Page 27 of Fate and Family

Her directive gets my feet moving. Run. Get to the garage. Shoot on sight.

Screeching tires and echoing screams dull out the ringing in my ears. The body of someone who tried to take the GX lays below the driver’s side door, their blood smeared along the door handle. Am I going to suffer the same fate? Shot down from behind as I frantically pull on a piece of chrome that was never meant to afford me entry?

But as soon as I put my hands on the door, it opens, and the car starts. I’ve waited my whole life to drive this car.

Sliding in behind the wheel feels like some morbid right of passage. Shifting it into gear, the tires screech as the vehicle rockets forward.

Suddenly, the whole area shakes and explodes. The ceiling rains down on the hood of the car, and just as I pull out of the garage, the roof collapses.

But that’s not the only thing. The balcony stairs have crumbled, and the car that crashed into them is now speeding down the driveway.

Katya bangs on the passenger window, and I let her in.

“What happened to the other car?”

“Autodrive. It’s going to clear a path for us.”

And like a tank, it slams through every obstacle ahead.

In the rearview mirror, my home crumbles. Its last gasps of air are choked with smoke.

I have nothing.

My family is gone.

And the only person I have left is a stranger I thought I loved.

Chapter

Thirteen

Katya

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

Using the car’s Wi-Fi, I try to reach out to my team. Still nothing. I need to get back to the safe house, regroup, and get Dimitri and me the fuck out of here.

I sit in the car in a total and utter panic, at least trying to make it look cool. But yeah, it’s definitely not working. I’ve reached out to my home office three times and still no answer. What the actual fuck?

“Fuck, Katya!” Dimitri says, his rage seething. “Tell me the truth right now.”

“So, I’m not just a bartender,” I try to say lightly and playfully.

“Uh, obviously,” he growls.

Okay, be kind. The man just lost everything in a matter of seconds.

“Listen, you’re having a rough day. I’m going to ignore the fact that you tried to choke me out in the closet. Because we’ve all made poor choices tonight. I am a CIA agent, undercover, researching a drug called Majesty. Have you heard of it?”

Of course he has.

Dimitri tightens his grip on the wheel. “My family has been offered deals to sell Majesty to the public, but we’ve turned it down. My uncle in America did the same thing.”

“Yeah, so that’s what’s weird. I came here thinking you and your family were the primary pushers, but now I don’t think you guys are.”

“We’re not. I literally just said that.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. But I figured it out a couple of days ago. And yet, when I presented my findings it was ignored. And now, all of a sudden, your family has been annihilated, and my team’s not answering.”

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