Chapter 19 - Misha
“Go.”
The word left my mouth sharp and absolute as I adjusted the comm in my ear, my gaze fixed on the compound ahead.
Night pressed heavily around us, thick with tension and anticipation, the kind that settled into your bones before a fight that mattered.
And this one mattered. More than any operation I had ever led.
This was the only one that I held close to me because it represented everything I believe in, and I was not going to allow it to fail.
Not this time.
“Is everyone in positions?” I asked, my voice steady despite the adrenaline already threading through me.
“Perimeter is locked, and we are secure from all sides.” Sera’s voice came through first, calm and precise. “Romanov units are stationed in place, and Chernykh vehicles are holding the east and south exits. Everything and everyone are steady, Misha. We’re ready.”
“Surveillance has been successfully jammed,” Diane added. “You’ve got a clean window. Ten minutes before they reroute backup systems. We have to go now.”
We had ten minutes, and then if everything went according to plan, I would have Sidorov.
Just how I wanted. We had promised intel from all networks that he had not left the country, and his current location was showing inside the warehouse.
The very warehouse we surrounded. This operation was bigger than any before since now it was not just my girls and me.
It was everyone. The Romanovs and Chernykhs had joined us, which meant everything was now at a much larger scale.
“Girls, we are going to move now,” I said.
And just like that, war began.
Romanov black SUVs surged forward first, engines cutting through the silence like a declaration.
Chernykh armored vehicles followed, heavier, louder, and unapologetic.
Between them, my team moved in shadows. Everyone was silent, fluid, and completely invisible until they weren’t.
We had the cover of the night to protect us, but we didn’t need protection.
Not today. Today, we needed results, and I was not returning home without exactly those tonight.
Gunfire cracked through the air within seconds in a way that didn’t sound chaotic or wild but rather controlled and deliberate.
Every single soldier was trained and ready, and they knew exactly what they were doing.
Our goal was simple. We had to infiltrate and attack until we got our hands on Sidorov. He was our key to Volkov after all.
I moved with them, my body falling into the rhythm I knew too well now.
My foot held steady beneath me, the last remnants of injury pushed aside by focus and necessity.
There was no hesitation in my stride and no doubt in my mind.
This was what I had been building toward.
Explosives detonated along the outer wall, not to destroy but to seal the exit for anyone.
We had decided to make sure that no one could run away.
Exit points collapsed inward, concrete and steel folding into themselves as pathways vanished around us.
“No one leaves,” I muttered. “Not until we want them to.”
We breached through the west entry point, smoke already curling through the air as the first wave of guards dropped under precise fire.
I didn’t stop or slow down because I didn’t have the luxury to.
My weapon stayed steady in my grip as I cleared the first corridor, my team splitting off exactly where they were supposed to.
I knew the place was already in our control with our men and women spreading all over the place within seconds.
“Left sector had been secured,” Diane’s voice cut in.
“North corridor is still engaged,” Katya followed.
“It will be ours in a few minutes,” Nico added, clearly in the thick of the battle as well.
All my brothers, Kliment and his brothers, were either inside the warehouse or outside securing perimeters.
Even though Kliment was my second, he showed no desire to overrule my leadership to come forward.
He had simply told me he trusted me and that he was right there. Beside me. Through everything.
For a moment, it felt as if everything was finally aligning.
It was too clean. That thought flickered briefly in the back of my mind, but I didn’t let it take hold.
Not yet. I needed to be optimistic until the situation called for otherwise.
I turned a corner sharply, taking down two men before they even fully registered my presence.
My breathing stayed even and controlled, my movements efficient.
We pushed deeper into the compound, the sound of gunfire echoing through steel walls and concrete floors, mixing with shouted commands and the sharp crack of controlled detonations.
“Primary warehouse had been cleared too,” Avgust reported. For some reason, having my brothers and the Romanovs there with me only made me feel stronger.
As if this were no longer just my mission but our mission. And that too, because these people had decided to trust me with it.
“Secondary structure is still active,” I replied immediately. “That’s where Sidorov is. Am I right, Alina?”
“Yes,” Alina replied, “I can’t access cameras in the warehouse to find him or see activity, but his location is still pinned inside the warehouse. He is somewhere in the thick of it all.”
I already knew it. I could feel it. I knew this time he was actually here.
We moved as one unit towards the secondary structure, cutting through resistance with ruthless precision.
These men were trained, and the operation was already much better than the last operation.
It was faster and smarter, and we were clearly more prepared.
But my gut still signaled to tell me that it was not enough.
Not tonight. I did not know what it was, but I tried to shake the feeling away, focusing on nothing but the outcome in front of me.
I needed Sidorov, and nothing else mattered.
I climbed the stairs and kicked the door in, stepping inside with my weapon raised.
That is when I saw him. Anton Sidorov stood at the far end of the warehouse, flanked by armed men, his posture relaxed in a way that immediately set something off in my chest.
He wasn’t surprised. He was smiling.
That could not be good.
“Well,” he drawled, his voice carrying easily over the chaos. “I wish I could say this is unexpected, but the truth would be that I have been waiting for you, Misha.”
My grip tightened.
