The shears tremble in my grip as I snip another leaf from the rose. “I need to know this will work.”
“He’ll go to Seattle as ordered, and then I’ll text him the new location. I’ll head out now, to the rendezvous in Leavenworth.” Dimitri repeats the plan we’ve rehearsed a dozen times. “The coordinates I’m sending will put him at the trailhead outside town. Remote. No witnesses. I’ll collect the locket, verify its authenticity, then bring it back here. You stay in the house, Kai. Lock the doors. Standard protocol.”
Right. Stick to our mission. No deviations.
As I snip another leaf, a thorn catches the pad of my thumb, piercing the flesh. I hiss through my teeth. “Shit.” Blood wells up, bright against my pale skin.
Dimitri frowns at my language. “Stay sharp.”
I wipe the blood on my pants, ignoring his obvious irritation with my word choice. “I’m always sharp.”
His eyes lock on the stain that my black leggings can’t quite hide. Then he spins and marches through the French doors into the house.
The main living space spreads beyond the doorway. Minimalist gray furniture curves around a fireplace large enough to stand in. Vases speckle the room, overflowing with white and pink roses and giving the area vibrant bursts of life. The petals never wilt. I replace them too quickly for that.
Dimitri jots notes in a journal from his chair near the fireplace, then puts the notebook and his laptop in the safe behind the picture on the wall.
I painted that portrait of my mother years ago. Childlike proportions and strange color choices give the image a rough quality that’s always felt precious to me. My rendering of her dark hair and kind eyes carried me through some of the toughest days of my adolescence.
Dimitri’s footsteps fade. A moment later, his truck rumbles to life in the driveway, the sound gradually disappearing into the distance.
For the first time all day, I release a relieved sigh.
We’ve been a team ever since Dimitri saved me from Isla de Huesos. He raised me, trained me, and supported me in my quest for vengeance when he could have allowed me to drown in my grief and rage or left me on the steps of an orphanage.
He’s acted as my savior and mentor since I was nine. More recently, he’s served as my shadow, my sounding board, and my agent. Together, we’ve built every piece of our strategy, calculated every move.
But this final act doesn’t belong to him.
It’s mine.
This ismyfamily.Myvengeance.
I won’t sit idle, surrounded by roses and security systems.
Dimitri’s already headed down the mountain road toward the highway and rendezvous point, where he expects to intercept Max and the locket.
Unless I reach Max first.
My boots wait by the door, right where I left them after hauling in firewood. I slip them on and grab my jacket from the closet, then rush outside and across the gravel toward my black truck. My bag sits packed in the covered bed.
Mom, your necklace was taken from you through violence and blood. I’ll get it back the same way.
Chapter 2
Max
Frigid rain hits the concrete, the day’s temperature barely above freezing. Chicago’s bad enough in the late fall, but on my trek to the West Coast, I’ve driven straight into a fucking polar vortex.
No snow yet, but that’s what the forecasters in Seattle have predicted.
Trust this city to turn something as manageable as snow into the gloom of nonstop rain that transforms to ice on impact.
Normally, I hate long-distance jobs. Driving for hours on end is a pain in the ass, and I’d rather stay close to home where I can protect Roman.
But this time, I have a damn good reason for traveling.
I get to collect the bitch who’s played my Pakhan for a fool for the past year. Roman ordered me to bring her back alive. I respect that.
