Chapter 36
NIKOLAI
Iburst through the exit into the winter night, where the snow fell so thick I could barely see ten feet ahead. The maze entrance loomed in the darkness, and somewhere inside, Adrianne was running for her life.
I started toward it, running like a madman, then suddenly stopped.
It was going to take too fucking long to get to her if I ran through the maze. For all that I knew, she could have forgotten the path and be lost, wandering.
My eyes landed on the snowplow a couple of feet away, and the craziest of thoughts crossed my mind.
I ran to it, climbed into the cab, turned it on, and slammed my foot on the accelerator.
The machine lurched forward, crushing the flower bushes in the garden ahead.
I’m coming, Baby.
My heart hammered in my ears as I plowed through the first hedge with barely any resistance. Branches snapped and snow flew everywhere. The sound was deafening as I plowed through my mother’s creation. It was the sound of my heart, breaking into pieces as I destroyed everything in my path.
Her sanctuary. Her legacy. The place she’d built to keep us safe.
I was demolishing it. It hurt, but I didn’t care.
Adrianne was in here. Saving her was all that mattered.
I kept my foot pressed on the gas, tearing through hedge after hedge. Behind me, a path of destruction opened up. Ahead, more walls waiting to be demolished.
“ADRIANNE!” I shouted over the roar of the engine. “ADRIANNE, WHERE ARE YOU?”
No answer. Just the sound of the machine eating through leaves and branches, and the blizzard howling around me.
I turned the wheel, changing direction, following nothing but my instinct. She had to be close to the dome, near the center. If she’d made it there, if she was still alive…
As those dark thoughts climbed into my mind, Alexei stumbled into view between the ruined hedges.
Blood streamed from a wound on his temple, and the notion that my girl had done that to survive filled my chest with pride. He held his gun out, looking around, searching for her while the snow blew all around him now.
When he saw who was driving the machine, his eyes went wide.
I revved the snowplow harder, not slowing down for a single second.
“NIKOLAI, NO!” He ran for a few feet, but the wall of green in front of him blocked his way. I looked him straight in the eyes as he turned around, hand shot out in front of him, while firing every round he had in that fucking gun.
One of the bullets ricocheted close to my head, but missed me entirely.
And then, his scream filled the night, cutting through the wind as he curled into himself, ready for impact.
The blade caught him, and the heavy wheels pressed over his body like nothing but a speed bump.
The hedge behind him crumbled like a castle of cards, and before I knew it, the heavy machine was crashing into the Dome.
The impact shuddered through the machine. Alexei disappeared under the vehicle, and the sickening crunch of bone, metal, and glass grinding together made my smile spread wider, even though I had just destroyed a sacred part of me.
Hundreds of butterflies took flight, floating in the wind and snow that was as unforgiving as I was.
But it was short-lasting. The engine sputtered, and the damn snowplow stopped.
Something was caught in the mechanism. Well… someone.
I tried to reverse, and the engine whined and struggled, but it was fucking stuck.
“Come on!” I slammed my hand against the wheel three times, as if that would do any good. “COME ON!”
It wouldn’t budge. Whatever was left of Alexei had jammed the treads.
“ADRIANNE!” I shouted again, standing from the seat and trying to find her in the faint light of dawn.
I jumped down from the cab, ready to continue on foot, when I saw them.
Through the destruction. Through the falling snow. Through what was left of the maze and dome.
Adrianne and my father.
How did he escape them?
She’d stumbled out from behind a hedge, limping, her red dress torn in various places. My father stood twenty feet from her, gun raised, a smile on his bloodied face.
Their eyes met across the distance, Vladimir knowing that this was his best and final shot at fulfilling his mission. But instead, he turned his muzzle towards me and shot, missing by only an inch.
“ADRIANNE, RUN!” I yelled, charging at the fucker I had no pride in calling father. “RUN, NOW. RUUUUUUUUN!”