Page 155 of Vendetta Crown

"LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!"

My voice breaks on the last word, tears streaming down my face, mixing with his blood.

Jamie Fields is truly dead now.

Kristofer's body finally collapses against me, lifeless and heavy. So heavy that I can't push him off me. I'm still clutching the knife, my knuckles white around the handle, my entire body trembling.

And then, suddenly, the world explodes.

The ground beneath me shudders violently, chunks of ceiling raining down around me. Everything plunges into darkness. A moment later, emergency lights kick on, and bathe the carnage around me in an eerie red glow.

Then, those lights flicker off too as one explosion after another pummels through the building.

41

RUSLAN

I hearthe sickening thump as Semyon's body hits the ground.

Then it happens. The first explosion rips through the theater like thunder.

Semyon wasn't lying.

My wife is in there! Our children are in there!

"Aurora…" The words tear from my throat as the second blast sends debris flying across the street. "Aurora!"

"Ruslan, don't!" Artyom grabs my arm, his fingers digging into muscle. "The building's coming down!"

I wrench free with such force he stumbles backward. "Aurora's inside!"

"You'll both die!" Artyom shouts after me, but his voice fades as I sprint toward the collapsing theater.

Smoke billows through blown-out doorways. A third explosion rocks the building, sending chunks of concrete raining down. I dodge falling debris, choking on dust and ash as I push deeper inside.

"Aurora!" My voice echoes through the crumbling lobby. "Aurora, where are you?"

A ceiling beam crashes down mere inches from where I stand. Fire starts licking at the ornate woodwork, turning the historic theater into an inferno.

"Zarechka!" I scream.

Each heartbeat feels like an eternity as I scan the chaos for any sign of her. The rational part of my brain—the pakhan who's survived two decades in the bratva—knows the odds.

But the man who promised to protect her, who swore no harm would come to her, refuses to accept it.

"AURORA!"

Another explosion rocks the building. The floor beneath me shifts, threatening to give way. Concrete dust rains from above as support beams splinter and crack.

I stumble through smoke so thick I can barely see my hand in front of my face. My lungs burn. My eyes water. But I push forward.

Because somewhere in this hell is the woman I love. The mother of my children. And I will not leave without her.

The theater groans like a dying animal with its death throes measured in concrete and steel.

I burst through the double doors into the main screening room, feeling the heat of fire at my back.

"AURORA!" My voice breaks, raw from smoke and desperation.

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