I have someone whochoseme over everything and everyone else.
Even over her own family.
I wait tensely for Matvei to say something, and while I wait, feeling like he's taking an eternity, my heart constricts with anger toward myself. She loves me. She was trying to show me. She loves me, and it isn't a game or a trick, and I was too stupid to believe it.
"Alright, I've messaged everyone. We're on our way," Matvei finally says.
A heavy weight lifts off my chest. "Thank you," I whisper.
"Keep your head down," he huffs, then hangs up.
Chapter 24 - Nikita
My heart is racing a million miles an hour. I'm too scared to take a proper breath of air as I crouch low behind the crate with my back pushed against it.
Thank goodness I had all that practice escaping at Bardil's place. It turned out to be a skill I really needed when it mattered most.
I woke up in a small room with yellow-stained walls and the stench of damp and mold.
The floor was cold and clammy, and almost as soon as I gained consciousness, I wanted to vomit from the lack of air. My head pulsed with pain. A thick, throbbing headache sat right behind my eyes, blurring my vision.
Right away, I knew something was wrong, and even though my instincts were pushing me to scream for help, I held my breath. I waited. I counted seconds and gave myself time to fully take in everything around me.
The car crash flashed in my mind. It made me wince in pain, and when I tentatively reached up to touch my face, I could still feel the tiny diamonds of glass in my skin. Like splinters. Sharp, devilish thorns. I had to use my sleeve to carefully brush it over my skin to try and get the worst of them away from my face. I didn't want to blink and end up with glass in my eye.
The blood on my cheeks and forehead has dried. It flaked off and drifted silently to the floor as I fought fear and panic.
It's ok. It's going to be ok.
I told myself that over and over again until my heart beat slowed down, and I could take a breath without my entire body shaking.
I wasn't tied up, but I was locked in.
One door. It looked so rotten that I could have kicked it in, but that option would have been too loud.
My mind raced, and I reached up to grab the little rabbit pendant around my neck. It had become a habit since I chose to put it on. A reassurance of sorts. Except instead of grabbing the rabbit, I grabbed the sword.
Because you shouldn't be underestimated.That's what he told me when he gave it to me.
My heart did a somersault in that moment, and I pulled the necklace off and held the sword in my hand.
At first, I thought it might not be long enough, but it was.
I couldn't believe it when, quietly, methodically, I managed to use it to pick the lock.
Now I'm crouching behind these crates and wondering how the hell to get past the guards who seem to be everywhere in the lower level of the warehouse.
The door is right there. A few feet away, but blocked by two men.
I can do this, I tell myself.I got this far. Just a little more.
A noise somewhere upstairs has both men spinning toward it with their hands immediately resting on their weapons.
I hold my breath and close my eyes, waiting.
"Better check it out," one man mutters.
"Fine," the other huffs.
