Page 83 of Merciless Union
He nods, gasping for air. His bloody hand grabs my wrist. “Tell… tell Mr. Petrov… that I’m sorry… I didn’t keep you safe.”
“Hush. Don’t speak.” I pick up my phone, dialing Maxim’s number.
“Arina?” His deep voice comes through the line.
“Stepan’s here.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m outside but my father and him are inside. I don’t know what’s happening. The guard was shot.” I pause, realizing that I still don’t even know his name. “Just get here, quick.”
“Find a place to hide. I’m on my way.” It’s sad that I feel relief that he’s coming to save me. A part of me doubted that he would.
I hang up, staring down at the guard. “I feel silly asking this but… what’s your name?”
“Jack,” he gasps out.
“Jack. I’m sorry this happened to you.”
He nods again, his eyes fluttering shut. His breathing grows softer and softer until it stops altogether.
I shut his eyes before getting up and running around the side of the house, looking for a hiding place.
I flinch once I hear a gunshot sound from inside. Then, nothing.
I peak around the house once I hear the door wrench open. Stepan steps through the doorway. I duck back down, out of sight. Is my father dead? God, I hope he isn’t.
“Come out, come out, Arina,” Stepan mocks sings. “Time to come home with me.”
In all the adrenaline, my body didn’t even pick up on how cold it is outside. Now, I start shivering, my teeth clattering. I didn’t have time to grab a jacket or slip my shoes back on.
“Arina, don’t play with me. I’m taking you with me. So, just come out and make this easier on me.”
He’s getting closer to the side of the house. I stand up and start running. But after just a few steps, my foot catches on a patch of ice and I fall back, slamming into the ground so hard that all I can do is lay there, feeling dazed.
A shadow falls over me. Stepan smiles down at me. “There you are.”
He picks me up, dragging me across the lawn. I squirm and kick out and try my best to get away but to no avail. He’s much stronger than I am. And he still has his gun in his hand. Even if I tried to run, nothing would stop him from shooting me in the leg.
He shoves me into a car, locking the door behind me. I pound on it, screaming for anyone to hear me. I pray Maxim will show up right at this instance.
But the minute Stepan gets behind the wheel and peels off, I know I’m screwed. By the time Maxim reaches my father’s house, I’ll be long gone.
“Let me go!” I scream at Stepan.
He just chuckles. “No one can hear you, you know. Scream all you want. But you’re mine now.”
I slump back in my seat. My phone. I reach into my pockets. It’s not there. I must have dropped it when I slipped. Damn it.
I focus on where we’re going in case it helps me escape somehow in the future. Maybe I can borrow and phone and let Maxim know where I am.
Stepan drives for a long time until we reach a secluded cabin way out in the woods. I’m so used to the suburbs and the city that I’ve never even seen the woods, let alone been in it, especially so far away from anyone else.
Stepan opens my door, waving his gun at me. “Get out.”
I wince once my bare feet touch the snowy ground. He nudges my back with the gun. I walk slowly as he forces me into the cabin.
“Sit down in that chair,” he orders.
