"Fifty meters. Maybe less."
I'm moving before Viktor finishes speaking, sprinting across the estate toward the main house. My heart is hammering, but my hands are steady. My mind is clear.
If they reach her?—
I don't finish the thought.
I round the corner of the main house and see four men, moving in formation, weapons raised, heading directly for the entrance where Liesl's room is located.
I don't hesitate. I open fire, dropping the first man before he knows I'm there. The others scatter, returning fire, and I dive behind a stone column as bullets chip away at the masonry."Andrei!" Viktor's voice crackles over the radio. "We need you at the east?—"
"Busy," I snap, leaning out to fire again. Another man goes down. Two left.
They're good. Better than the others. They move with military coordination, covering each other and advancing despite my fire. One of them gets close enough that I can see his face—young, maybe twenty-five, with cold eyes and a scar across his jaw.
I put a bullet through his forehead. The last man breaks and runs. I let him go, my focus entirely on the house now. I need to get to her. Need to make sure she's safe.
I'm halfway to the entrance when I hear glass shattering, and a scream.
Liesl.
I don't remember crossing the distance. Don't remember kicking in the door or taking the stairs three at a time. All I know is that I'm suddenly in the hallway outside her room, and the door is open.
The guards I posted are dead. One has his throat cut. The other has been shot in the face. I'm not sure where the other two are. And inside the room, I can hear struggling.
I move through the doorway with my weapon raised, and the scene that greets me makes my vision go red.
Liesl is backed against the far wall, her face pale, her eyes wide with terror. A man has her by the arm—one of Volkov's, judging by the tattoos visible on his neck—and he's dragging her toward the broken window. He sees me and raises his weapon.
I'm faster.
The shot takes him in the shoulder, spinning him around. He loses his grip on Liesl, and she stumbles away, gasping. I fire again. This time, the bullet catches him in the chest. He goesdown hard, blood spreading across the floor. But there's another one. Behind the door. I see the movement too late.
He lunges at me, knife in hand, and I barely get my weapon up in time to block. The knife scrapes along the barrel of my gun, and then we're grappling, too close for guns.
He's strong. Trained. He gets the knife around, aiming for my throat, and I have to drop my weapon to catch his wrist. We struggle. He's pushing the blade toward my neck, using his weight, his leverage. I can feel the tip of it pressing against my skin. I shift my weight, hook my leg behind his, and take us both to the ground. We hit hard, and the impact loosens his grip just enough.
I wrench the knife away, reverse it, and drive it into his throat. Blood sprays hot across my face. He gurgles, eyes going wide, hands scrabbling at the wound. I pull the knife out and stab him again. And again.
He stops moving.
I'm on my feet immediately, grabbing my weapon, spinning to check for more threats. The room is clear. Liesl is pressed against the wall, her whole body shaking, her eyes locked on the bodies.
"Are you hurt?" My voice is rough, barely controlled. It doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard from myself before.
She shakes her head, but she's trembling. Her whole body is shaking.
"Did he touch you? Did he?—"
"No." The word is barely a whisper. "He was trying to take me. Through the window. There's a rope?—"
I look. She's right. There's a rope anchored to something outside, hanging down from her window. They were planning to extract her. To take her. The rage that floods through me is so intense it's almost blinding.
They tried to take her from me.
"Stay here," I tell her, my hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at me. "Don't move. Don't go near the window. Do you understand?"
She nods, but her eyes are unfocused. She's in shock. I want to stay with her. I want to hold her until the shaking stops, until the fear leaves her eyes. But I can't. Not yet.
