Page 46 of Master Vidar & Vali

I saw there was a small room behind the door that had just opened. “How many secret rooms does this place have?”

“We can talk about that later. Get in. You’ll be safe here, Zara.”

More gunfire echoed from outside over the wailing of the alarm. I wanted to argue to get answers, but knew that every minute I delayed this man, was time he wasn’t helping his friends. I stepped in and the door swooshed shut, closing me in and cutting off all sound.

Panic trembled through me as I sunk to the ground. How many men did Brody have? How many Albanians were there? Was Mihal with them? Could they find me? How safe was this safe room?

I didn’t want people dying for me. Did Colin and Lincoln even know what was going on? How was I going to know if it was safe to come out? I reached for my phone in my shorts pocket and found it empty. I’d taken it out of my pocket and must have left it on the table when I couldn’t reach the internet. Shit! I looked around the room, but there was nothing resembling a phone.

A couch that could be a bed, a small refrigerator, a security panel and a light switch. I didn’t even know how I could get out of the room. Would the security alarm have reached anyone or would it be blocked by whatever cut off the internet and phone?

It wasn’t fair. For the first time in my life, I had people I loved who loved me. It didn’t matter that plans were vague or that our love didn’t look like what most people believed was normal. I wanted what they had offered, and I wasn’t going to give up. If anyone but my men opened that door, I would fight to get back to them. I wasn’t going to end up a trophy wife for a pathetic excuse for a man. I was going to be Colin and Lincoln’s princess.

There wasn’t anything left I could do but wait. I wasn’t a religious woman, but I sent out a prayer to karma or any god who was listening to keep the men protecting me safe and let me have a future with the men I loved.

Chapter Twenty

Lincoln

Fear and the cool night air sent a chill up my spine as I stepped onto the high school football field. The sound of the rhythmic thump of the helicopter’s rotors cut through the darkness, making talking almost impossible. The field, usually a place of teenage cheers and Friday night lights, felt surreal under the dim glow of the stadium’s floodlights. The chopper sat at the fifty-yard line, its sleek black form almost blending into the night. Our only hope of possibly reaching Zara in time.

It had been years since I suited up for combat, but I didn’t hesitate for a moment when our man at the chopper handed me a weapon as I jumped into the cabin of the helicopter. We were probably going to get a fine or something for landing at the local high school but that was a problem for another day. The interior was illuminated by the faint green glow of the instrument panel showing three more operators from G&H ready to join our team in the crazy race north.

Would seven men be enough to do what was needed? I slipped on a headset and strapped myself in.

“Ready?” The pilot's voice was clear. We all gave him a thumbs up. The door slid shut with a heavy clunk, sealing us inside. The noise of the rotors grew louder, a deep, thrumming beat that seemed to pulse through my entire body. With a lurch, the helicopter lifted off the ground, the field dropping away beneath us as we rose into the night sky.

The town below quickly became a blur of tiny lights, the high school shrinking to a mere speck as we gained altitude. The pilot banked sharply, and we shot forward, the dark expanse of the distance we had to travel looming ahead like a shadowy fortress. I could almost imagine the mountains barely visible moving closer. Adrenaline surged through me as we raced toward them, the hum of the rotors and the distant roar of the wind the only sounds accompanying us on our journey.

“What do we know?” Colin asked, his voice clipped with worry.

“Cell towers in the entire area are down,” Gresham our co-pilot reported. “From what we know, the security hasn’t been tripped, we think they took out the phone line from the street level but not our backup system. So if they are there they haven’t breached the house yet. Plan is to land if we don’t see activity, or do a hover stop if there is.”

I cursed. We should have made sure Brody and his team had a satellite phone as back up. We’d grown soft and treated this like Mihal wasn’t really dangerous. Desperation had made him into a bigger threat than any of us could have imagined. There was a level cleared area for the helicopter a five minute walk from the house but the backyard was clear enough of trees for him to hover if we needed a closer spot.

The roar of the helicopter’s rotors couldn’t drown out the pounding of my heart. There was nothing else we could do butwait and pray. The night was pitch black, offering no distractions to the thousands of negative thoughts racing through my mind. All I could think about was Zara. How she was out there, vulnerable, with Mihal closing in and didn’t realize it. The thought of her in his hands made my blood run cold.

I clenched my fists, trying to steady my breathing, but every beat of my heart screamed at me to move faster. Colin sat across from me, his face set in stone. We’d been through hell together. Survived so much, but I didn’t think we could survive losing her. His eyes met mine, and for a moment, we didn’t need words. We both knew what was at stake.

We both loved her. God, I loved her more than anything, and the thought of losing her—of not getting there in time—was a weight on my chest that I could barely breathe under. She was my light in the dark, my reason for fighting, and I would tear the world apart to keep her safe.

But what if we were too late? The thought gnawed at me, and I felt a cold sweat break out on my brow. What if we landed and she was gone, taken by that bastard Mihal? The image of her terrified, struggling, made me grit my teeth so hard my jaw ached. I wouldn’t let it happen. If she wasn’t safe when we got there, God help Mihal, because we’d hunt him to the ends of the earth.

Colin shifted in his seat, checking his weapon for the third time. He caught my eye again and nodded. We would do whatever it took, and we wouldn’t stop until she was safe. That much was certain. But the uncertainty—the not knowing if we’d get there in time—was like a knife twisting in my gut.

Now wasn’t the time to panic. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to picture her face, her smile, the sound of her laugh. I held on to those memories like a lifeline, pushing down the fear and focusing on what needed to be done. If we made it in time,I’d hold her close and never let go. But if we didn’t… I forced the thought away. We would make it. We had to.

“Just got notification the house’s alarm has been tripped.” Gresham’s voice cut through my thoughts.

“Is Zara okay?” The words were like glass shards in my throat.

“We’re not close enough for coms but headquarters say the upstairs safe room has been activated. Five minutes and we should be in range,” he replied.

“Patch the com channel to our headsets. I want to hear what is going on the second it’s possible,” Colin demanded.

“Wilco,” Gresham responded.

It was the longest five minutes of my life as if the universe itself was holding its breath. The sound of Brody’s voice cursing was the best thing I’d ever heard.

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