Page 6 of Vendetta Crown

"Just after ten," he says quietly. "You've been here five hours."

Five hours. Five fucking hours while Aurora is in the hands of that monster. Images flash through my mind. Aurora terrified. Aurora hurt. Aurora thinking I abandoned her.

I've failed her. Just like I failed Leslie.

"Where is he taking her?" I ask Hannah, my voice shaking with barely contained fury. "Did he say anything about where they were going?"

Hannah shakes her head, tears streaming down her face. "I don't know. He just kept saying they were going to be happy together."

The monitor beside my bed begins to wail as my heart rate spikes. A nurse rushes in, but I wave her away.

"Get me out of this bed," I growl at Artyom, yanking at the IV in my arm. "Now."

"You'll die if you leave," Artyom snaps back.

"She'll die if I stay!" I roar, and the effort sends shooting pain through my chest. Black spots dance across my vision.

The nurse calls for backup as my blood pressure climbs dangerously high. The machine screams in protest.

More nurses rush in, surrounding my bed like vultures. Their hands grabbing at tubes, adjusting dials, speaking in rapid medical shorthand that blurs together.

"Mr. Dragunov, you need to calm down," a stern-faced nurse with steel-gray hair commands. "Your heart rate is dangerously elevated."

"Get these fucking tubes out of me," I growl, ripping at the IV taped to my arm. "My wife is out there!"

"Sir, hospital protocol requires you remain under observation for at least twenty-four hours after surgery." Her voice carries the weight of someone who's dealt with unruly patients before. "You've sustained multiple gunshot wounds. One nearly punctured your heart."

"I don't give a fuck about my heart when my wife is in danger. Do you understand?"

The pain in my chest feels like someone's driving a red-hot poker through it, but it's nothing—nothing—compared to the thought of Aurora in the hands of that monster.

The nurse doesn't flinch. "I don't care if you're the President of the United States. In this hospital, I'm in charge and I'll be goddamned if I let you die on my fucking watch."

She nods to another nurse who injects something into my IV line. Almost immediately, I feel a creeping warmth spreading through my veins.

"What did you just give me?" My words already starting to slur. My limbs growing heavy.

"Something to help lower your blood pressure and keep you reasonable."

The room begins to swim before my eyes. I fight against the medication, but it's like trying to swim through concrete.

"Artyom." I switch to Russian, desperate for him to understand how important this is. "Find her for me. Please."

"We need to inform theVorithat you are alive first, Ruslan," Artyom replies softly in Russian. "And that both Semyon and the Triads have taken action against you."

"Fuck theVori," I manage in English, my voice barely above a whisper now. "Find Aurora. That's what matters. She's all that matters."

I want to scream, to demand that I be let out of this fucking hospital bed, but the drugs are pulling me under.

Every muscle in my body feels like lead.

"You need to rest, Ruslan," Hannah says, cutting through the haze. Her voice is steady, but I can see her hands are shaking. "There's nothing you can do for Aurora in your current state."

I channel what's left of my fading strength into a glare that would make most of my men retreat.

But Hannah doesn't back down.

"Listen." She steps closer to the bed, wiping tears from her face with an angry swipe. "Aurora is one of the most resourceful people I've ever met. If there's anyone who can find a way out from Kristofer while you recover, it's her."

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