AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Eden, hurry,” Mercy urges, her voice trembling.
“I’m trying,” I hiss, cursing my sweaty hands. The door swings open, and we’re allowed into the sanctuary. The deadbolt turns easily, and I back away from the door, wondering how long we will be safe.
“God, this is all so messed up,” Mercy mumbles, watching the door. “I just want everything to go back to normal.”
“Me too,” I say softly, knowing that normal never existed for us.
“Hey,” she says, suddenly taking my hand. “Whatever happens, we’ll get through this together, right?” She smiles as if I never did anything to hurt her.
“Right,” I squeeze her hand. “We’re family, Mercy.”
Just as the words leave my lips, the heavy door shudders under a series of loud impacts. My heart nearly stops as I realize the door is being shot at from the other side. As I watch in horrified fascination, a perfect circle of bullet holes appears around the lock. Each bullet leaves a small dent and a tiny puff of smoke. There is nowhere to run as the door starts to buckle, and there’s an earsplittingwhamas it crashes to the floor.
Gunsyn steps into the room, his gun drawn and a nasty smirk set in grim determination.
“Edie, watch out!” Mercy’s warning comes a moment too late, and suddenly, I’m roughly yanked backward, my arms pinned behind my back.
“Gotcha,” his gruff voice growls in my ear.
“Let her go!” Mercy slaps at his arms. She’s always been the braver of us two, but even she can’t conceal the fear in her voice. Suddenly, she flies backward from the impact of Gunsyn’s fist.
I break free and rush over to Mercy, who’s had the wind knocked out of her. We’re surrounded by a group of armed men in black tactical gear. They spread out around the studio, all eyes on us as they take orders from Gunsyn.
“Thought you could hide from us, little bitch?” he sneers. “You should know better by now.”
“Leave us alone!” I shout. “And maybe Nikolai won’t make you suffer.”
“That’s not how this fairy tale ends,” he taunts, and the men laugh.
Alexander materializes from behind Gunsyn and grabs Mercy off the floor, his arm wrapped tightly around her neck. “Hello, beautiful,” he sneers, looking hungrily at her bikini-clad body.
“Let her go!” I shout, but Gunsyn grabs me by the arm instead. “Please,” I beg him. “Don’t hurt her.”
“Come on, Eden,” Gunsyn says calmly, “You didn’t think it would be this easy?” His lips curl into a sinister smile. “Fuck the pakhan and spy for your dad. He taught you well, you little whore.”
“My father was never the traitor!” I shout. “That’s you! And you’ll die for everything you’ve done.”
Gunsyn glares at me but says nothing. He looks around the room, eyeing the canvases, and I want to shout and tell him he has no right to look at Nikolai’s creations. He shakes his head and laughs at what he sees, muttering the wordsoftunder his breath.
“You’re coming with us,” he says, his tone showing no more patience. “Unless you want to see your cousin’s brains splattered all over these lovely paintings.”
“Eden, don’t,” Mercy whimpers. “Don’t go with them.”
But I don’t have a choice.
“All right,” I lower my gaze. “I’ll go with you.”
“Good girl.” Gunsyn smirks at me before his eyes turn toward Mercy, and he licks his lips. “And so are you, little prize.”
“Prize?” My stomach churns at the suggestion, and I feel sick with fear. “What are you going to do to her?”
“I’d spend less time worrying about her,” Gunsyn grins, “and a lot more time worrying about yourself.”
Rough fingers bind our hands behind us and force us down to the underground garage. A waiting van’s door opens and swallows us. Before either of us can protest, rags are shoved into our mouths and hoods are yanked down over our eyes.
A second later, the doors slam shut, and I wonder if my luck has finally run out.
25
