Page 9 of Tarnished Queen

As he stretches towards the button, the hem of his dark scrubs lifts…

And I see a gun holstered at his hip.

He looks down and sees me looking. Just like that, the friendly eyes go cold and blank. “Don’t be stupid, Belle,” he hisses. “If you fight me, more people will get hurt.”

“More?” I croak.

“Your real nurse is lying unconscious in a janitor’s closet. She’s lucky she went down easy or I would have had to kill her.”

I squeeze my eyes closed for a second, cursing my own instincts.

I did the wrong thing.Again.

I put myself in danger.Again.

And now, Nikolai isn’t here to save me.

Again.

4

NIKOLAI

When Christo finally parks his truck down by the docks, I’m no longer bleeding, but I’m still woozy. The world has taken on a gauzy softness, like my eyes can’t find the strength to focus properly.

I’m no doctor, but that seems like a bad sign.

“There,” Christo says, pointing to the abandoned factory one block ahead. “We own this whole quarter and that building is smack dab in the middle of the rest of the Simatou-owned buildings. It’s where hostages go. So no one will hear them scream.”

I grit my teeth and try to settle my stampeding heart.

Christo must notice the tension radiating through me because he clears his throat. “But the fact Xena hasn’t called you is a good sign. She likes a spectacle. If she was going to torture Belle, she’d make you listen in. Or she’d record it or something.”

“In which case I wouldn’t know she was dead until after the fact,” I grind out.

He winces. “Oh, yeah. Right. But I bet she’ll call you and—”

I hold up a hand to silence him. “Enough. It won’t matter. Belle isn’t going to die.”

On the long drive over, I wanted to call her on the off-chance she’d answer. But it is too risky. If Belle is with Xena, then Xena might see my name pop up on her phone. The jealous bitch wouldn’t like that and anything that upsets Xena could make things worse for Belle. Plus, like Christo said, Xena might use the opportunity to torture Belle while I’m on the line for the sheer fucking thrill of it.

No, a surprise attack will work best. Even if it means I have to go in completely blind with no clue who is inside.

“Permission to arm myself?” Christo asks carefully.

His hands are tight around the steering wheel where I can see them, but his eyes glance at the glove compartment.

“If we’re going in there,” he explains, “I’d like a gun. No offense, but you look like shit. I don’t want to count on your reflexes.”

“I’m better at my worst than you will ever be,” I growl. “Count on that.”

“I believe you,” he says earnestly. “But come on, Nikolai. Two guns is better than one.”

I consider it for a minute and then nod. “Fine. But you lead the way.”

He reaches into the glove compartment and pulls out a pistol. “So you can keep a gun aimed at my back.”

“So if someone shoots, they hit you first.”

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