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Looking down, I saw the back end of what looked like a late model van sticking out of the front of the house. Blinking, I looked again, sure I was dreaming. But the scene below didn’t change.
Pounding footsteps raced up the stairs, and I didn’t have time to react as Raven and Lexa ran into the room, shutting and locking the door. Seeing a shotgun in Raven’s hands, I gulped and pressed myself back against the wall.
“What’s going on?” I whispered.
“They found you,” Lexa said, her voice steady as she looked out the window and then lifted it. “Hurry, this way.”
I gaped at her as she climbed out and then reached back in to take my hand. When I didn’t move fast enough, Raven nudged me. “Hurry, Tavia. We don’t have much time.”
Even as she was speaking, I heard more running feet, these much heavier. Quickly, I climbed through the window and out onto the roof. I’d barely gotten out when the bedroom door behind me was kicked in, and I heard two male voices speaking in rapid Russian.
“Tavia, this way!” Lexa yelled, climbing down from the roof. “Don’t be scared. I’ll help you.”
But the sound of a gun firing had me screaming, and I looked back to find Raven standing by the open window, the gun pointed at one of the men who was approaching her. To my surprise, there was another man at her feet, blood pouring from where half his head had been blown off.
“Go!” Raven shouted.
The need to go back and help her was pushed aside at her command, and with Lexa’s help, I jumped down just as I heard police sirens in the distance. Shattered glass, splintered wood, and house siding were all over the place, but Lexa didn’t even seem bothered by it as she cushioned my drop. As soon as my feet were on the ground, she took hold of my wrist and we were running.
“Where?” I panted.
“Aunt Willa’s,” she said as we ran.
Less than a block later, a police cruiser skidded to a stop beside us. Ben jumped out, his eyes looking wild as he took in his wife. “I’m fine,” she told him. “Mom is still back there. Hurry.”
With a nod, he pulled his gun and took off at a dead run. Without missing a beat, Lexa tightened her hold on my wrist, and we were running again.
I didn’t realize Willa lived so close until we ran up the steps of a two-story house several blocks away. Lexa didn’t pause to knock, just turned the knob and pushed the front door open. “Aunt Willa! Safe room. Now.”
“L-Lexa…”
We both froze in the living room at the sound of that soft, musical voice. Looking up, we both sucked in a gasp when we saw a huge man standing at the top of the stairs. His arm was around Monroe’s waist, a gun pressed to her temple.
“Hello, niece,” the man spat at me in a heavy accent.
I hadn’t spent a lot of time analyzing Viktor Petrov’s face the one and only time I’d met him, but right away, I could see the similarities between him and this man. The same wide nose. Same jawline. Same soulless eyes.
Out of instinct, I took a step back, but his hold on Monroe only seemed to tighten, making her whimper in pain and fright as he pressed the gun barrel harder
into her temple. I froze, scared for the girl.
“Let her go,” I told him, stepping forward and pulling my wrist free from Lexa’s hold.
“Gladly,” he said with a twist of his lips. “Once I have you.”
“You won’t get far,” Lexa informed him, her tone chilled and baiting. “Even if you do leave here with Tavia, my husband won’t let you past the end of the block.”
Adas Petrov chuckled, the sound cold and evil. “Girl, you have no clue how capable I am of getting what I want. Your husband will only end up dead if he stands in my way.”
“Lexa… Mom. Sh-she’s…” Monroe cried out when Adas backhanded her to shut her up. The action sent her flying back on the stairs, her head hitting the step hard.
A sudden enraged roar behind us was all the warning we had that we weren’t alone. A gun going off right beside my ear had Lexa and me dropping to the ground out of instinct. A pained grunt was followed by the heavy thud of Adas’s body falling and then rolling down the stairs.
I felt more than heard the person behind me rush forward. They were so light on their feet, it was like they were a ghost. I lifted my head and saw a male dressed in all black, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up over his head as he took the stairs three at a time. He bent, checking for a pulse on Monroe’s neck. I heard him mutter something, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. It took me a few seconds to realize he was speaking Italian.
Then he was straightening and running past me again.
Lexa and I looked at each other, both of us too stunned by what had just happened to move for a moment. Then Monroe moaned, and we were both on our feet.
