Chapter 25 - Nikolai
Pain drags me in and out of consciousness, letting me rise to the surface just long enough to register it before being pulled down again.
I don’t know how long I’ve been lying here like this, cheek pressed against a pile of shards, and none of it makes sense.
One moment, I’m upright behind the wheel, then I’m reaching for Danielle and trying to get my seatbelt undone, which I apparently succeeded at. The next, everything dissolves into noise and flashes of light that refuse to settle into anything coherent.
My head feels split open, and there’s blood in my eyes. There are voices somewhere nearby, but I don’t know who they belong to.
I force my eyes open long enough to see twisted metal illuminated by flashing emergency lights. The windshield is gone as smoke curls into the night air around me, but I don’t see her.
Danielle.
The thought hits with enough force to cut through the haze instantly.
I lurch forward with a groan, trying to crawl out of the vehicle, but pain bursts through my ribs and shoulder hard enough to make my vision swim all over again.
She was just here…just.
Blindly reaching for my phone, my fingers are slick with blood as I barely drag it from my pocket. Everything in my line of sight doubles so badly I can barely see the screen, but instinct carries me anyway.
Roman.
The line rings once before he answers, and his voice is muffled, but it’s his. “Nikolai?”
My breathing sounds wrong, more wet and ragged than it should be. “They…took her.”
Silence answers me immediately, then I catch his concern soon after. “What happened?”
“Malenkov.” I force the words out between waves of dizziness, and black starts to border my vision again. “…took Dani.”
I hear movement instantly on the other end of the line, turning into a mess of voices full of orders being shouted.
Roman’s tone hardens instantly, sounding more worried for me than he has in a long time. “Where are you?”
More than anything, I want to answer, but the darkness pulls me back under before I can.
***
An IV is nearly ripped out of my arm the moment I open my eyes again, and pain tears through my skull all over again.
“Easy,” Roman says sharply, catching my attention.
I blink hard against the bright ambulance lights overhead, disoriented for half a second before reality crashes into me with brutal clarity, and I see everything like a reel in my mind.
The crash, Danielle screaming, and her being dragged from the SUV.
I look around wildly, taking everything in as quickly as I can despite the one thing on my mind.
Roman is beside the open ambulance doors with a grave expression as Mikhail stands near the front speaking rapidly into his phone. A few steps away, Sergey paces outside like he’s seconds from murdering someone. I don’t see Ivan, but I imagine he’s nearby.
Every single one of them looks furious and beyond worried. It’s almost weird to have that concern directed at me, but I push the thought away immediately.
“Where is she?”
The question comes out rough enough to barely sound human, and nobody answers despite the urgency in my voice.
My stomach drops, and I can feel myself shaking. “Roman.”
His expression hardens further, like he doesn’t want to be the one to tell me, but he does anyway. “They got away with her.”
Something cold and vicious cracks my chest open, realizing that every fear I’ve ever had surrounding her has come true at once.
No. No.
Shoving the blanket off myself instantly, I swing my legs over the edge of the stretcher, and pain flares so hard my vision whites out again just long enough for me to grip the cold metal while it passes.
“We have people looking,” Roman says firmly, reaching over to steady me. “Ruslan thinks he has a lead on one of Malenkov’s temporary locations.”
“That’s where she is.”
“We don’t know that yet.”
“She’s there,” I utter, completely sure of it. Every instinct in my body screams it.
Malenkov didn’t orchestrate a hit like this for inventory or territory. It was personal this time. It’s about Dani and me, that much I know.
And I let it happen. I let them get close enough to touch her despite how often I promised her they would never get the chance.
The realization twists and aches inside my chest. I should’ve seen it coming sooner.
I should’ve moved her somewhere safer and doubled security. I never should’ve underestimated how desperate Malenkov would become once cornered. Instead, Danielle is gone because I made the mistake of thinking I still had time.
“Nikolai,” Mikhail says carefully, ending his call and stepping closer. His brows furrow as he watches me attempt to move. “You’re concussed.”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
Roman takes a breath and turns back to me. “You can barely stand. You need to take it easy.”
“I don’t care if I’m dying. I’m going,” I snap, hating every moment that I’m looked at like something fragile. Their attention should be on Danielle, not me.
