Fuck.
Years of training make my mind click into overdrive to figure out the best way to get the hell out of this. I have two pissed off men who are strong as hell and ready to make an example of me. I need to end this now, or it’ll be lights out for me. I can already feel my strength waning.
I didn’t come all this way to die at the hands of these two meatheads.
I let myself fall, my body landing on top of the Missing Teeth hard. He grunts, his hands flailing as they release me and it’s all I need. I roll fast, and the other asshole who wasn’t paying attention brings his knife down too fast to stop. Missing Teeth screams in agony and shock as his friend’s knife punctures him in the chest, his body jerking as the blade slices through his heart.
Damn, that was lucky.
Looks like he took care of his friend for me, which means I need to deal with him fast before he recovers from the shock.
I grab the gun Missing Teeth dropped when he fell and quickly put it to the back of his friend’s head, pull the trigger, then shoot the other one too.
My heart pounds, and my breath is a little ragged from the exertion, but my hand is steady. Steadier than I thought it would be after so much time away from this. Away from this kind of life.
The discomfort of that only grows.
“Well, I guess I was wrong. You’re not completely soft.”
I turn, gun raised, pointing it directly at Tatiana, who is leaning against the SUV, a wide grin on her face, but her eyes watchful. I want to take her out right the fuck now and end it all. My finger itches on the trigger.
Her grin widens further. “Go ahead, pull it.” Her tone is coaxing, almost mocking, like she’s sure that I won’t do it. “Show me that you really aren’t as weak as everyone thinks you are now. Show them that you can be everything I am.”
That, right there, is the crux of it. I left that life. I left the coldness and cruelty of it to be someone else. To be someone better. To take the freedom I was given and change it into something Mishka would be proud of.
Instead of giving in to her taunt, I force myself to lower the gun, but keep it ready to lift again if I have to. Holding her stare,I ask her coldly, “Was that what you wanted help with? Kill the men who were here to catch you? Did Timur backstab you, after all?”
She gives a contemptuous laugh. “Smart but still so fucking stupid. You have potential, Aurora, but you’re fooling yourself if you think that you’re going to figure anything out before I’m ready. You should have taken the fucking shot. You’d probably be doing a lot of people a big favor. Now, we have places to be, and you got rid of the current obstacle in our way.” She pushes away from the car, her eyes flicking over my shoulder.
I’m too late to realize what’s coming. The gun falls from my hand as a sharp prick in my neck renders me boneless, and darkness quickly swirls in.
Fuck. I knew she was up to something.
6
RORI
Something makesme stay utterly still, despite my mind finally pulling out of the darkness. I don’t dare twitch or change my breathing. I can’t risk anyone knowing I’m awake. Until I know where I am and who’s around, this is the safest option. Years of practice keep me exactly as is, my senses in high alert.
I hear scuffling noises from behind me, but they sound far away. So soft that at first I’m not even sure that someone is there. Then I hear the slide of a heel on stone. I can’t tell if it’s just plain stone or perhaps a marble tile, but someone is definitely there. Tuning into them, I can just make out the soft brush of clothes when they shift, but then nothing else.
A guard. Tatiana must not trust that I won’t wake up and try to escape. Or whoever was with her at the airstrip doesn’t. Either way, someone is close enough to hurt me, so I need to be careful. Ready.
I tune my senses to the rest of the area. I don’t hear any other people, but I do hear the low hum above me, and feel cool air brushing over me. Not enough to freeze me, but enough to makemy skin pebble. So I’m not in a dungeon then. Wherever they put me, they want me to be somewhat comfortable.
Not to be confused with complacent. They just don’t want me dead. Yet. They also took all my weapons, which confirms that Tatiana was watching me on the plane.
At least I hope it was her and not some creep, but I don’t dwell on that.
I don’t smell anything other than the scent of the linen I’m laid on, and from the flatness beneath my head, I don’t have a pillow.
Wherever I am, I’m in a room with someone else and they don’t have me tied down. So they must not consider me a threat, or they’re sure that whoever is with me can handle taking me down. I wouldn’t put it past them to have whatever drug they gave me on the airstrip at the ready to give to me again.
I need to time this right.
My body still feels heavy and weak from the drugs. I need to conserve my strength, let the drugs leave my system. Thank God for all the training I’ve had because I don’t know how anyone else could be this still for so long.
I’m not sure how long it takes, my mind drifting but finally, I can feel my strength returning, my mind speeding up. It’s going to be go time soon. I tune back in to the sounds around me, and while I don’t hear anymore scuffing, I do hear the soft rustle of clothes. Whoever my guard is, they’re good at their job. They barely fidget, keep their breathing low and even.