“You’re done. Your game is over, and you will be coming with me now,” I said flatly.
His smile widened. “Is that so?”
Gunfire erupted again, and before I could respond, his men started moving all around us. I dropped into motion instantly, taking cover behind a steel crate as bullets tore through the space where I had been standing seconds earlier.
“Engage everyone. I need assistance here,” I ordered sharply.
“On it,” several replies came, and within seconds, soldiers were bursting through the gates.
My team moved in perfect sync, returning fire and advancing in calculated bursts.
I shifted position, using the structure to my advantage as I closed the distance.
My focus was locked entirely on him, and to my surprise, Sidorov didn’t retreat.
He simply watched, and that smile stayed on his face as if it had been glued on.
Something cold settled in my chest because I knew it was wrong.
Something had to be wrong for him to be acting this way.
I fired again, dropping another guard before pushing forward, my movements faster now.
My instincts were screaming at me, but I forced myself to stay grounded and controlled. I could not give in right now.
We were winning. I could see it. Feel it.
His numbers were dropping, and his defenses were weakening. We were closing in, tightening the space around him until there was nowhere left to go.
“Corner him,” I said.
And we did. Within minutes, he was forced back toward the inner section of the warehouse, his men thinning out and his options narrowing. That meant nothing but victory for us. It was right there. I stepped forward, my weapon steady, my voice cutting through the noise.
“It’s over, Anton. You'd better accept it now.”
Something flickered in his eyes for a split second, but it was not fear.
Not even close. It almost seemed like anticipation, which worried me even more.
It almost felt as if he was waiting for something or someone to come rescue him, and he was sure it would come.
The lights went out all of a sudden, and total darkness swallowed the room in an instant.
“Night vision,” I snapped, already reaching for mine, but it was too late.
A sharp hiss that sounded a lot like smoke cut through the air. Within seconds, thick smoke began to infiltrate the warehouse, causing immediate and extreme disorientation. Things were falling apart just as quickly as they had come together.
“What the hell is happening?” I shouted, my mind beginning to shut down.
“Everyone cover your noses and mouths,” Katya added from somewhere in the distance.
Just then, there was a slash. Blinding white light exploded across my vision as a grenade detonated somewhere to my left.
My ears rang violently, sound collapsing into a high-pitched whine as my balance shifted for half a second.
Whatever was happening was being done professionally by someone who knew exactly how to turn a situation around.
This wasn’t a panicked, last-minute escape strategy.
It almost seemed as if it had been thoroughly planned.
I tried to order, but my voice came out distorted in my own ears.
I could see figures move through the smoke, but none of them belonged to any of us.
They were too coordinated and precise. I fired blindly, catching one in the shoulder as he came too close, his body jerking back with a grunt.
I pivoted, striking another with the butt of my weapon before he could reach me, my movements instinctive and reactive.
But there were too many.
And they weren’t trying to kill me. They were trying to take me.
Cold realization cut through the haze. This wasn’t about stopping us.
This was about me. I moved faster, sharper, forcing space between us, my breathing uneven now as the effects of the flash grenade lingered.
My vision blurred at the edges, my hearing still not fully recovered.
“Kliment—” I started, but the comm crackled uselessly.
I immediately knew it was blocked. I drove my elbow into another man’s throat, dropping him hard before pivoting again, but pain exploded through my system.
A sharp, violent jolt tore through me as something connected with my side.
It was a taser. My body locked instantly, muscles seizing in a way I couldn’t control as electricity ripped through me, forcing a gasp from my throat as my knees buckled.
No.
No, no—
I fought it, forcing movement back into my limbs as the current cut off, but it was enough.
Just enough to fill me with a deep sense of loss.
Hands grabbed me rather roughly, and no matter how much I tried to fight it, I couldn’t.
I twisted, striking one of them across the face hard enough to feel bone shift under my knuckles.
He staggered back, but another took his place immediately, grip tightening around my arms.
I kicked out, catching someone in the knee, hearing it crack, but my balance was gone, and my strength was slipping. Smoke filled my lungs as I tried to pull free, my vision swimming just enough to slow me down at the worst possible moment.
“Let go of me right now!”
They didn’t respond and didn’t speak either.
Everyone just moved rather efficiently as if their training had taught them immense discipline.
I caught a glimpse of the exit, which was an opening I hadn’t seen before.
It was hidden just beneath the structure, leading downward.
It looked like a tunnel. Of course. Everything clicked too late as I realized this had never been a defensive hold.
It had been an extraction point. For me.
I fought harder, desperation sharpening every movement as I drove my head back into the man behind me and felt the impact connect, but another hit came. It was something hard and final, and my body faltered. And then, for just a second, I saw him.
Kliment was there.
Through the smoke. Through the chaos. He was moving toward me with a kind of violence I had never seen before, his expression carved from something far darker than rage.
He saw me. I knew he did, and I tried to reach for him, but the world shifted.
The ground disappeared beneath me as they dragged me into the tunnel, my vision fracturing at the edges as the last of the fight drained out of my system.
The final thing I saw before darkness swallowed everything was him.
But he was too far, and I was being pulled away, and by the time the smoke cleared, I was gone.