Page 16 of Savage Princess

“There’s still loyalty there,” Levin says coolly, his face hardening. “Do you want to gamble on whether or not I can still call Vladimir to my side? If you’re right, I walk away from here, and you don’t get your money. If you’re wrong, you know what he does to those who cross him. Is that a risk you want to take?”

I sit there frozen, watching the exchange between the two men, an exchange I don’t entirely understand but can grasp the idea of. I can feel the tension simmering in the air, the possibility of danger, and I watch Levin, waiting for the moment when he lets me know that it’s time to go.

“Eighty percent of the named price,” the man says finally. “Take it or leave it, Volkov, but you know you won’t find better work. Half now, half later.”

Levin’s jaw clenches, and I know he wants to grab the man and shake him until we pay no more than half price, probably. His fist flexes against the roll of cash in his palm, but after several long, agonizing seconds, he finally nods and begins to peel bills off of the roll.

I watch as it gets thinner and thinner, the majority of the money that we have sitting on the man’s desk—and we still need to deliver the other half.Levin will have a plan already, I tell myself in an effort to keep calm, trying to soothe my nerves.

“IDs for us both, passports, and a lead on a pilot we can trust,” Levin says firmly. “How long to deliver?”

The man considers. “Without a rush fee? Five days.”

Levin lets out a low sound that very much seems like a growl. “Five days is a long time,” he bites out. “Three.”

“Four, and if you keep haggling with me, the price goes up,” the man snaps. “Four is the best I can do for that price.”

I canseethe struggle that it is for Levin not to go after the man. Instead, he nods with clenched teeth. “Four days,” he says gruffly, and then looks at me, jerking his head towards the door. “Let’s go.”

I get up, following him as quickly as I can. The man doesn’t bother walking us out, and Levin loops his arm through mine, helping to hurry me along until we reach the street and are back out in the warmth of the afternoon.

“We’ll find a different hotel, and then we’ll go get something to eat,” Levin says as we make our way back to a main road. “Better not to stay in the same place for too long, in case Diego’s men are still looking for us.”

“Do you think that they are?” I feel a chill spread through me at the idea. “Is he going to keep coming?”

Levin glances at me. “What do you think?” he asks, flagging down a cab. “After all of this, you think he’s just going to give up because we’ve slipped through his fingers a few times?”

I want to say yes, that he’d give up eventually, that he’d stop wasting resources on me—but I know the truth. I shake my head, feeling that chill spread further.

“No,” I whisper. “If anything, it’s just going to piss him off more that we keep getting away.”

“Exactly,” Levin says grimly. “He’s not going to stop. Which means we just have to try to stay one step ahead until I can get you out of here.”

We ride to another motel very much like the one we stayed in last night—shabby, rundown, paid for with cash, and with no name given. The room is as humid and musty as the one before, and I sink down onto the edge of the bed, running my hand through my hair and suddenly feeling very exhausted.

“Take a nap,” Levin advises. “We’ll go get food afterward, when you’re feeling better.”

I want to tell him no, that I’m fine, that I don’t need to sleep. I’m not sure Iwantto sleep, with the idea of Diego’s men looking for us so fresh in my mind. I want to be ready, on my guard, prepared to run—because the only thing that could be worse than the danger we’re in now would be Diego catching me and following through on what he has planned.

As if he can read my mind, Levin’s voice carries over to me, calming and more soothing than before. “Don’t worry, Elena. I’ll keep watch. No one will get to you.”

I nod, laying back on the bed, still unsure if I’ll actually be able to sleep. But for all the push and pull of what there is between us, one thing remains the same.

He can make me feel safer than anyone else in the entire world. I know that with Levin watching me, if there’s any way to keep me from harm, he’ll find it.

In the end, I fall asleep, his words still humming in my head.

No one will get to you.

Elena

When I wake up, there’s a black plastic bag with the name of a store emblazoned on it in glossy white sitting at the foot of the bed. Levin is sitting in the chair opposite the door, his gun on his lap the same way it had been the other night. He looks up when he hears me stir in bed, and he nods toward the bag.

“I got you something else to change into that you might like better,” he says gruffly. “There was a charity shop around the corner, so I didn’t have to go far or spend much. I figured you might want to change before we get something to eat.”

“Thanks.” I rub at my face, wiping away the sleep from my eyes. I have that stiff, sore feeling that happens when you fall asleep quickly and don’t move at all—and probably in no small part from the accumulation of sleeping on sand, sleeping sitting up in the cargo hold of a ship, and running headlong through a city on a twisted ankle. “Where are we going?”

“There’s a place not far from here that’s decent, if it’s still there.” Levin shifts in the chair, looking a little uncomfortable. “I can step out for a minute if you want to change—”

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