Nikolai’s posture changed subtly.So did the men in the front seats.She felt it more than saw it—a tightening, an alertness that hummed through the enclosed space.
“Something’s wrong,” Rafael muttered.
Mateo didn’t answer immediately.His head tilted, listening, fingers tapping once against the dashboard.“No chatter.No ground crew.No pilot.”
The vehicle continued forward, tires crunching softly on gravel as they approached a small plane sitting alone near the edge of the strip.Its outline looked harmless enough.Waiting.Ready.
Eliza’s stomach clenched.
Nikolai leaned slightly closer, his voice pitched low.“If anything happens, you stay here.The windows and frame are reinforced.You don’t open the door for anyone but us.”
She looked at him then, really looked at him.
He wasn’t afraid.
That terrified her more than if he’d been.
The vehicle rolled to a stop.
No one moved.
Nikolai was the first to decide.“Hangar,” he said.
Rafael nodded instantly.Mateo was already turning the wheel, angling them toward the shadowed structure looming at the edge of the strip.
The first gunshot cracked through the night.
Metal screamed.
The car’s body erupted in sparks as bullets tore into it, the sound sharp and deafening in the open air.Eliza flinched despite herself, heart slamming hard against her ribs.
“Stay down,” Nikolai said, already moving.
The vehicle jerked to a stop near the hangar.The doors flew open.
“Stay in the car,” Rafael snapped, voice hard now.“Do not get out.”
Nikolai hesitated for half a second, hand braced against the doorframe, eyes locking on hers.“Stay,” he repeated.
Then he slammed the door and was gone.
The sounds outside were chaos—shouting, gunfire, the sharp concussion of return fire echoing off metal walls.The vehicle rocked slightly as something struck it, the dull thud absorbed by reinforced plating.
Eliza pressed herself back against the seat, breath shallow, hands clenched tight in her lap.
A shadow moved.
A man stepped into view beside the window, close enough that she could see the shape of his face, the glint of his teeth as he smiled.
He raised his weapon and fired.
The glass spiderwebbed but held.Each shot boomed inside the cabin, vibration rattling through her bones.She didn’t scream.She couldn’t.Her body locked, every instinct screaming at her to disappear.
The man leaned closer, pressing his face near the fractured glass.“When we get you back,” he said, voice muffled but clear enough, “you’re going to pay for this, bitch.”
His head snapped back violently.
Blood sprayed across the glass.
