Page 74 of Immaculate Corruption (Romanoff Bratva)

I barely get the name out before Arya is running past me to fling open the door.

I wrap my arms around her waist and yank her back as fast as I can, but her hand is already on the handle. The door opens. I whip us both around, preparing for a blast that doesn’t come.

“Goddammit, Arya!” I snarl. “That could have been a car bomb. It would have blown this whole block sky high. What in the fuck were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that my friend might be sitting dead in a car and that my son might be in there, too!” she yells. She pushes past me and kneels down next to Ernestine. Gingerly, she presses her fingers to the woman’s neck and then sighs. “She has a pulse.”

At that moment, Ernestine stirs. Her eyes flutter and she mutters something incoherent.

“We have to get her out of the car. What if it’s still a bomb?” Arya asks.

Gennady makes a lap around the car, kneeling down to look underneath it. “I don’t see anything, but it is weird the keys are still in it. We should touch as little as possible.”

I grab Arya by the shoulders and forcibly remove her from the car. She fights for a moment, but as soon as she realizes we are helping Ernestine, she relaxes.

I scoop the old woman up, carry her to our new car, and lay her in the back seat. Arya sits next to her and smooths down her hair.

“Ernestine, can you hear me?”

The sound of Arya’s voice seems to rouse the woman. She blinks hard, trying to open her eyes.

“Are you okay?” Arya asks. “What happened?”

It takes a few moments, but Ernestine finds her voice. “They… drugged me. Took Lu… Lu… Lukas.”

Arya’s shoulders fall in obvious disappointment. “Who did?”

“I don’t… I don’t know. A large man. He had… a strange name.” Her words are garbled and quiet, but I can hear her well enough to recognize what she’s trying to say. “Il… Il… Ilyas or—”

“Ilyasov,” I finish for her grimly.

She tries to turn her head to look at me, but she’s still too weak. She sinks down into Arya’s lap with a nod. “Yes, that’s it. Ilyasov took Lukas. They’re gone.”

25

Arya

As soon as we get to the new hotel, Ernestine wants to be in a room alone with June. The rest of us—Gennady, Dima, and myself—get a different room.

I’m proud of June for doing so good on her own. We left her alone with strict instructions while we went to investigate the tracker beacon. But they both break out in tears when they’re reunited.

I think Ernestine is badly rattled by everything that’s happened. If anyone can understand that feeling, it’s me.

“Fuck the Trials!” I say as soon as we shut the door. “I don’t give a damn about the Bratva or any of it. We need to find Lukas. That’s the priority.”

“Obviously that’s the priority, Arya,” Dima snaps. “Lukas has always been the priority.”

“Not always,” I mutter. “Not for you.”

The look on Dima’s face is murderous, but he doesn’t say whatever he’s thinking.

He’s been doing that a lot lately—staying quiet. He doesn’t seem to know what to say to me or to anyone. And that breaks my heart in a whole new way.

I sigh and drop down on the bed, slowly unwrapping the bandage around my arm. The blood has only soaked through half of the layers, which is a good sign. It should heal up on its own without stitches.

“I’m just saying, we need to focus on finding out where Ilyasov is and getting Lukas back. We can’t be worried about the Trials right now.”

“They are one and the same. If I win, then—”

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