I stop walking. "Your car. The one that supposedly broke down."
Aleksandr turns, his gold eyes catching the flashlight beam. Even exhausted and furious, my body responds to the sight of him. The way his thermal shirt clings to his chest. The sharp line of his jaw beneath that short and well-trimmed beard. The predatory grace in how he moves.
I hate that I still notice. Hate that my pulse quickens for all the wrong reasons.
"It didn't break down, did it?" I direct the question at Danil, but I'm watching Aleksandr's face. "You lied to get into my cabin."
Danil has the decency to look slightly uncomfortable. "It was necessary."
"Necessary." I laugh, and the sound is harsh in the quiet night. "Everything is necessary with you people."
"Keep moving." Aleksandr's voice carries that edge of command that makes my spine want to straighten automatically. "We're exposed out here."
"Maybe I like being exposed." But I start walking again because what choice do I have? Run into the wilderness in the middle of the night? Freeze to death to prove a point?
The car appears through the trees exactly where Danil said it would be. A black SUV with tinted windows, expensive and anonymous. The kind of vehicle that screams money and danger in equal measure.
Danil unlocks it with a beep that sounds obscenely loud in the silence. The engine starts immediately, purring to life without hesitation.
"Liar," I mutter, throwing my duffel into the back seat.
"Strategic," Danil corrects, but there's almost an apology in his tone.
Aleksandr opens the back door and gestures for me to get in. His hand finds the small of my back, guiding me, and even through my coat, I feel the heat of his palm. My body remembers that touch in contexts that have nothing to do with kidnapping.
I slide across the leather seat, and he closes the door with a soft click that sounds like a cell locking. He takes the front passenger seat, his long legs stretching out, and Danil settles behind the wheel.
The heater kicks on, blasting warm air that makes my frozen fingers ache as sensation returns. I press my face against the cold window, watching the trees slide past as we navigate down the mountain road.
"Status report." Aleksandr's voice is all business now. No trace of Sasha, the man who made me laugh during snowball fights and held me through nightmares.
Danil's hands are steady on the wheel. "Ronnie's been holding things together. He's loyal, always has been. The men respect him, and he's kept operations running smoothly."
"And Ivan?"
Something in Aleksandr's tone makes me look up. There's an edge there, sharp and dangerous.
Danil's jaw tightens. "Ivan's been making noise. Nothing overt, but he's been testing boundaries. Asking questions about succession. Making suggestions about restructuring territories."
"Ambitious." Aleksandr's fingers drum against his thigh, and I notice the way the muscles in his forearm flex beneath his shirt.
"Ambitious and stupid," Danil agrees. "He's been gathering support from some of the younger soldiers. The ones who don't remember what you're capable of."
"Then they'll learn." The cold certainty in Aleksandr's voice sends ice down my spine. "How many?"
"Maybe six, seven guys. Small enough to handle quietly."
They're discussing violence like other people discuss the weather. Casual. Practical. And I'm sitting in the back seat listening to them plan how to eliminate threats to Aleksandr's power.
The reality of who he is, what he does, crashes over me again. This isn't some abstract concept anymore. This is my life now. Trapped in a car with two killers, being taken to a world where loyalty is bought with fear and betrayal is answered with blood.
The trees thin as we descend, the tire chains crunching against the snow as civilization creeps back in the form of scattered houses and streetlights. I watch my reflection in the window, barely recognizing the woman staring back. Three years ago, I was a different person. Someone who believed in safety and justice and the basic goodness of people.
That woman is gone, distinguished by the same organization that's now claiming me as property.
A thought strikes me with the force of a physical blow. My parents. God, my parents. Are they even alive?
"Danil." My voice cracks, and both men turn to look at me. "My parents. After I disappeared, did anyone go after them?"
