AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ISABELLA
The moment I step out of my car, I know that something is wrong. There is a charge in the air. Like the world is holding its breath before a violent storm.
It makes ice spread through my veins like poison.
Have they finally found me? Have the Hands of Peace at last manage to track me down despite all of my precautions?
They couldn’t have. I went into town just yesterday to check my communications, and my contacts have found no indications that my former colleagues have even entered the state.
I flick my gaze around the parking lot. To get to my apartment, I first need to make it around the building. I glance back towards my car. Maybe I should just get into the car and make a run for it. Retrieve my go-bag and then drive and drive and drive until Blackwater University and Rico fucking Morelli are no more than specks of dust in my rearview mirror.
Would I make it?
Is there any other place where the Hands of Peace would never think to look? When I plotted out my escape plan, Blackwater University was the only place that fit all of my criteria. Why did Rico have to be here too? Why did he have to ruin my perfect escape plan?
Panic pulses through my heart.
Rico.
If I run, he will chase me too. Could I really survive being hunted by both the Hands of Peace and Rico Morelli when I have no other safe place to hide?
Fuck, I should—
A figure moves at the corner of my eye. I whip around, falling into a fight stance while my heart pounds like a battle drum in my chest.
Only to be faced with Mikhail Petrov.
The relief that crashes through me is so intense that I almost can’t stop the laugh that threatens to rip from my throat.
It’s not the Hands of Peace.
It’s the disgruntled Russians. Normal people with normal petty vendettas. Not an authoritarian cult of assassins.
I must have shown some of that relief on my face, because Mikhail’s expression darkens.
“You think you’re untouchable because you run with the Hunters now, huh?” he says, menace lacing his voice. “Guess what? It’s the other way around. You’re one of them now, which means that you have just inherited all of their enemies.”
While stifling the urge to heave an exasperated sigh, I make a mental note to beat the crap out of Rico the next time I see him. Why the fuck did he have to call me over in front of the entire cafeteria like that? Not only did it put me on everyone’s radar, it apparently also landed me a whole new set of enemies. Just because I sat at the Hunters’ table, the Petrovs now think they can use me to get revenge in their little internal war.
I was trying to stay invisible, for fuck’s sake! That is getting increasingly difficult when the psycho kings of Blackwater decide to show the whole bloody university that I’m with them now. Gods fucking damn it.
“Kaden thinks he can mess with Alina,” Mikhail growls. “Let’s see how they like it when we return the favor.”
We.
Yes, one glance over my shoulder confirms that his little brother Anton is closing in behind me as well. I scan the rest of the parking lot too, searching for their cousins. But apart from the mass of silent cars, the three of us are alone.
Two opponents. Both of them probably decently skilled. No long-range weapons as far as I can see. No close-range weapons either. Just two guys and their fists.
If I could go all out, this fight would be over within a couple of minutes.
But I can’t go all out. Not without revealing my true skills.
Fuck, this is going to be annoying.
“Please,” I say, raising my hands and adding a tremor to my voice. “It’s not what you think. I’m not—”
Mikhail lunges for me.
