Page 14 of Crimson Curse
There is a pause that stretches into eternity. Then, “Back bedroom. Handcuffed to what looks like a bed frame.”
My lungs seize, then release in a rush. She's there. That's enough.
We move like a well-oiled machine, each part functioning in perfect harmony with the others. Roman melts into the shadows as he takes position on a nearby rooftop. His rifle appears like magic, already trained on the back door where Viktor's sentries wait in ignorance.
Lex circles wide, a shadow slipping along fences and hedges. He moves like smoke, invisible until the moment he strikes.
Maksim and I approach from the front, crouched low behind parked cars and landscaping. Our weapons are extensions of our bodies, familiar as breathing. The silence of the suburb is unnerving. Even the crickets seem muted, as if the night is holding its breath.
I signal with a raised fist. Roman's suppressed shot cracks faintly in the distance, no louder than a branch snapping. The man at the back door crumples without a sound, his weapon clattering uselessly to the concrete. Maksim's grin turns feral.
We reach the front door. The lock is nothing special, a civilian-grade model meant to keep out burglars and door-to-door salesmen. Not men like us. I raise my boot, and with one nod to Maksim, I slam my foot into the wood. The frame splinters like kindling. The door flies inward with a crash that shatters the suburban quiet. We storm inside like the wrath of God.
Gunfire erupts immediately, muzzle flashes strobing in the darkness. Viktor's men scramble like roaches when the lights come on, caught off guard but not unarmed. Bullets bite into drywall, splinter furniture, and shatter windows. The air fills with cordite and plaster dust.
Maksim roars with laughter as he returns fire, his weapon bucking in his hands. He moves through the chaos like a dancer, each step choreographed violence, each shot a work of deadly art. A man lunges at me with a knife, desperation making him brave. My fist cracks his jaw before my gun finishes the conversation.
“Clear upstairs!” Maksim bellows, already bounding up the staircase. His boots thunder on the wooden steps, each footfall a promise of death to anyone foolish enough to stand in his way.
I head for the back bedroom, following the narrow hallway that leads deeper into the house. Each step brings me closer to Naomi. Each second that passes might be one too many.
Then I see her. She's chained to a metal bed frame, her wrists cuffed raw and bleeding. Her auburn hair hangs in tangled waves around her face, matted with sweat and tears. Her clothes are stained, but she's breathing.
When she sees me, a sound escapes her throat. Relief, desperation, and hope all wrapped into one broken syllable.Roman hands me a key, stripped from the belt of a guard he left bleeding on the floor. I cross the space in three strides, holstering my weapon so I can work at the cuffs. My hands shake as I work the lock, fury and relief making me clumsy. The click as it opens is the sweetest sound I've ever heard.
Her arms collapse into my chest the moment she's free, her body falling into mine like coming home. She clings to me with desperate strength, trembling like a leaf in a hurricane. I wrap her in my arms, pulling her close, crushing her against me as if the act can erase everything she's endured.
“I've got you,” I murmur, my voice rough and foreign even to my own ears. “You're safe now.”
Her breath shudders against my throat, warm and alive. “Danil...”
“I'm here.” My hands cradle her face, my thumbs brushing away the tears that streak her skin like silver in the dim light. “I'll never let him touch you again. Never.”
The fury in me, sharpened and honed through every second of her absence, solidifies into a resolve harder than diamond. The house falls silent around us, the gunfire fading. Footsteps in the hallway announce the arrival of my men. Maksim appears first, blood splattered across his face like war paint. Then Roman, his rifle slung across his back. Lex enters last, his gaze sweeping over Naomi with a clinical assessment before nodding once.
“Viktor?” I ask, though I already know the answer.
“Gone,” Lex confirms. “Basement tunnel leads to the storm drains. He slipped away seconds before we breached. Left his men to die while he ran like the coward he is.”
It doesn’t surprise me. Viktor was always weak, choosing survival over honor. But running only delays the inevitable. It doesn't change it.
I hold Naomi tighter, and she clings to me like she'll never let go. Good, because I won't let her.
6
NAOMI
The estate feels colder than I remember, but it shouldn’t. The marble floors still gleam beneath my shoes. The scent of fresh-cut lilies drifts from a vase on the foyer table. Somewhere down the hall, classical music plays softly. But beneath all of it, something in me stays guarded. As if it could all vanish again. As ifhecould vanish again.
I follow Daniil in silence, our footsteps echoing between us like questions neither of us wants to ask. His broad back is tense as he walks ahead, not looking at me. Not since we left the safehouse. Not since he opened the locks and pulled me into his arms, like the contact alone could undo the horror of what Viktor did. But we both know it doesn't.
He finally stops outside a pair of carved double doors and pushes one open, motioning for me to enter his office first. A tray with two glasses and an unopened bottle of scotch sits untouched on the desk. I don’t move.
“I want answers,” I say, my voice clear and strong despite the tightness in my chest.
Daniil exhales slowly, still facing the room. “You need rest.”
“I need the truth.”
