Page 72 of Dark Embers

“With my fucking life,” Syd hisses and I see a sheen of unshed tears in her eyes.

“We won’t let anyone harm a hair on her head,” Ivan vows.

She gives us all an overly bright smile before turning and walking away. Chin high. Fearless.

Just like her.

“I will come with you,” I hear Sabrina address the general. “But if you harm a hair on my family’s head…”

Vladislav watches her with something like admiration. “You are just like her,” he murmurs, then turns to me. “Good night, Mr. Mirochin. Don’t make me regret sparing you.”

The moment they leave, I snap. I lunge forward—but Lev and Ivan hold me back.

“Don’t,” Ivan warns. “We’ll get her.”

“She’s tough,” Syd says. “She’ll survive.”

“I’m not leaving her out there.”

“We know,” Lev says. “We’re with you.”

They all are.

We stand in silence until the soldiers vanish like smoke.

“Fuck. She slept through the whole thing,” Syd mutters, glancing at Elena.

“The earmuffs,” Lev says.

I take Elena back and hold her close. My niece. Gavriil’s daughter.

“I’m giving you all the chance to walk,” I tell them. “Or stay and help me take on the Russian fucking Army.”

“We’re in,” Ivan says.

“Ride or die,” Lev adds.

“Always,” Syd confirms.

“Then we start at dawn.”

I walk upstairs, heart a mess of fear, fury, and grief. I don’t even realize I’m shaking until I reach the bedroom. I place Elena on the bed, eyes falling on Sabrina’s oversized purse.

I empty it out, searching—until I find the burner phone.

A message pops up instantly.

Take Elena and come to the nursery.

I grab her and move.

The door creaks open.

“Clyde,” I breathe, staring at the man who steps from the shadows. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

“I’ve died a few times,” he says with a grin.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

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