Page 99 of Zirkov

“You can fight this. Think of something you like to do. Reading.” He was so close now. Only a few more inches.

A surge of pain rocketed through her. She had to shoot.

“I’m sorry,” she said, as she turned the gun on herself.

“Maggie, no!” Zirkov yelled. “I’m the target. Not you. You need to obey, right? Shoot me.”

Her hand shook uncontrollably. If she didn’t obey Var’Len’s order, the pain would fry her from the inside.

Maggie retrained the gun on Zirkov. Immediately, the pain faded and she could breathe again.

“That’s it, vasha. Focus on killing me.”

“Stop saying that!” She tried pointing the gun at Var’Len, whose smug expression should have made it easy. Anytime her thoughts strayed away from killing Zirkov, the pain intensified. She fell to her knees, her gun still pointed at the male who would sacrifice everything for her, including his life.

“It’s okay, Maggie. You can shoot me. The pain will end.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “I can’t shoot you. I love you.”

“Shoot me, Maggie!”

“No!”

“Do it!”

“Shut up!

“Shoot me! Now. Pull the trigger. One squeeze.”

She couldn’t see or think through the pain.

“Now! Magdalena, you’re in danger. Shoot!”

She squeezed the gun and fired multiple rounds until the clicking of an empty gun was all she heard.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE

ZIRKOV

The force of the bullets knocked Zirkov off his feet and stole his breath as he struck the ground. The pain spreading through his chest reminded him of the time he’d been trapped beneath the rubble of a building in Avan, Zyan’s capital. Terrorists had planted bombs and brought down three buildings. His only concern had been getting out alive. He’d had no one else to worry about. Now, all he could think about was Maggie. After emptying her gun into his chest, she had dropped her gun and ran.

With that smug expression of his, Var’Len leaned over him and set a knife against his throat. “You’re mine now, you drekking visca.”

With a flick of his wrist, Zirkov’s claws extended and impaled Var’Len’s shoulder. The og’dal dropped the knife and roared out in pain.

“What did you give her?” Zirkov demanded as he flexed his claws, digging them farther into Var’Len’s flesh.

“Sartog’s Sin! You drekker. Release me!”

“If she dies, you die, understand? Tell me about the drug and the antidote.”

“There is no antidote. Only time. Sartog’s Sin is more effective than the neurosphere, but it’s unstable, that’s why I didn’t use it until you drekkers removed the neurosphere.”

Zirkov resisted the temptation of killing the male. “All this time you’ve been using her to get to me. Why didn’t you just kill me?”

“We’re being hunted like sartogs. I needed intel from Galactic Intelligence to avoid capture. The human was an easier target. No backup, no partner.”

Zirkov winced. He’d never once thought to give Maggie a permanent partner when she wasn’t on an op. He’d left her unprotected.

---