Somewhere in the midst of it, I hear Grigory whisper out the door, “It’s almost time.”
“Oh, God,” I moan deliriously, staring up at the ceiling. I close my eyes and whisper a prayer.
Please help me. Send Uri to me. This can’t be how it ends. Not for me and not for my babies. This can’t be the end.
More feet approach. I want to look, but my head is getting heavier and heavier by the minute.
“Jesus!” the black-haired nurse exclaims. “That’s a lot of blood. Is that normal?”
“No.” Grigory’s voice is low and urgent. “No, it’s not.”
“Well? What do we do?”
“Go get Boris. Something’s wrong.”
56
URI
There’s a moment of silence on the other line after I give Dominik the location.
“Are you sure?” he asks again. “That’s a house in the middle of bumfuck nowhere.”
“In a way, it’s genius,” I point out. “No one will suspect the kind of depraved shit happening in the basements of some of these nice little suburban homes. People see picket fences and think ‘wholesome family life.’”
“I can be there in thirty with backup.”
“Bring every man you can spare. This is it.”
He hangs up and I jump into the passenger seat while Nikolai takes the wheel and Dimiv climbs in the back. We’ve got half a dozen cars filled with armed men trailing us, but nothing about our current situation reassures me.
I fucked up. There’s no way to get past that. I lapped up every last morsel of the bullshit that that bastard, Grigory, fed me. I believed him over Alyssa. I trusted him over my own brother. I left my woman exposed and vulnerable and I beat Nikolai’s face into a bloody pulp.
If my father were here, he’d have put my ass into the dirt and I’d deserve it. I glance over my shoulder at Dimiv. “Check in with Stepan. I need to know the moment Lev and Polly are back in the estate.”
“On it.”
I can’t stop thinking about Alyssa and what she must be going through right now. If she or one of those babies is hurt because of this, I’ll never forgive myself. I may as well just step down as pahkan and hand the mantle over to Nikolai. He deserves it more than I do, anyway.
I glance his way. His driving is fast and decisive, despite the crusted blood gluing his eyes shut and the swollen bruises I can already see forming high on his cheekbones. I did that to him. I hurt him.
I’m not my brother’s keeper, apparently; I’m my brother’s would-be murderer.
Idiot.
Fucking idiot.
“It’s going to be okay, you know,” Nikolai says, tossing me a concerned glance as we whip around a corner. “We’ll get there in time.”
I wince. He doesn’t even sound angry anymore. Somehow, that’s so much worse. I’d know what to do with his anger: take it. His sympathy, on the other hand, is a complete mystery. “Nikolai…”
“Don’t,” he says firmly. “You can apologize to me later. After you’ve found Alyssa and sorted out your shit with her.”
I sigh. “You’re a better man than I am.”
Nikolai snorts. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You’ve never played the victim before; don’t start now.”
“Alyssa’s in Boris’s claws because of me. And our last interaction was a dumb fight that involved me accusing her of cheating on me and trying to pass off another man’s babies as mine.”
Dimiv curses softly in the back seat but Nikolai just glares at me. “And you’re going to get her back and you’re gonna do everything in your power to make it up to her.”
“And what if I don’t get that chance?” I growl. “What if—”
“No,” Nikolai says sharply. “We’re not going there. You hear me? We’re not going there until we have to.”
“Damn straight,” Dimiv agrees from the back seat. “The baby birds have just landed. Stepan’s got them secured at the castle. Half the family is good—let’s take care of the other half.”
“Good.” I look down at the location on my phone. “We’re almost there. Seven minutes.” Nikolai steps on the gas and we hurtle down the road, past suburban cul-de-sacs towards a single house at the end of masses of empty land. “Check in with Dominik for an ETA.”
“We have enough men,” Nikolai says.
“I’m not taking any chances.” I gesture for him to slow down. “Park here and let’s walk down. The area thins out after this point and I don’t want to risk being seen before we’re ready.”