hurt her, and I'm going to kill them for it.
"Look at him," Marat says, gesturing toward Sasha with his free hand. "Crying like a baby. Is this the great Gravitch legacy?" He laughs a deep, rumbling belly laugh in mockery and continues. "Is this what your family has to show for itself?"
"He's a child. He's allowed to be scared." My jaw is so tight, I have to speak through gritted teeth.
"A Gravitch should be stronger than that. A Gravitch should?—"
"Shut the fuck up," I snarl before I look at Sasha and try to pour everything I'm feeling into my eyes. "It's going to be okay, Sasha, and it's okay if you're feeling scared." No one calls my son a baby.
Sasha's crying gets louder and he tucks his knees up on the chair and hugs them to his chest.
"How touching," Marat sneers. "The monster learns to feel. Did your pretty teacher teach you that? Did she show you how to be soft?" He uses the tip of his gun to push her head sideways, which only seems to anger her more.
