Page 86 of Hateful Vows
“It could be one of Misha Petrov’s men,” I say. “He did tell us we’d regret killing his second-in-command and not going on board with his plans.”
“If it were Petrov, we would know,” Aleksei supplies.
“So what? It’s a rogue soldier who hates Dante? This makes no sense.”
Everyone looks at the screen in confusion. But Aleksei has a point. After Petrov threatened us with repercussions when we killed his second-in-command, it was radio silence and the man is too prideful not to boast. Or make us yield.
“I was only able to isolate it for a fraction of a second,” Toma continues. “This isn’t a man who makes mistakes, I haven’t been able to track him down. It looks like he changed disguise often, but the wind caught his jacket and there it was.”
“Fuck,” someone exclaims in the room.
“You think he has Dante?” Lorenzo asks, hope clear in his voice.
“It’s worth checking. We have nothing else to go on.”
“Get in gear, everyone, we’re going haunting.”
Lucie stands and I stop her with a hand on her forearm. “You’re staying, Lucie.”
“Hell, no. My cousin has been gone for weeks now, we don’t know what we’re going into. There’s no time for recon and you need all the manpower you can use.”
Her ears tip red with the power of her anger and though I feel a kinship to that, I can’t let her get hurt. Dante would never forgive me.
I’m about to argue when Aleksei steps in front of me, holding my face with both his hands. No one has made any comment about how close we’ve allowed ourselves to be. They might not understand but they don’t judge and the knowledge that my closest team could support our unusual situation soothes an anxiety I do not need right now.
Aleksei’s voice is soothing but unyielding. “Remember what it feels like to be underestimated.”
His stare bores into me, begging me to see Lucie as I was, shackled and hidden, someone always trying to keep me down. I swallow and nod, then point an accusing finger at her.
“If you’re coming, I need you to be a soldier. Obey. Don’t get caught. And don’t die.”
She smiles, the first time in weeks, and turns on her heels.
“Come on,piccolo,” she tells Toma who follows on her heels like a lovesick puppy despite being ten years her senior.
“Should I be worried?” I ask Aleksei who shakes his head like his wife is the bane of his existence.
“She likes her partners older than her, apparently.”
For the first time in weeks, hope brings levity around us and I find myself raising a brow, curious and distracted by something else than the potential of losing one of the men I love.
“Don’t ask,” Aleksei says as we move towards our equipment.
I pray we are not too late. I don’t want to let hope bloom within me. If I do and I lose him, I might never recover. And for someone who thought she couldn’t love, that’s too dangerous.
Our allies have offered the services of their best trained men and our unit of Elite soldiers are at our sides as we make our way to Islay’s small airport. If the man who took Dante is as cunning as I think he is, he already knows we are on our way. I have to pray he was too busy watching over Dante to notice us storming the small remote island.
Aleksei’s team is going to scour Islay while I lead another towards Jura, which is even smaller and even more remote.
Our enemy knows the landscape better than we do but we’ve identified a few isolated homes and abandoned buildings that we’ll prioritise. If Dante is held captive and tortured, his screams would alert the local population. I have to believe we’ll hit true and fast. The fear of losing him threatens to choke me, my lungs seizing with the need to breathe in his scent instead of air, and make sure he lives.
I shake my head and close my eyes, his cunning green eyes and smirking mouth greeting me. I have to believe he’s okay.
Capaldi has seized all ferries for the day, blocking the harbours by breaking down their communication system, as well as the airport once we land, locking everyone on the two islands. No one will leave until I say so.
The locals watch us arrive at the docks with wary expressions, most of them disappearing into their homes. Smart. I don’t want to endanger any of them but nothing will stand in my way to my husband.
We start with an abandoned home North of the island, before making our way down the road back to the main harbour. We find nothing.
