***
The command center is a hive of activity when I return.
Dmitri is there, coordinating with Alexei over a tactical display. Maps of Los Angeles cover one wall, satellite imagery of industrial compounds on another. My men move with purpose, preparing weapons, checking equipment, readying themselves for the assault to come.
"What do we have?" I ask, stepping up to the display.
"Sergei's compound is here." Alexei points to a cluster of buildings in the industrial district. "Multiple sources confirm it's his primary base of operations. High walls, multiple guard positions, cameras covering every approach."
"Weaknesses?"
"The eastern perimeter has a gap in the surveillance coverage—probably an oversight, or they haven't gotten around to fixing it yet. It's our best insertion point."
I study the layout, my mind already working through tactical scenarios. "Two teams. Dmitri leads a diversionary force against the main entrance—heavy assault, maximum noise. I take a smaller unit through the eastern perimeter, find Bianca, and extract her while Sergei's forces are focused on the front."
Dmitri nods. "When?"
"Tonight. As soon as we're ready."
"That's barely twelve hours to plan."
"Then we'd better work fast."
He doesn't argue. He knows me well enough to understand that nothing he says will change my mind.
As we're reviewing the compound schematics, Anna appears in the doorway. She's pale, her head still bandaged, but she's standing on her own two feet. Stubborn as always.
"You should be resting," I say.
"I'll rest when Bianca is safe." She crosses to me, her eyes fierce despite the pain. "What can I do?"
"Stay here. Coordinate communications. Be our eyes and ears while we're in the field."
She wants to argue—I can see it in her face—but she knows she's in no condition for a combat operation. She nods reluctantly.
"Bring her back, Misha."
"I will."
I turn back to the tactical display, my mind already racing ahead to the assault. Twelve hours. In twelve hours, I'll either have Bianca back or I'll be dead trying.
Sergei took her from me. He used a man I trusted, exploited weaknesses I didn't know existed, and ripped away the one thing in my life that matters.
He's going to pay for that.
I don't know how many of his men I'll have to kill to get to him. I don't know what condition Bianca will be in when I find her. I don't know if any of us will survive the night.
But I know this: I will burn Sergei's compound to the ground. I will slaughter every man who stands between us. And I will bring her home.
Whatever it takes.
Chapter 23 - Bianca
I wake to darkness and cold.
For a long moment, I don't know where I am. The surface beneath me is hard—concrete, I think—and my arms are twisted behind my back at an angle that sends pain shooting through my shoulders. My head throbs, a dull persistent ache that pulses with every heartbeat.
Then memory crashes back. The explosion. The men pouring through the ruined door. Anna's scream. The needle in my neck.
