For me.
And I couldn't stop her. Couldn't reach her. Could only watch as Konstantin's hand closed around her arm and led her away.
The memory of her face in that moment, the love and the anguish and the iron resolve, will haunt me for the rest of eternity. However long or short that turns out to be.
I reach for my phone, fingers slick with blood. The screen smears red as I dial.
Marcellus answers on the first ring. "Sir?"
"The meeting was a diversion." I'm moving as I talk, following the scent of her through the warehouse. "While we were here, Konstantin sent his main force to the compound. They were minutes away from breaching the walls."
Silence. I can hear him processing the horror of what almost happened.
"Celeste traded herself to stop it," I continue. "She agreed to go with Konstantin in exchange for calling off the attack."
More silence. When Marcellus speaks again, his voice is different. Heavier.
"She saved us." It's not a question.
"Yes."
"And now she's…"
"With him. With Konstantin and Valentina." I'm moving as I talk, following the scent of her through the warehouse. "I'm going after her."
"What do you need?"
"Compound on full lockdown. Konstantin may not honor the deal; the attack pulled back, but that doesn't mean it's over. Get everyone inside, seal the perimeter, trust no one who approaches without verification."
"Already in progress. The moment you said the assault was retreating, I initiated protocol seven." His voice is clipped, professional, but I can hear the tension underneath. "The strike team is three minutes out from your location."
"Tell them to stand down."
"Sir…"
"I'm not waiting three minutes, Marcellus. I'm not waiting three seconds." I find the back exit, the one Konstantin led her through. The door hangs open, night air rushing in. Her scent lingers here, blood and fear and underneath it, that indefinable something that's purelyher. "I'm going after her now."
"Alone? Against Konstantin and, however many guards he has waiting?"
"Yes."
"That's suicide."
"Maybe." I step through the door into the alley beyond. The night is cool, the sky a muddy orange from the city's light pollution. Somewhere out there, Celeste is with a monster. "But she walked away from me to save everyone in that compound. I will not let that sacrifice mean nothing. I will not leave her with him."
"Maximus." There's something in his voice I rarely hear. Concern. Not for the mission or the compound, but for me. "She did what she did because she loves you. She'd want you to protect the compound. To protect yourself."
"I know what she'd want." My voice comes out colder than I intend. "And I know what I need. Those aren't the same thing."
"They could be. Wait for backup. Three minutes…"
"Every minute I wait is a minute he has to hurt her. To break her. To do whatever he's been planning since Rome." I start down the alley, following her scent. "I've spent years being patient, Marcellus. Being careful. Weighing every decision against potential consequences. And right now, the only consequence I care about is what happens to her if I don't move fast enough."
Another silence. Longer this time.
"I'll protect the compound," Marcellus says finally. "Go get her back."
"If I don't return…"
