“I got this,” Niko said, turning back to the hallway.
“We’ll be right back,” Reid explained as he stood and followed Niko out.
As they continued walking down the hallway, the lights suddenly went out.
The women let out startled screams.
“Shit.” Niko gasped. The place was completely black with zero visibility. “Where the fuck are you?”
“I’m right beh—” Reid began before something hard hit the back of his head, and the world around him suddenly went silent.
33
NIKOLAI
Groaning, Niko slowly lifted his head and winced.
It felt like he had been hit over the head with a sledgehammer, and it was fucking killing him.
What the fuck had happened?
He attempted to move once more as another shot of pain rang through his body. This time, it was his arms that hurt.
His eyes flew open when he suddenly realized why he was having difficulty moving. He was tied to a fucking tree!
“What the fuck?” Niko growled, confused and furious. He began to thrash violently, curses and profanity spilling from his lips. If there was one thing that Nikolai hated, it was being at someone else’s mercy.
“Do you know how long I’ve been searching for you?” a voice from his past slithered.
Even through all the fog in his brain, Niko recognized that thick Russian accent instantly.
“And all this time, you were hiding in the desert.”
Niko lifted his head and glared at the man who had caused him so much pain. The man who had taken his and Reid’sfreedom. The man who had sold his best friend to a degenerate motherfucker.
Mikhail.
“You bastard!” Nikolai snarled, lunging forward but only managing to get rope burn in the process. “I’m going to fucking kill you.”
The man started laughing, holding his stomach as he laughed up at the moon.
They were standing in a clearing somewhere in the middle of the cornfield. It was a large space, with a thick tree growing where Niko was currently tied.
Niko wasn’t sure what the space was used for, or why it even existed in the middle of a field, but whatever its purpose, he doubted it was for anything good.
A muffled sound caught Niko’s attention across the clearing.
Reid sat on his knees, hands tied behind his back, with a piece of torn cloth wrapped around his mouth.
Niko lunged forward, anger and fury blazing within.
More pain ripped through Niko as the ropes that bound his wrists cut deep into his flesh.
“Still stupid as ever,” Mikhail said, stalking toward Nikolai. “I’ve spent years sitting in that cell, thinking about all the ways I was going to kill you once I found you.” He knelt in front of Niko, grabbed his hair, and yanked his head back. “Decapitation, burying you in concrete, skinning you alive. It all sounded too good for you.”
The rage that Mikhail had been harboring for Niko all these years was quickly spilling over.
“That’s sweet, you thinking about me so much. But I’m sorry, I never had time to think about you. I was too busy living my awesome life. Eating, drinking, and fucking my way across the country.”
