Page 49 of Mission Shift

They had just witnessed one hell of a fight, and it appeared I had just earned an ounce of their goddamn respect.

Nik sighed, shaking his head. “You have no fucking idea what it took to leverage my connections for that exchange. Every favor comes with a price. I’m just not sure how high this one will be.”

We stared at each other for a minute, catching our breath.

“You know, I promised my sister I’d keep you safe,” he said, holding his palms out and gesturing toward me. “And now? Look at you. You’re a goddamn mess. She’s going to be pissed.”

I smirked. “I’ll make sure I tell her how you ended up looking worse.”

Nik snorted, then spat blood into the dirt. “Fuck you, Thorin.”

A beat of silence.

“You want to fix this?” he said. “You’d better pray she stays alive long enough.”

He turned, exhaling through his nose, and nodded once to one of his men. “Let’s find her,” he ordered.

If Daria was still breathing, I would leave no stone unturned. And if those bastards killed her…God help them.

Nik stalked toward the SUV, his men falling into line behind him. I ran a hand through my filthy, sweat-matted hair, my pulse still pounding like a war drum. Every muscle in my body achedfrom the fight and from the long trek with Daria, but I didn’t care. I wouldn’t rest until we found her. All that mattered was getting her back.

Nik yanked open the SUV’s passenger door and glanced over his shoulder at me. “Get in, Thorin. We’re heading back to Kyiv.”

I strode forward, catching sight of my pack in possession of one of his men. Without a word, I snatched it from him. Nik slid into the front seat while one of his men took the wheel. The other two climbed in beside me in the back.

As soon as the doors shut, Nik twisted in his seat, pinning me with an indignant look. “Call your brothers.”

Shit. I pulled my phone from my pack, my fingers already moving to turn it on. When it had powered up, it asked if I wanted to turn my location back on. Daria must have turned it off, but Nik had still been able to track me. I’d have to ask him about that later.

“Hey, I don’t have much battery left,” I said. “Do you have a charger?”

Nik opened the middle console and handed me a cord. “Conan told me that if they didn’t hear from you soon, he and Atticus were coming to Kyiv,” he said with a grunt. “And if they show up with no warning, it’s gonna be a fucking mess. So handle it.”

I barely heard him as I tapped on Atticus’s number. He and Conan were probably losing their damn minds right now. The three of us had always been as thick as thieves.

After a few seconds, the call connected.

“Hey—” I started.

“Jesus Christ, Brax!” Atticus’s voice exploded through the line. “Where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea—”

“I’m fine,” I cut in, rubbing my temple. “Mostly.”

“Mostly?!” Conan’s voice joined in, sharp and furious. “The fuck does that mean? We saw the news, Brax! Your van got ambushed! Every other volunteer who was in that van is dead.And you—no one could fucking find you! Not a body, not a trace—nothing! We didn’t know what the hell happened!”

Guilt settled deep in my gut. I wasn’t surprised they were together, whatever the time might be in Tacoma. “Yeah…it was a bad situation.”

“No shit it was a bad situation,” Atticus snapped. “I told you not to go. We both did. But no—you had to go off on some fucking adventure, traipsing around a war zone with Nik of all people.”

Nik snorted in front me, clearly enjoying the lecture as Atticus and Conan shouted loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“Atticus, I—”

Conan cut me off. “Samantha was ready to call off the wedding, man. She was losing it. Anastasia though? She wanted to break Nik’s fucking neck.”

At that, Nik raised an eyebrow, shaking his head. “Charming,” he muttered.

“I’ll explain everything when I get to Kyiv,” I said, exhaling harshly. “Just—stay put. Don’t do anything stupid like coming here.”

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