Page 42 of Marked By His Touch

The girls adjust their guns so they are easy to grab. I take off my high heels, and so do Lena and Tatiana. Everyone except Zara, who’s still rocking her stilettos.

“What? I shoot better on the heels,” she says, pulling her loose hair up in a high ponytail, accentuating her cheekbones. She looks like a warrior princess posed for battle.

I tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear and inhale deeply. My every muscle is taut, ready to unleash hell.I got this, Ava,I whisper to myself, even though my gut feels like a knot of tangled wires.Got this.

The thought is a lie; I’m barely holding onto my sanity.

I steady the gun, feeling the cold steel against my skin. Honestly, I feel more connected to my swift kick and ball punch than this. The gun, with its cold, metallic edge, feels like a foreign object.

“Alright, let’s go,” I say, pushing open the door.

My breath locks in my lungs. The hallway is empty, too empty.

Where did the flow of people go?

I sense a presence, a cold stare piercing me through the darkness. A wry grin cuts through the silence as if he’s enjoying my shock.

He’s here.

“Well, hello, Ava Parker,” a voice like ice says. “Long time no see.”

Cole’s icy eyes stare into mine, a sleek black gun pressed to my chest.

A wave of goosebumps makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I step back; there’s a sudden chill in the air.

How did he find us?We were hidden from every camera, every sensor.Did I make a mistake at the entrance calling Nikolai to Daisy? But the name Daisy isn’t connected to me.

“Well, what do we have here? A cute little army of lovers,” Cole mocks, smoothing his beach-blond hair, his grin stretching across his face. His eyes, cold and sharp, scan each of us, taking us in like a predator sizing up its prey.

Behind him, an army of armed men appears, their guns raised like a wall of steel. “Don’t try anything,” Cole says, raising a hand.

“Cole, you—” I start, but the words die in my throat. My mind is a tangled mess of anger and fear.

He steps closer, brushing a stray strand of hair from my face. His touch is as cold as his eyes. I freeze, my body a marionette,my eyes darting between Zara and the other girls; there are four guns pointing at us.Shit, shit, shit.

“Listen, girls, we don’t want to hurt you. Blood is so messy to clean up,” Cole spits, his voice a venomous hiss.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. “Let them go, Cole,” I say, my voice surprisingly steady.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. They’re too valuable,” Cole says. “As I recall, this was our lost bunch from the shipping container. I remember you all.” He goes over to Lena and caresses her lower back, his touch as cold as his eyes. “Especially you, Lena. We had some good times, didn’t we?” Lena recoils, her face twisted in disgust. “You’ll make me very happy. Niko will be satisfied, too. Maybe we will share you this time.”

“You— you, pig!” I shout. I can’t imagine what Lena went through, but I know it’s something Cole needs to pay for.

“Enough with the harsh words, Ava. Are you jealous? There’s always room for one more in my new mansion.”

My mind races, searching for a way out, a loophole, a flicker of hope. But my thoughts are fragmented, trapped in a cage.

Think of something.Anything, Ava!

“Why this obsession, Cole?” I ask my voice a challenge. “It makes you weak, doesn’t it?”

I’m trying to get under his skin, to shake his resolve, maybe even turn him against Nikolai. A fight between them, a power struggle, could give us an advantage.

“What obsession?” Cole asks, his expression unreadable.

“Your obsession with finding Alexander and me. Sending us a black feather and a lock of Sarah’s hair, all that drama.”

Cole furrows his brow. “I didn’t do that.”

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