Maddy
MADDY
T he morning air is cold, biting against my skin as I step outside the Vasile estate. My breath fogs in front of me, and I pull my jacket tighter around myself. I don’t want to do this—leave or be around these people—but it’s not like I have a choice. Not if I want to stay alive.
A black SUV pulls up in front of me, its windows tinted dark. The door swings open, and Mihai steps out. He’s dressed in black again and has an unreadable expression on his face. I can’t tell if he’s still pissed about this whole situation or if this is just who he is.
Probably both.
“Let’s go,” he says, his voice flat, without any hint of warmth.
I don’t move at first. My chest tightens, but I nod and follow him to where the black SUV is idling.
As we approach the car, I see someone leaning out of the window of the passenger seat— a guy with a cocky smirk that feels almost out of place given the tension. His blond hair is tousled, and he’s wearing sunglasses, even though we’re not in direct sunlight.
He also has that same tattoo on his neck as Mihai.
“Morning, princess,” the guy says, his smirk widening as he pulls his sunglasses down just enough to make direct eye contact with me. “Name’s Nikolai. I’m your other babysitter.”
I feel my cheeks flush slightly when he winks at me, but I say nothing; just duck my head and slide into the back seat as Mihai opens the door for me. It’s been days since I’ve spoken a word, and the idea of starting now—after everything—feels impossible.
Mihai gets into the driver’s seat, Nikolai is still in the passenger side, and we pull out of the estate. Silence settles in the car, thick and uncomfortable.
Nikolai breaks the quiet, turning in his seat to look at me again. “You always this quiet, or is it just around Mihai?”
I catch his smirk, and look away, focusing on the trees flying by as we drive. The road stretches out in front of us, empty except for what seems like a convoy. There’s a black SUV in front of us while two black SUVs follow behind, and for a second, I wonder if this is what my life is going to be now—always surrounded, always running.
Mihai doesn’t bother responding to Nikolai’s teasing, and after a few more minutes of awkward silence, we’re back on the open road.
Everything is fine—until it’s not.
Suddenly, the car jerks to the side, and I hear the sound of gunfire. It’s loud, so loud that it makes my ears ring, and I instinctively duck down, gripping the seat in front of me.
“Fuck!” Mihai curses, swerving the SUV hard to the left, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.
I hear more shots, followed by the sound of screeching tires as the convoy behind us is hit. Nikolai is already pulling out a gun, leaning out of the window to return fire.
“It’s a fucking ambush,” Nikolai shouts, his voice sharp and focused. “Get us the fuck out of here!”
Mihai growls something under his breath, cursing as he slams his foot on the gas. The SUV lurches forward, but I can feel the panic rising in my chest.
The people who killed my mother and sister are here… and they’re coming for me.
“Madison, get down!” Mihai barks at me, not even bothering to look back.
But I can’t move. My whole body is shaking and all I can think about is the fact that I’m going to die.
Mihai’s phone is out in an instant, and I can hear him barking orders in Romanian, his tone harsh and clipped. Every other word is a curse, switching between English and Romanian like it’s second nature.
Nikolai’s still leaning out of the window, firing off rounds at the attackers closing in on us from behind. I lay down on the backseat, curling in on myself. My heart feels like it’s about to burst out of my chest as I cover my head with my hands.
I’m going to die. I’m going to fucking die.
“Backup?” Nikolai calls over to Mihai, not missing a beat as he reloads his weapon.
“On its way,” Mihai snaps, yanking the wheel hard to avoid another hail of bullets. “Just keep them off us.”
“Yeah, no shit,” Nikolai mutters, firing again. There’s a loud explosion behind us, and I lift up to glance back just in time to see one of the SUVs in our convoy go up in flames. My heart stutters in my chest.
I lay back down and squeeze my eyes shut again, trying to block it all out, but it’s impossible. The sounds, the smells, the fear—it’s too much.
I hear the screams around us, the chaos as people scramble for cover, but I can’t move. I’m frozen, watching in horror as my mother falls, her eyes wide with shock, her body crumpling to the floor. My sister is next, her scream cut off as another shot echoes through the air.
My fingers dig into my palms as I hold them over my ears. No, no, no… not again.
