Page 138 of Kingmakers, Year Four

The metallic stench of blood fills the tunnel. I don’t know who’s winning or losing.

Then I hear a snarl unlike anything I’ve heard before. I see a man, already covered in blood from head to foot, his bared teeth a slash of white in the grisly mask of his face. His long hair is filthy, his tattooed chest bare except for the belts of ammunition slung across it. He holds a knife in each hand, the wicked blades already wet on their tips like venomous fangs. He charges into the fray, cutting and slashing and stabbing like he has six arms instead of only two.

The soldiers fall before him like grass beneath the scythe.

He rampages through them, his bull-like body whittled down to pure muscle and sinew, not an ounce of fat on his frame. His dark hair is matted, longer than his shoulders, his face bearded, eyes wild with bloodlust.

In the space of a breath, everyone in military uniform is dead.

We stare at this monster, at his snarling teeth and dripping knives.

Then Rafe says, “Dad!”, and he runs to him.

Ivan Petrov drops the knives, sweeping his son and daughter into his arms.

His bloodstained hands sink into their hair. He pulls their faces against his.

I can’t look at the expression on his face.

I have to turn and stare at the stone wall, filled with a shame I can’t express.

The reunion only lasts a moment. Ivan embraces Adrik and Kade as well, saying, “Is Sloane in the tunnels?”

“Yes,” Freya says.

“Then we’ll save the introductions for another time,” Ivan says, his gaze sweeping over Leo, Anna, Hedeon, and me, before he urges us all on.

I don’t know if I imagined a flicker of recognition when those dark eyes passed over me. I’m supremely relieved that there’s no need for us to speak at the moment. Ivan Petrov is frankly terrifying, and I’m staying as far back in the group as possible.

Rafe rejoins me. I can see the blazing relief in his face, a lightening of his step that makes me realize what a burden he was carrying all this time. His fingers tremble slightly as he clutches his rifle.

My chest is burning with the most complicated set of emotions I’ve ever known: immense guilt, mixed with happiness and sorrow.

Our eyes meet. I hope Rafe can see that no matter the circumstances, and without considering what might happen next, I’m glad he has his father back.

We’re running toward the steadily increasing sound of gunfire, Kade walking on his own, his ear still bleeding but his rifle in his hands once more. Hedeon can’t even stand—he’s supported between Dean and Leo, his pant leg darkly soaked.

This mine is massive—endless tunnels and chambers.

My father never showed me this place. He told me that he took me to every warehouse, every nightclub . . . and yet, it’s obvious he doesn’t only keep Ivan Petrov captive here. If it’s an old uranium mine like Adrik said, I can guess exactly what goes on here.

None of the uses for black market uranium are at all palatable to me. Another blow to my image of my dad.

We reach the main guardhouse at last, the entry point where my father’s men drive in through the tunnels.

Sloane has made it all the way inside, but she’s pinned down at the base of the guardhouse, the tires blown out of her Jeep, all the windows shattered. It appears that only four of her men are still alive, including the one called Timo. He crouches next to her, shooting up at my father’s soldiers who surround them on three sides.

Dean sets Hedeon down against the wall, tearing a strip off the bottom of his shirt and tying it tight around Hedeon’s thigh.

Our group fans out, attacking my father’s men from behind.

The Malina splinter, shot at from two sides. The bulk of them retreat up the tunnel to regroup. I stay right behind Rafe as he fights his way closer to hismother.

I see Olek, one of my father’sbrigadiers, stand up in the guardhouse, pointing his rifle directly at Rafe. I scream, “RAFE! Six o’clock!”

Rafe wheels around, Olek’s bullet cutting a groove out of his shoulder as Rafe’s shot hits Olek right in the chest. I stare, horrified, as Olek slumps over, his head crashing through the guardhouse window.

Meanwhile Ivan shoots two, three, four Malina, before sprinting across the open ground to his wife, heedless of bullets flying around him, sliding into her behind the body of the Jeep, seizing her and kissing her with a ferocity that would tear apart a more delicate woman.

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