Page 12 of Midnight Sanctuary

Hearing those words, feeling his arms around me, breathing in that deep, oaky scent of his—it’s all too much. I try prying open my mouth to thank him and only a big, ugly sob comes out. I shouldn’t be feeling so much relief right now. Not when Polly’s still gone. Not when she’s in imminent danger.

I need to tell him. He’ll go back to hating me, but I have to tell him. Except, every time I open my mouth, another sob comes out.

“It’s okay,” Uri tells me. “You’re safe now, Alyssa. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” He tucks me close into his embrace. “It’s going to be okay now.”

Then he bends his lips to mine and kisses me. It’s the lightest of kisses, so soft that it might as well be a dream. I’m Sleeping Beauty in this one and he’s my prince—but this is no fairy tale. Because even though his kiss brings me back to life just enough to make out the hazy, blurry outline of his frame silhouetted against the light spilling through the door, the things I have to say to him are terrible.

“Polly,” I whisper.

Uri stiffens instantly, his eyes growing wary. “What about her?”

“Sh-she’s gone.”

6

URI

I let my relief get the better of me.

Seeing that I arrived just in time to stop Alyssa from being violated by that lecherousmudak… it made me lose my head. It made me touch her and look at her and hold her in a way that I had vowed never to do again.

And that kiss…

Big mistake.

Especially because now, I can feel it on my lips as I pace the house wildly, trying to figure out where the hell my sister is.

“Well?” I demand every time I pass one of my men in the corridors.

“No sign of her, sir.”

“This room is clear, sir.”

“The house is empty, sir.”

I’m ready to blow the whole place up, Boris right along with it. The only reason I don’t is because he’s the key to finding out where Polly is.

The basement door bangs open and Nikolai appears with Alyssa in his arms. She’s got a blanket wrapped around her body. I had the forethought to cover her up a little before my men appeared. But after that, I’d gotten as far away from her as possible. Her eyes roll strangely as Nikolai coaxes her towards the front door of the safehouse. She keeps fading in and out of consciousness, murmuring, mumbling, and twitching sleepily.

“Uri.”

I turn to my brother reluctantly. “We’ve got to get her back home so we can flush her system. The motherfucker drugged her.”

I flinch away from looking at her. Despite how pissed off I am right now, I feel the possessive beast inside me rear his head.She should be inmyarms right now,it’s roaring.Not his. Mine.

“Get her back home. Send her with Stepan and Josef. I have to find Polly.”

“Boris is down there?”

I nod. “And he’s gonna cough up some answers.” Then I blow past my brother and head back down to the cellar.

Boris is still deeply unconscious when I reach the bottom of the staircase. I kick him with my boot and he falls onto his back. “Hanz! Dmitri!” I roar back up. “Bring me water.”

A few moments later, Hanz appears with a bucket filled to the brim. I grab it and pour the whole thing right onto Boris’s face. He splutters desperately, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

I pass the empty bucket back to Hanz and squat down so that I’m at eye level with Boris. When I see that he’s awake now, I pull my gun out and place the nozzle directly on his forehead. “Talk.”

He blinks, his eyes crossing as they land on the gun between his eyes. When he finally pieces together what’s happening, his beaten-to-shit face splits into a bloody, gummy grin. “Your woman has the nicest tits I’ve seen in a while.”

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