Page 23 of Savage Surrender

Here, it seemed like one complicated layer popped up after another.

“I can’t stand those Ilyin fuckers.” The Petrovs weren’t any better, but the Ilyins had always seemed so much more prone to whining that they had a bad rep.

“Me neither,” Rurik said.

“And I thought I saw Andre Ilyin near the commons yesterday, too.”

Again, he agreed with a nod. “I’ve seen him here lately as well.”

Andre wasn’t necessarily anyone special, but he was a determined soldier, never giving up on a hit even if his boss changed his orders after the fact.

“I just wanted to tell you in person to keep an extra careful lookout for them. When they bring in more drugs, the influx takes a while to steady out.”

“You mean more reports about rapes and attacks will be coming in yet?”

“Exactly.”

He left after that brief check-in, and I hurried to get to the other building, one I didn’t often go to, in order to stand in for this poetry class. On the walk there, I ignored the falling snow and bite of the cold wind. I was too stuck in my head to care about the shitty weather.

What if something like that happened to Irina?

I had no claim on her. She was just a target I was supposed to follow and weed out intel from.

Yet, I hated the very thought of her being hurt or used. I could tell from her reactions yesterday that she was inexperienced, even in the moment leading up to a kiss. If Igor had done anything right, she was still a virgin, awaiting the fiancé Igor would choose for her.

Now that the thought had gotten in my head, I couldn’t dislodge it. I couldn’t stop worrying about something bad happening to the cool, aloof brunette who’d captured my attention as something more than a target.

How the fuck did she get under my skin like this?

I was concerned about her, already reading too far into her reaction to a text yesterday, her hot-and-cold responses to my leaning in toward her. Now, as I entered the building and hurried up to reach the smaller classroom than the lecture hall I was used to, I battled with the worry that she could end up like all the other victims.

She was a target, that wouldn’t change, but as I braced myself to see her in the classroom, I had to admit to myself that she had also become so much more.

Irina represented a challenge, and I was tasked with getting her to spill some clues and answers.

However, I’d be a world-class liar if I said I wasn’t too vested in making sure she was safe, too.

12

IRINA

After I left the building, rushing away from that hot moment I was sharing with Professor Remi, I sought out my guards. They kept their distance, but I was never lost from them. I could always locate them nearby.

“What’s going on?” I demanded of the first man I saw. They were usually around in twos, a pair. That was a standard for security details. Never alone, a backup on call and within reach.

He shrugged. “What do you mean?”

“Where’s the other?” I asked. “Peter.” I seldom referred to them by name. There was never any need to because we didn’t speak to each other. Part of their reasoning to stay back from me was to eliminate anyone thinking we were together so I could look approachable. Asking why this guard was alone didn’t fit into this urgent need to know what was going on near my brother, but it struck me as odd so I blurted the question.

“Following up on the latest incident,” he said, arching his brows as if questioning why I’d ask and make contact with him directly and also surprise that he’d answered me at all.

“The attacks near Maxim?” I shoved my hands into my coat pockets, cold and unhappy about it. Summer felt so far away with this snow falling.

He furrowed his brow. “What attacks?”

“What incident are you talking about?” I asked instead. Whatelsewas going on?

“The Ilyins.” He glanced around, as if someone were listening in. It was just the two of us out here in the cold near the building. “They’re rumored to be behind all the new drugs on campus. Spreading them and raping women.”

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