I'm three blocks from the bookshop when Leo calls.
"She left early. Boss sent her home."
"And? She lives upstairs."
"Dimitri Morozov just turned onto her street, and she is walking around."
Dimitri. Alexei's cousin. Known for his brutality, and his preference for kidnapping women.
I've been waiting for this.
"Where's she now?"
"Taking the alley shortcut. Between 44th and 43rd."
Of course she is. She has no idea she's being hunted.
"Where's Dimitri?"
"Entering the alley. Adrian, if he takes her?—"
"He won't." I'm already running. "I'm two minutes away."
"Do you want backup?"
"No." I want to do this myself. "Just have Dr. Reeves on standby."
"Why would you need?—"
"Because Dimitri is about to make a mistake." I round the corner. See the alley entrance. "And I'm going to make sure he doesn't survive it."
I hang up.
Pull the knife from my jacket.
And walk into the alley to save the woman who has no idea I've been watching her for three weeks.
The woman who thinks she ran from me.
The woman who's about to learn she was never really free.
CHAPTER 7
Sera
I've been nauseous for two weeks straight. At first, I assumed it was the stress. Artem's presence at the bookstore, and Gabe's words have put me on edge.
And it hasn't abated. For eight weeks, I've been oscillating between normalcy and a mental breakdown.
The gala was the last time I'd had a shred of normalcy, and God knows that that night was far from normal.
The stress is starting to get to me. Every morning my stomach revolts. I'm exhausted to the point that I can barely keep my eyes open during the workday.
It's become so bad in the last two weeks that even Mr. Bolinger has noticed.
"Seraphina, you look terrible."
I look up from the book I'm restoring. A first edition Dickens, pages yellowed and brittle. I've been staring at the same page for twenty minutes, unable to focus.
