The Turks will fucking burn for this.
“Stellan.” Kira’s voice slices through my fantasy. Her tone’s fraught with terror. “Oh, shit, Stellan.”
I look ahead toward the car. The driver’s standing at the end, hands raised in the air. Five men stand around him.
“Get behind me,” I say an instant before they open fire.
The driver goes down. His brains are blown out in a spray of blood and bone. His corpse crumbles to the ground, blood spreading out on the pavement.
One of the men steps forward.
He’s older than me. Near my height. Dark hair, dark eyes, thick eyebrows, and a cocky smirk. He’s wearing a suit and carrying a steaming pistol pointed at my chest. I stand between Kira and these assassins, head spinning through possibilities. Can I drawmy weapon? Can I get her to safety? We’re caught in the parking lot without any cover.
“Stellan Corsetti. I’m sorry it took me this long to come have a conversation.” The man puts his gun away. “It’s been an eventful few weeks.”
“You followed me.”
“Wasn’t easy, if it makes you feel any better.”
“You’re Vural, aren’t you?”
His grin widens. “You can call me Isak. Everyone else does. I wish we had more time to get to know each other, but—” He holds out a hand. “You found the key, didn’t you?”
I reach into my pocket. The men behind Isak raise their weapons expectantly. “I’ll die before you take it.”
“I believe you,” he says cheerily. “But would you let her?” He gestures at Kira.
She’s pale. Her body’s pressed to my back. “Don’t listen,” she whispers. “Please, Stellan. Don’t give it to him.”
My jaw tightens. All the elation I'd felt moments earlier fades. My heart thuds, and I start to do the math.
If Isak gets this key, it's over. My family's finished. He'll get the book, and we're fucked. I won't be able to fix this.
But if I don't hand it over, Kira could die. I'm outnumbered, outgunned, and caught in the open.
Even if I had a chance at winning this fight, would I take the risk? Would I really put my wife in danger?
“I swore I’d keep you safe,” I whisper, squeezing the key in my fist.
“No,” she says, voice shaking. “After all this? Stellan, please don’t.”
I take the key out and dangle it by the ring. “You’ll let her live,” I call out.
Isak holds up one hand. “I swear on my honor. Which I know doesn’t mean much to you, but I take that sort of thing seriously.”
“I mean it. She walks from this. No matter what.”
“I don’t care about the girl. I just want that key.”
I toss it to him underhand. It glitters in the sun, all my hope, my future, my family, turning end-over-end as it flies toward my enemy.
Isak catches it. “Well, that was easy.” He turns his back on me. “Kill him. Leave the girl alive. But hurt her a little bit.”
“You motherfucker,” I snarl.
“No!” Kira says, grabbing my arm.
Gunshots snap the air. But not from the Turks. They shout in alarm and surprise, and I turn rapidly, grabbing Kira and yanking her to the side. I throw her down to the ground near some bushes and fall on top of her, covering her body with my own.
