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She is safe with Stefan right now. But has Yasha already rigged something up? Is he waiting to press the button the second Emery and I drive back onto the property?
I want to say it isn’t possible, but Yasha is crafty. He might have been able to bypass some of the defenses. There’s no way to know…
“I found it,” Viktoria says suddenly. Her voice is clear and very loud. “It was under the crystal duck on the bookshelf. What do I do?”
“Hold it up to the phone,” Yasha says.
We hear the muffle of her fingers over the microphone as she picks it up.
“Twenty minutes should be enough time for you to drive back to the compound from my neighborhood, right?” Yasha asks. “Because I’m sure you parked close by to listen in.”
“Is that enough time?” Emery worries. “We aren’t ready for that. What do we do?”
“I’ll see you soon, brother. Viktoria,” Yasha says, “destroy it.”
A second later, there’s a cracking sound and a long stretch of high-pitched feedback noises. Then silence. A tense, dreadful silence.
“What are we going to do?” Emery asks. “Where are we going to go? We have to get back and get Isabella out of there, but there isn’t time. Should we call Stefan? Maybe we can take her and go to—”
“We aren’t running away.” I turn the car on and pull into the mid-morning flow of traffic. “We’re going to meet him.”
“No. No! Isabella can’t be involved in this,” Emery says. “She doesn’t know who he is, Adrik. And I can’t tell her like this. I won’t.”
“She’ll have to learn about it one day.”
“Not today! Not under threat,” she snaps.
“If you’re waiting for a day when there are zero threats in our lives and we’re perfectly safe, you’ll be waiting forever,” I snarl. “I’m not sure what kind of fairy tale you think you signed up for, but this is my life. This is what it looks like.”
“I didn’t sign up for anything. You kidnapped my daughter and forced me into this,” Emery spits.
“I gave you the chance to leave.”
“Yeah, if I wanted to sacrifice my daughter’s health! Or go back to a rapist pig!” She angrily tucks a fallen lock of hair back behind her ear. “I didn’t have any options.”
I shrug. “Then you should be thanking me.”
“For what?”
“For giving you an option,” I answer. “Before, you were stuck with Malcolm. I at least gave you the choice of being with him or with me. Knowing what you know now, do you have any regrets?”
Emery goes quiet. When I glance over, her mouth is set in a firm frown. The truth is trapped behind her soft lips.
“Do you have any regrets?” I repeat. “Do you wish you’d never walked into my office that first night we met? Do you wish you hadn’t danced with me?”
She crosses her arms and sits back in her seat. “No.”
“Then don’t fucking tell me I never gave you a choice.”
I whip us onto the highway. Emery scrambles to grab the door handle and find some purchase.
“I’m sorry. I… I chose you. Okay? I chose you. I didn’t mean—I just… I don’t want Isabella involved.”
“She’s already involved,” I say. “If Yasha is willing to negotiate with us to meet her, then you better believe he’s willing to kidnap her to do worse than that. This is the way.”
She whimpers. “That can’t be true. This can’t be our best option. He’s crazy, Adrik. You heard him. He’ll kill you.”
“He’ll try,” I say grimly. “He will certainly try.”
* * *
I call and clear out security when we’re ten minutes from the compound. My men are confused, but they obey. They know better than to ask impudent questions of their don.
“Isabella is still with Stefan?” Emery asks.
I nod. “He has her and the dog with him. They’ll be safe.”
The rest of the drive, we’re silent. There’s nothing to say. Emery is a bundle of anxieties and nerves. Practically vibrating in her seat.
But I feel calm, steady. The Zen bliss of action.
The gates are wide open. We hurtle through and up the winding drive towards the compound. From this vantage point, I can just see the lingering damage to the stonework on the front corner of the house where Malcolm and the Volandris blew through. That feels like a lifetime ago.
"I don't see a car," Emery says. "What does Yasha drive?"
I shake my head. "He'll want to surprise us. Either he's here and hiding or he'll pull in once we're settled. My brother has always liked to make a scene."
"I don't like this."
"You better get used to that," I say. "Life is full of decisions I don't like. But someone has to make them."
"No, I mean…" She reaches over and grabs my arm. "I don't think we should go in."
"I'm not a coward," I snap. "I'm not going to sneak around and avoid the reality in front of me. Not like some people.”
Something like guilt flashes across her face, but we don't have time to talk about that. We have to keep going.
When I park the car and climb out, Emery follows suit. “Stay behind me,” I tell her.
She even listens for a change, trailing a few steps to my rear.
It’s strange to walk up the steps and see the cameras next to the front doors gone still, the ever-present red light glowing beneath them gone dark.
We’re truly on our own.
I walk up to the double front doors. The right one is partially opened. Emery moves closer behind me. She fists the back of my shirt so we can’t get separated.
The entryway is darker than usual. Normally, light is bouncing off of the white floors and the high ceilings, but it’s like a cavern today. I look over and realize the curtains have been drawn over all of the windows.
I frown, trying to piece together what is going on—when Emery gasps.
I wrap a hand behind me, dragging her against my back and spinning in an automatic motion to throw myself between her and whatever the fuck is out there in the shadows.
“What is it?” I snarl.
She shakes her head and pulls me back around. “Adrik. Look.”
I didn’t see it when we first walked in. The lump in the middle of the floor. My eyes were still adjusting to the darkness.
But it’s obvious now. A huddled mass lying limp on the rug.
In the shape of a human body.
“Who is it?” Emery asks. I can feel her hand shaking on my back. “Is it Yasha?”
“No.”
