My jaw tightened. It was twenty minutes too late. I knew Ilana would be in there, or somewhere beneath it. She could be drugged or unconscious for all I knew. Or—
I cut the thought off before it could finish. She would be alright. She had to be.
I would not be late this time.
“We will go now,” I said.
Fyodor arched a brow. “If we enter before all the players have arrived, we will lose leverage.”
“Our motto isn’t the big fish. We are here to get the auctioneers, the kidnappers, and the girls. And getting to them right now is our safest bet,” Lukyan said flatly.
Fyodor studied him, then me, as if he were calculating whether he should accept this idea. Finally, he nodded once.
“Fine.”
“The entry will be quiet. No explosions. Remember, we are here to surprise them and get to what we need, not cause a war. If we had to fight a battle, we would have brought our armies. But it is just us four against quite a lot of people, so we will need to be strategic,” I reiterated, still wondering if this plan was going to work.
It had to. Failure was not an option.
Timofey smirked. “You’re no fun, brother.”
I rolled my eyes and motioned at them to take positions. We split into pairs. Lukyan and Timofey circled east, taking the security room while Fyodor and I moved towards the loading bay, with our weapons low and footsteps soundless. To our surprise, we found the door unlocked. That was mistake number one made out of pure arrogance.
These men thought no one could come after them. Now they would know.
We quietly stepped inside, the air smelling like old, cold metal and unmistakable fear. It hit me immediately, thick enough to taste. Rows of temporary holding cages lined the far wall, shadows shifting inside them. I knew exactly what I was going to find here. Fyodor looked at me, and we walked further,our eyes falling on the rows of temporary holding cages that lined the far wall, shadows shifting inside them. Women. Girls. Someone crying quietly. Some stared straight ahead like their souls had already left their bodies.
Rage curled in my chest, hot and familiar.
That was when I saw her.
Ilana wasn’t in a cage. She was standing.
Blood streaked down her temple, drying in her hair, her hands bound loosely in front of her. She was speaking, calmly and deliberately, to two armed men near a table stacked with files and tablets. Her posture was wrong for a captive. Too steady. Too alert.
She met my eyes from across the room.
There wasn’t any fear or surprise in them. Just quiet resolve.
She dipped her chin once.
Go.
I didn’t hesitate.
The door to the left opened, and a flurry of men entered the room, their eyes finding us in the dark. The two men turned around as well, shock registering on their faces.
“What the fuck?” one of the men cursed. Fyodor moved left while I moved right.
The first man dropped before he could turn, my knife sinking into the soft place beneath his jaw. The second reached for his gun, and Ilana moved, fast and vicious, driving her shoulder into his chest and sending him sprawling. Fyodor fired twice, clean and precise, sending two men to the floor at once. Ihad expected the girls to scream, but it felt as if Ilana had already briefed them. No one uttered a single word. No one moved.
Silence followed after that.
Ilana exhaled shakily, then laughed under her breath. “You are late. The auction will start any minute.”
I crossed the room in three strides and caught her face in my hands before I could stop myself. “Are you hurt?”
“Not badly,” she said.