“You’ll slow us down like this.”
The words nearly make me swing at him, but any sudden movement makes my head spin all over again.
Roman must see it in my face because his own expression hardens immediately, putting on his usual authority. “I need you thinking clearly, not charging in half-conscious because you’re emotional.”
Emotional.
The word almost makes me laugh, as if there’s anything left inside me right now besides rage and panic held together by sheer willpower alone.
I stand anyway, and the medic beside me immediately protests.
“Sir, you need to sit back down—”
“No.”
The single word comes out venomous enough that he wisely backs off, not saying another word to me.
My knees nearly buckle the second my boots hit pavement, and dizziness punches into me hard, but I force myself upright through it.
Slowing down now isn’t an option. I can fall apart later when I know Dani is safe.
“I’m going.”
Roman exhales sharply through his nose, well aware that there’s no stopping me at this point. He finally mutters, “Fine. But if you pass out during this, I’m dragging your ass back myself.”
“Noted.”
Mikhail steps forward, voice calmer than the rest. “Ruslan said he tracked movement near an old casino warehouse just south of the strip. The place changed hands twice through shell companies in the last month, and it’s a likely match with their other activity.”
“When did he call this in?” I ask
“Ten minutes ago.”
Too long already. Every second Danielle spends with those people is another second I can’t stand to lose.
My chest tightens at the thought of her terrified and alone somewhere with Grigori’s men, or worse…
But I shut the thought down immediately before it fully forms. I refuse to even entertain that possibility.
“She’s alive,” I say aloud, more to myself than anyone else, trying to focus on getting my hands to stop shaking from the shock in my system.
Roman studies me carefully for a second before nodding once, and he carefully slides my pistol back into my hand. “Then let’s keep it that way. We need to move.”
The next several minutes blur together in motion as SUV doors slam, weapons are checked, and engines roar to life beneath the flashing emergency lights.
I barely remember climbing into the backseat beside Sergey, given how my head still feels like it’s splitting apart, but adrenaline keeps dragging me forward anyway. Getting Dani back is all I can focus on.
The city streaks past outside the tinted windows in neon smears of vibrant color, and even now, people crowd sidewalks near casinos completely oblivious to the war quietly unfolding around them. Seeing them so carefree while I’m on the verge of losing my mind pisses me off more than usual.
Sergey loads another magazine with practiced, efficient movements beside me before glancing over. “You good?”
“No.”
He grunts like that’s the answer he expects, and he murmurs, “You look like hell.”
“Clearly,” I mutter, glancing down at myself.
Blood has dried stiff against my collar and jaw by now. Every bruise from the crash is beginning to settle deeper into my body, and pain throbs harder with each passing minute. I can only imagine what I look like to them, but I ignore all of it.
Because every time my thoughts drift for even a second, I remember Danielle being dragged away from me. I can hear the fear in her voice so clearly, and see the way she reached back toward me. My heart lurches recalling the sickening moment my fingers missed hers by inches.
I slam my fist against the door to make it rattle, forcing out a breath
Sergey looks over sharply.
“This is my fault.”
“No, it isn’t,” he says immediately. “You didn’t know.”
“I should have. I brought her into this,” I utter, struggling to hold down the rage building inside me.
“Malenkov made his choice.”
“I should’ve protected her better.”
That’s the part eating me alive.
Dani trusted me. Against all logic and every reason not to, she trusted me to keep her safe. Now she’s somewhere in the hands of the exact monsters I promised to protect her from.
Roman’s voice crackles through the speakers in the SUV ahead of us. “We’re three minutes out.”
Instant silence settles inside the car, and we all shift into restless vigilance.
I check my weapon again, even though my hands are still slightly unsteady from the concussion, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except getting her back.
The warehouse district comes into view moments later. Rusted fencing lines the perimeter while abandoned buildings loom ahead.
Sergey’s phone dings, and he reads it immediately. “Ruslan’s already there. He said there’s movement inside, and at least eight men are confirmed.”
“And Danielle?”
“He hasn’t seen her yet.”
Not good enough.
Every instinct I have is screaming now, and for the first time in years, I’m genuinely afraid I might be too late.