Then, there’s a loud crash behind us, and the SUV jolts forward again. My eyes fly open just in time to see Nikolai lean out of the window again, firing off shots while grinning.
“Thank fuck the girls went with Con and G,” Nikolai mutters, reloading his gun. “Can you imagine if they were in here right now?”
The SUV swerves once more, and I hear more cursing from Mihai. He’s on the phone again, his voice a low growl as he demands updates from whoever is on the other end.
“They’re still going for the convoy,” Mihai grits out in English before switching back to rapid-fire Romanian I can’t keep up with. “We need to lose them before we get to the airstrip. Where the fuck is the backup?”
Nikolai fires again, and I hear the tires of one of the attacking cars squeal as it spins out behind us.
“I think that bought us some time,” he mutters, sliding back into his seat as we speed down the highway. His sunglasses are gone now, revealing sharp, blue eyes that flicker with amusement despite the chaos.
“You always get the fun jobs,” Nikolai adds, glancing over at Mihai with a smirk.
Mihai’s jaw tightens, his hands still gripping the wheel like he’s ready to break it in half. “Shut up and keep watch.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Nikolai says with a laugh, though there’s nothing light about the situation.
The tension in the car is suffocating. My heart pounds in my chest, my palms sweaty as I try not to completely lose it. The gunfire has died down for now, but I can still hear the distant rumble of engines behind us. They’re not giving up.
“We’ll be at the airstrip in ten,” Mihai mutters, glancing over at Nikolai. “Call the others. Let them know what happened.”
Nikolai pulls out his phone, before speaking in a language I don’t understand—Russian, I think. His voice is calm, almost too calm given what just happened, but even from where I’m lying down, I can see the tension in his shoulders as he talks.
Mihai keeps driving, his eyes scanning the road ahead, his jaw clenched. He looks at me in the rearview mirror briefly, his expression hard. There’s no warmth there, no reassurance. Just lazer sharp focus.
“We’re almost there,” he says, his voice quieter now. “Stay down until I say otherwise.”
I nod, my heart still hammering in my chest and tears silently slipping down my cheeks. And the silence stretches on, broken only by the occasional click of Nikolai’s gun as he checks his ammo.
“All clear?”
Nikolai doesn’t answer right away, and Mihai slows the car as we turn into an empty stretch of road.
After a tense moment, Nikolai nods. “For now.”
Once we’re clear, Mihai lets out a long breath, glancing in the rearview mirror at me. “You okay?”
I nod and wipe my tears away, though I’m not sure I believe it myself. My heart is still racing and my hands are shaking uncontrollably, but I’m alive. For now, that’s enough.
Nikolai turns around in his seat, his grin softening just a little. “You handled that pretty well, you know. Most people would’ve been screaming their heads off.”
I sit up and stare at him blankly, not sure what exactly he’s on about. Is he always this bloody cocky? We damn near died! We were shot at!
Mihai starts driving faster this time, his eyes scanning the road like he’s expecting another attack any second. He mutters something under his breath in Romanian before switching to Russian, speaking low and fast to Nikolai.
I don’t understand most of what they’re saying, but the tone is enough to tell me they’re both on edge. Even Nikolai—who had been grinning through the whole shootout—looks more serious now, his eyes narrowing as he listens to Mihai.
We drive in tense silence for a while, and every now and then, Nikolai glances back at me, like he’s trying to gauge how I’m holding up. But I keep my eyes on the window, watching everything blur past us as we make our way toward the airstrip.
Finally, the private airstrip comes into view—the sleek outline of a jet waiting for us on the tarmac. Mihai pulls the SUV to a stop, and Nikolai jumps out first, scanning the area before giving Mihai a quick nod.
“We’re clear,” Nikolai says, opening my door for me.
I step out of the car, my legs shaky but still working. The wind whips around me, cold and sharp, but I barely feel it. All I can think about is how close we just came to dying. How this is my life now—constant fear and constant danger.
Mihai steps out of the car, his eyes scanning the area one more time before he turns to me. “Let’s go.”
I follow him toward the jet, my heart still racing and my mind still spinning. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but one thing is clear: I’m not safe. Not here, not anywhere.
And it’s only going to get worse from here.