I slam the blade up into the chin of one of Danil’s men and his eyes roll backwards as he falls to the ground.

Behind me, someone fires a shot.

Now they all know we are here.

I throw the knife to the ground next to the body of the man I just killed and pull out my gun.

No more stealth. From here on out we just have to fight harder.

From around the side of the house, a large group of men comes running towards us.

“Keep them busy,” I shout to Ivan and the rest of my team as I bolt in the other direction.

I see them taking cover and start to shoot.

The noise is deafening.

I run away from the chaos towards an open window, throwing myself through it and crouching low inside the house.

After a few seconds, I’m confident that I’ve managed to get inside unseen.

I can hear my men fighting for their lives outside and I hate the fact that they are facing so many men alone.

Maxim better hurry. I know we won’t be able to survive long without him.

Somewhere inside this house Sasha is being kept prisoner.

That is what I need to focus on.

I stand up, looking around the room. I’m in a dining room.

I stay close to the wall as I move towards the door, my gun held in front of me.

I hear screaming and a commotion from somewhere nearby. Sasha.

All caution leaves me as I run towards the noise.

I skid into the living room at the back entrance, and near the other door, I see Sasha pointing a gun at Rico, an older woman ducking behind her.

“Sasha,” I shout as she squeezes the trigger, and a bullet fires from the barrel of her gun and slams into Rico’s skull. His head explodes against the wall behind him, and his body falls limp to the floor.

Sasha turns towards the sound of my voice, her eyes locking with mine, wide with horror and shock.

I see her father walking through the doorway behind her and I scream again, but he grabs her and wrestles the gun out of her hand, and before I can reach her, he has it pressed against her temple.

I freeze, my gun pointed towards Danil, my eyes focused on him.

“Leon, welcome to the party.” Danil grins a sly and evil smile.

“Let her go.”

“I don’t think I’ll be doing that. I think if you don’t want her to die, you should lower your gun, boy.”

The last thing I want is for him to hurt Sasha, and at this point, I know without a doubt that he would kill her without hesitation.

Slowly, reluctantly, I lower my weapon.

“Aw. Isn’t that sweet? I mean, you know you’re going to die, right? You know I’m going to shoot you and you’ll never get to see your little baby grow up?”