He punches me through the shattered window, hitting me so hard my head is knocked back. The force of it slams me into the passenger's side headrest, rattling my brain. I blink a few times, forcing my eyes to focus around the black dots clouding them.
My door is wrenched open, a horrible groan that grates on my ear.
Hands grab me and soon, everything goes black.
35
MAKSIM
Ipush through the reinforced door, the heavy lock clicking shut behind me, and take the stairs two at a time. My boots strike the metal steps in sharp, impatient beats, echoing off the narrow stairwell like a war drum. The closer I get to the main floor, the tighter the coil in my chest winds.
When I reach it, the air is already heavy and choking. All four of my most trusted, aside from Lev, sit around the scarred table. Four sets of eyes snap up to meet mine.
“Talk,” I snap.
Roman straightens immediately, shoulders pulled back. His normally cool exterior is rigid with unspoken tension. “It’s been confirmed that Mikhail landed two hours ago in the States. He came through Newark under a forged identity. Immigration missed it, but Matvey traced the passport’s trail when his network alerted him.”
My palm curls into a fist before I can stop it, nails biting into flesh. A curse hisses from between my teeth, low and venomous. “Where is he now?”
“We’re still tracking his movements,” Matvey says quickly, pushing a laptop toward me. His eyes are red-rimmed from hours without sleep. None of it slows him. His focus is sharp and relentless. “He’s not alone. Two men came with him, both armed. They rented vehicles, a black sedan and a white van. Last I caught them on CCTV, they were headed this way.”
My gaze narrows on the blurred frame frozen on his screen. The sedan is dark, anonymous, yet the bodies inside it are anything but. “We need to intercept before he reaches here.”
“We’re already on it,” Katya confirms. She’s armed even here, one hand resting on the Glock at her side as though expecting him to walk through the door any second.
Before I can respond, a shrill alarm tears through the room.
Matvey bolts upright from his corner of the table and moves to where a wall of monitors is pushed back against one of the walls. His fingers fly over the keyboard, pulling up the alert, data scrolling too fast for anyone but him to decipher.
“Pakhan, your car…”
My heart stutters in my chest. “What about it?”
He doesn’t answer right away.
His mouse jerks, pulling up window after window, screen after screen. Panels of live diagnostics flicker in rapid succession, casting his face in a strobe of blue and white light. Each flash paints his glasses, and behind the reflection, I see it—his eyes widening, horror setting in before his mouth can even form the words.
“The system flagged an impact alert. The onboard sensors in your car went off with a crash detection. The vehicle’s been?—”
I don’t let him finish. I’m already moving, the legs of my chair shrieking against the floor as I shove back and rise.
“Where?”I snarl.
“It’s not far. It’s?—”
I slam a hand down on the table, hard enough to rattle the contents on top of it. “Pull it up! Location, feed,everything!”
Matvey doesn’t flinch. He’s too used to the monster in me by now, but his throat bobs as he swallows, his fingers blurring across the keys. “Working on it.”
“Now, Matvey!” I roar, the sound ragged, breaking through the steel veneer I usually wear like armor. Even Roman and Katya freeze.
Matvey obeys, as fast as his hands will go. A final keystroke, and the map appears onto the largest monitor. A red dot blinks, steady and menacing, a pulse that might as well be Ivy’s heartbeat.
“Main Street,” Matvey rasps. His voice is hoarse, weighed with what he knows I’ll hear next. “Near the school. Both front and rear sensors triggered. Double impact.”
I’m out the door, my body acting on instinct, a beast ripped loose from its cage. My boots hammer, pounding toward the stairs. My breath comes harsh and jagged, chest tight as if the walls themselves around me are trying to crush me.
I shove the reinforced door wide and take the steps two at a time, fury and fear tangling until they’re indistinguishable. My people shout behind me, Andrey calling my name as he follows, but none of it registers.
