The man clutching Lev in a vise grip has a high, nasally voice. The one pointing a gun at Lev’s head has a deeper, commanding one. I can see both their eyes through the holes in their masks, but neither pair looks remotely sympathetic.
“Please, I’ll do anything. Just let him go.”
“Anything, huh?” asks the nasally one. “Maybe if you suck my cock, I’ll consider it.”
I stare at Lev. His face is a complete blank. He’s looking down at his shoes as though he’s frozen.
“He’s not dangerous. He won’t fight back!”
The asshole holding the gun looks at Lev’s face for a moment. “Yeah, she’s right. Just stick him in the back of the van. He’s the dumbass. Brain-dead, that’s what the boss said. Crash knocked him stupid.”
My blood boils immediately. Rational thought goes kaput as I lunge for his throat with bared claws, screaming like a wild banshee.
It almost, almost, almost works. He’s so taken aback by my reaction that he stumbles to the side, his arm twisting towards me. I realize a moment too late that it’s the hand holding the gun. I can only watch in horror as the black mouth of the weapon comes closer and closer and—
BANG.
I feel the searing heat of a bullet missing my scalp by mere inches. “Fuck!” the nasally one swears. “Hurry up, man; we gotta get the fuck outta here.”
“Lev!” I scream. “Lev—no! No, no, no!”
“We don’t got time. Leave the girl. We’ve got him!”
I hear the screech of wheels; I see the barrel of the gun. But still, I run towards the two masked men.
BANG.
The second gunshot is even closer than the first. It grazes over the back of my triceps, close enough to rip through my clothes and the first layer of skin. Pain like a hot brand erupts and sends me to my knees on the gravel. Even still, I try to crawl toward the van.
But it’s too late.
The rear door slams shut on Lev’s frozen face. Gray exhaust fumes from the van flood the air and sting my lungs.
And the van races away… taking Lev with it.
59
URI
They have Lev.
That’s what Polly said to me when she called, crying hysterically and blaming herself for Lev’s abduction.
My first reaction was denial.
It’s just not fucking possible. Lev never leaves the house, much less the grounds. He’d never venture out long enough to be exposed that way. I had to wait until Polly was coherent enough to explain how the hell everything had gone so wrong.
Alyssa wanted to escape. I helped her. And Lev followed Alyssa.
The denial turned to shock. Shock turned to anger. And the anger curdled into something so thick, so dark, so destructive, that I was ready to set the whole goddamn world on fire.
Nikolai’s in the passenger seat, clinging to the armrest as I rip down the road at a hundred and twenty miles per hour. He has the forethought not to tell me to slow down or be careful, probably because he knows I’d just tell him to go fuck himself.
I’m pretty sure the car’s still moving when I jump out of it and storm into the house. I’m already wild with anger—but seeing Alyssa sitting on the floor of the living room with tears streaking her face and Polly’s arms wrapped around her makes me even wilder.
“Get the fuck up!” I snarl.
Polly’s eyes go wide but Alyssa looks almost resigned to what’s coming. She shakes Polly off gently and rises to her feet without so much as a word.
“Did you think I was just fucking around?” I demand in a low voice that I’ve learned from experience packs more of a punch than screaming ever has. “Did you think I was keeping you here because I fucking wanted to?”
She flinches. “I-I’m sorry—”
“‘Sorry’？” She takes a step back, but I’m not letting her away that easily. I snare her arm and twist it towards me. She lets out half of a strangled moan but presses her lips into a tight line to keep it from emerging fully. “You’re sorry? No, you don’t get to be sorry. Does ‘sorry’ bring Lev back? Does ‘sorry’ get him out of harm’s way? Does—”
“Uri!” Polly tries to pry my hand off Alyssa. “Stop! You’re hurting her.”
I refuse to let go. “I’ll deal with you later.”
I can tell from the dried tear tracks on my sister’s face that she’s been crying, too. “Why don’t you deal with me now?” she snarls.
“Polly,” Alyssa interrupts in a small voice, “it’s okay. Stay out of this.”