Page 173 of Emerald Malice

“It’s Natalia.”

The moment I step into the hallway, I smell it. Beneath the antiseptic and the over-bleached hospital bedding…

Blood.

Olaf’s limp body is lying in the threshold of the door. I jump over him and nearly trip over Anatoly’s corpse.

“No, no, no!”

As I search the room frantically, I find Remi lying behind the armchair, eyes closed, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

I turn the room upside down, but I already know there’s no point.

She’s gone.

62

NATALIA

It’s the pain that wakes me.

A dull, nagging pain. I’m achy all over, the same way I used to feel after a night out with Katya. Back then, the culprit was obvious: tequila. It’s not as obvious this time around.

I’m stiff, but when I try to move to ease the pain, my hands and legs are unwilling to obey.

No, not unwilling—unable.

My eyes fly open, and I feel the zip ties cutting into my skin before I see them. I take in the small room in one panicked sweep. Sickly, yellow walls. Narrow windows covered in moth-eaten curtains.

I draw in a ragged breath, and the air is dank and stale.

“Anatoly! Olaf!”

My guards were just outside the door, but that was a different door. A different room. Still, I call out for anything familiar.

“Remi? Remi!”

Remi doesn’t answer with a whine or a bark, and my voice echoes pathetically in the empty space.

Every second that passes brings my fuzzy memories into sharper focus.

And that hurts worst of all.

A knock at the hospital room door. Anatoly and Olaf standing in the way.

Then everything descended into chaos.

Anatoly and Olaf dropped to the floor, and Remi took their place, snarling and baring his fangs—doing his job.

Then… nothing.

I don’t remember what happened between that moment and this one, but my grim surroundings tell me it wasn’t anything good.

I glance down at my stomach and pray no one hurt my baby in that blank space I can’t remember. Almost in answer, I feel a fluttering kick, earnest and comforting. Despite everything, I smile.

At least my child is safe. At least my little girl is a fighter.

Given what’s coming, she might have to be.

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