Page 30 of Hero's Heart

He was so fixed on Jakob, he didn’t see the guard who materialized from behind a stack of crates until he was blocking Callum’s path.

Without hesitation, Callum struck, his movements swift and silent. The guard barely had time to cry out before Callum’s strong hand clamped over his mouth and his other hand delivered a hard punch to the guard’s jaw, knocking him unconscious.

“Sorry, pal,” he muttered. “Nothing personal.”

Callum quickly dragged the body behind a stack of crates and checked for any signs of life. Satisfied that the guard was still breathing, he grabbed the guy’s AK-47, then turned his attention back to Jakob, who was now yelling at another guard, asking where Nikola had taken Sloane.

Relief flooded him. She was still alive.

Callum inched closer, carefully avoiding any open areas that would make him visible, as Jakob headed back toward the same cellar from which they’d just rescued Sloane and Marissa. Callum kept to the shadow of the tunnel, trying to formulate a plan as he listened to Jakob scream at his brother.

“You useless idiot!” Jakob’s voice boomed. “Can’t you follow simple instructions?”

“She is mine. I will keep her.”

Keep her? Was he talking about Sloane? That was creepy as fuck.

“This just proves that you’ll never be the boss, Nikola,” Jakob snarled. “You can’t handle it. All you had to do was kill her. Now I’ll do it myself.”

Jakob hadn’t even finished the sentence before Callum burst through the cellar door, weapon raised. The scene before him crystallized in a heartbeat: Sloane bound to a chair, her eyes wide with fear; Jakob, his arm raised, a gun glinting in his hand pointed at her head; and Nikola, his empty eyes reflecting the dim light.

Without hesitation, Callum squeezed the trigger of the AK, aimed directly at Jakob.

Nothing.

Every curse word Callum knew flew through his head in a split second as the gun failed a first time then a second.

Goddamned hand-me-down weapons.

Not waiting for anyone to recover, he launched himself at Jakob, tackling him. They crashed to the ground, his gun skittering across the concrete floor.

“You will die,” Jakob snarled.

Callum’s fist connected with Jakob’s jaw. “Not today, asshole.”

A flicker of movement caught Callum’s eye. Nikola was lunging for Jakob’s fallen gun. In one fluid motion, honed by years of training, Callum leaped to his feet and swung. His fist collided with Nikola’s temple, and the larger man crumpled like a marionette with cut strings.

“Look out!” Sloane cried, her hoarse voice coming out as barely more than a whisper.

He turned, only to see Jakob charging at him, face twisted in anger, a knife in his hand. Callum felt the sting of the blade across his bicep but ignored the pain. He expected Jakob to try again, but instead, the man dove for Sloane, knife raised.

Callum leaped for Jakob, knocking him away from Sloane in midair. As they came down, Jakob’s face was dragged down the jagged metal edge of a rusty oil drum. The man screamed as blood gushed from his now-mangled features, and he passed out on the ground.

With both Kozaks down, Callum rushed to Sloane. His fingers worked quickly at her bonds, but he kept his touch gentle despite the urgency.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice softening. “You remember me, right?”

Those blue eyes were huge as she stared at him. “Callum.”

“That’s right, angel.” As the ropes fell away, Callum helped her to her feet. “But we need to move. Now. We don’t have much time.”

They raced for the door, his arm securely around her. His mind was already plotting their escape route, but a part of him marveled at the fierce protectiveness he felt. He’d thought those feelings had died with his wife, but here they were, blazing to life for this young woman he’d only had two sentences of conversation with.

“Stay close,” he murmured as they emerged into the night. “And maybe we’ll make it out of this alive.”

Chapter 11

Callum kept a tight grip on Sloane as they darted through the compound. It wouldn’t be long before this became a straight-up manhunt for them, and he wanted to be as far away as they could when that happened.

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