Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Good girl.
“Here, Viktor.” Vera comes to a stop. “Do you see past that huge tree, there’s the water—”
I’m already past the clearing of trees, trying my best to see the small cabin in the middle of the water.
Suddenly, a gunshot rings out. Two. Three. Zofia screams, and the heavy sound I know too well to be a body thuds to the ground. Lightning strikes again, lighting up Nikko’s face. “Sniper,” he says, jerking his chin in front of us to where a man lies on the ground, blood pooling from his head onto the earth.
“Good catch, babe,” Vera says, her voice wobbling.
Nikko nods. “But we just rang the doorbell,” he says as the cabin door flies open. “They know we’re here.”
His gun is poised next to Zofia’s. “Viktor!” she screams. “Behind you.” She pulls the trigger just as the cold blade of a knife hits my neck. I turn on instinct and grab the fucker who tried to hit me by the throat as Zofia’s shot goes wide.
I squeeze hard, feeling the cartilage crunch beneath my fingers. He gurgles, clawing at my hand, but I don’t let up. Time slows. The woman I love is in danger, and I’m going to fucking murder anyone who gets in my way. I don’t let up until I feel him go limp. I release the man in my grip, his body crumpling to the ground. Nikko doesn’t hesitate and with one quick shot, he finishes what I started.
“Dammit,” Zofia says, shaking her head. “I promise you, I won’t miss a second time. There!” She screams and pulls the trigger again. A body falls to the ground, and Nikko swivels to get another and another.
“It’s an ambush,” he yells at me. “Go! We’ve got you covered here. We’ll use them as a diversion, and I’ll cover you when you surface.”
Two more come out of the forest, barely visible through the downpour. Thunder roars overhead as I yank off my shoes and shirt and toss my phone beside both of them. I step toward a roughly hewn peer and dive into the water.
The icy cold drags me under. I hold my breath and go as far as I can until my palms hit the soft mud of earth. I swim hard and fast underwater toward the cabin, as close to the surface of the ground as I can so no one sees me. The muted sounds of gunshots ring overhead. Someone knows I’m coming, and they’re trying to shoot me, but I’m a moving target and too far, too unpredictable.
I can estimate I’m almost there. In front of me, the water begins to shallow as I near the cabin on the island. Through the murky haze of the water, I can see the thick chains where Yudin anchored his boat.
I grab onto the chain to keep myself in place and slowly rise to the surface. Another gunshot rings out, then another and another. I have to have hope that my brother’s hit his target. No one outshoots Nikko. And no one outfights me.
I need to breathe. My vision is beginning to swim.
I can go on.
I’m going to strangle Yudin’s fucking neck and feel the life drain out of him until I feel his pulse stop beneath my fingers, and I know my woman is safe.
The pressure engulfs me, muffling all sound but the frantic beating of my heartbeat. My chest tightens as my lungs scream for air, each second stretching into eternity. My vision begins to blur, and I’m engulfed in a sense of urgency to breathe, my body begging for oxygen. The need for air becomes a relentless force, my primal needs demanding to be met. My muscles tense as I head for the surface, my hand gliding along the heavy chain as I push toward the surface. I’m almost there.
I break through the surface, gasping for breath. Gunshots ring out, splashing the water beside me. I take another breath and plunge below the surface one more time, my murky gaze riveted on the boat. I anchor my feet on the rocky foundation of the cabin and push the paddle boat to break the surface of the water. Gunshots sound all around me. I can feel them embed into the wood of the boat I’m using like a shield. In front of me, I can see the door to the cabin.
“Go, Viktor!” Nikko shouts from shore. “I’ve got you covered. Go!”
I throw the boat into the water, turn, and leap onto the island, my bare feet clinging to the rocky surface. The door’s locked, but I could knock down the Empire State Building now with the fury and adrenaline I’ve got coursing through my veins. I rear back and throw my entire body weight into it. It splinters and groans. I do it again as someone comes around the corner. A gunshot sounds from the shore. He trips, hits, and falls into the water. Nikko’s got me.