Page 92 of Unholy Tsar

“I don’t have all day,” Viktor growls, glaring at me. I thought he’d at least look away, but I guess that’s my own naivety shining through.

“What about the—”

Before I can finish, the sound of a door bursting open echoes down the quiet hall.

“Who the fuck…” Viktor is immediately on guard, knife raised.

My heart jumps with hope. Maksim. But that hope is quickly dashed when a woman’s voice calls out. “It’s just me, you oaf.”

“Fucking hell,” Viktor grumbles. Hurried footsteps grow until a woman appears out of the shadows. She’s tall and beautiful, with short dark hair cropped to her chin. “What are you doing here, Vera? Where’s Maksim?”

Vera grabs her hair in obvious frustration. “He escaped.”

“What?” Viktor explodes.

“We were ambushed.”

“I thought you took care of Maksim’s men?”

“We did. These weren’t his men.”

“Who the fuck were they then?”

“I don’t fucking know! And I didn’t stick around to find out… or would you have rather I died out there in the Gulag, brother?”

“Coward. This is your fault. How could you be so stupid? What—”

“Did you just call me stupid?” Vera screeches. With a wild look in her eyes, she reaches into the small of her back, pulling out a gun.

Shit, shit.

I quickly back away, carefully fumbling inside my back pocket for the shard of glass I managed to pick up from the floor earlier. Somehow, I’m able to position it high enough to start rubbing against my restraints.

Ahead, Viktor and his sister break out in a fiery fight. Their screams echo through the bathroom, but I ignore them. Oh God, please let this work.

Slowly, I start to feel my ropes loosen. Just a little longer…

“Hey, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Vera suddenly demands, those wild eyes looking right past Viktor to lock on me. “What’s that in your—”

She doesn’t get a chance to finish. Out of nowhere, a massive explosion rocks the palace. We all fall to the ground, my glass shard just barely missing an artery as it slices out of my back pocket. Viktor crumples in the doorway. Vera is thrown further back into the hallway. Her gun clatterers to the floor. They still block my escape.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Fucking hell, you led them straight to us,” Viktor growls, his eyes falling to Vera’s gun on the floor.

There’s a brief silence as they both consider what to do next. I guess they decide on the same thing because the next thing I know, they’re both diving for the gun.

I blindly search for my shard of glass, not daring to take my eyes off them.

My heart tightens when Viktor gets to the gun first. Picking it up, he points it at Vera, who grins sadistically. “You’re not going to shoot me, Viktor, so put the gun down. You are nothing without me.”

“No. I am fucking sick of listening to you. All you do is talk, talk, talk. I want some silence.”

“Viktor, darling brother, I—”

Before Vera can finish, Viktor shoots her right between the eyes.

I nearly choke on my shock.