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Erik and some of his men were waiting by a van and a black car. I limped forward, and at the sight of me, Valerie escaped through Erik’s grasp and ran into my arms.

Her fists pounded on my chest. “You have to save her!”

“Viktor!” In her fit of rage, her nails dragged over the skin of my face, almost cruelly. “You…can’t leave her…there,” she sobbed into my chest. “You can’t! You can’t! Please…please, you have to save her. Go back! You have to go back.”

“I can’t.”

“NO!” she thundered. Her hazel eyes were crazed to the point of madness. “Oh God…please, Viktor…Viktor, please. I beg you. You have to go back and save her.”

Each word slapped me like a whip. Agony spread through my body.

“I’m sorry.”

I wasn’t sure who I was apologizing to, Valerie or Irina.

“What happened?” Erik came forward.

“He left her,” she whispered brokenly.

His brows curled together, tensed and curious. “Viktor?”

“The other girl didn’t make it.”

“NO! You. Left. Her! You left her. You left her. She is alive and you left her.”

Erik waited for my answer, and I shook my head. He nodded in understanding before touching Valerie’s shoulders gently.

“What does she look like?”

Valerie lifted her grief-stricken eyes to stare at Erik. “Brunette. Olive skin. Black eyes. Small girl… Irina…her name is Irina.” She gripped his arm urgently and in sheer desperation. “Are you going to get her? You will save her?”

“Erik—” I warned.

He raised a hand and silenced me. “How much longer?”

I looked down at my watch. “Four minutes and twenty-four seconds. Not enough time. They have Irina, and there’s no way you can reach her.”

Less than five minutes and this whole fucking place was about to blow up. One final explosive. There was no fucking escape from that one.

He nodded, patted me on the shoulders, and started to walk away—back toward the estate and the door I just came through.

What the fuck?

“Erik!” I bellowed. Every hair on my body stood up and cold shivers ran down the length of my spine and through the rest of my body.

He waved a hand in the air and then took off running.

Fuck no! Motherfucker!

What was he thinking?

“He’s going to save her?” Valerie’s voice was laced with hope.

I didn’t dare to look into her eyes and tell her the truth. He wouldn’t be able to save her. Erik was going back into that fucking building knowing full well it was suicide. Why?

He had given Valerie false hope, but it was enough to calm her down. I entwined our fingers together and pulled her toward the car.

The clock ticked. Time didn’t stop but it did seem to slow.

Valerie kept looking over her shoulder, waiting for Erik and Irina.

Her hand clenched mine, and I could tell she was once again growing anxious. Her breathing changed. Second after second crawled by.

Tick tock.

We finally stopped by the black, sleek car. My watch beeped once.

My eyes closed, my breath caught in my throat.

Valerie stilled.

One final boom.

So goddamn loud, it was almost deafening. The heat of the explosion reached us, but we were far enough not to be affected as the flames engulfed the mansion.

Valerie let out a cry and her knees buckled underneath her. I wrapped my good arm around her hips before she could fall. Her fingers clenched my shirt and her nails dug into my chest. Her wide eyes took in the flames, covering every inch of the mansion now.

She let out a tortured scream.

Her voice cracked; her throat fought against her thundering roars, but she wouldn’t stop. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she sobbed with Irina’s name on her lips.

My eyes went to the estate or what was left of it…

My ribcage seemed to be caving inward, around the fragile organ beating in my chest. I looked at the engulfing flames and almost expected Erik and Irina to walk out.

The fire continued to spread and the building started to crumble—but no one walked out.

No Erik.

No Irina.

Valerie sunk into my arms as her throat grew parched with screaming. She could only let out tiny whimpers now. Her eyes grew hazy, life fading from them, and they slowly drifted close as she went limp into my embrace.

The morning sun breached over the horizon, and the sunlight glided over her face. New day. New beginning.

Except…it all felt wrong.

Chapter 30

Valerie

Maybe I was in shock. I wasn’t exactly sure. My eyes could still see, yet the world seemed to close around me. Darkness settled over us and everything seemed so far away. Blurry and so out of reach. My mind began to shut down, unwilling to process what just happened.

Viktor had wrapped his arms around me. He put me in the waiting car. He held me. He never let go. Not once. My body had seemed to give way, so weak. The world around me went on, blurry, and I watched it all in a daze, surrounded by a black void. I fell into a pit of nothingness.

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