Axel nodded again. We stared silently into the fire for a while.
“I’m leaving her here with you,” I said.
“Of course,” Axel replied. “She’ll be safe here. But I don’t think she’s going to like it.”
“I know,” I said, frowning. Axel chuckled. “I can’t take her with me when I take care of this. I’m going to do things I swore I would never do again. I’m going to end this. I don’t want her to see it. I don’t want her to see that part of me.”
“You’ll have to be open with her about who you used to be, you know,” Axel said. “You can’t hide it from her. Secrets have a way of pulling everything apart if they fester too long.”
I shook my head. “I won’t hide anything from her. Not anymore. I’ve learned. But she doesn’t need to see it. Hearing about death and witnessing it are two very different things.”
Axel nodded. “I’ll take care of her, make sure everything is safe here while you do what you need to do. And when it’s all over, you tell your woman how you feel, you tell her what was and what is, and you move forward.”
I nodded. Axel nodded. We were on the same page. Of all the people in my life, in the past and now, Axel was the only person who truly understood what I was going through. We were cut from the same cloth even though he had come from a different background and was up here for different reasons.
“You should rest up for what’s to come,” he advised.
I nodded, knowing I could trust Axel with my life. I stood and walked to the room where Angela was sleeping.
“I’ll be up a while,” Axel said. “I’ll keep watch. Rest easy.”
I nodded and pushed the door open. I had about two hours’ sleep before I had to be up again. But I could rest because I knew Axel had my back. And I knew Angela was safe.
I climbed into the makeshift bed on the floor and curled my body around Angela’s. In her sleep, she responded, rolling her tiny body against me so tightly, it was like we were one.
It felt like heaven.
Angela
When I opened my eyes, I knew exactly where I was. I was immediately wide awake and rolled over in the bed on the floor in Axel’s cabin to find Viktor still sleeping next to me.
The night had a shimmery quality to it, anticipating the dawn, but it was still dark out. Viktor’s breathing was steady and deep. I studied his features in the dim light, his brow knit in worry even while he slept, his high cheekbones accentuated by the beard that covered the bottom half of his face. The scar that he seemed so conscious of running across his cheek…how had he gotten it? It was a part of him that I loved. Something unique, different. Something that made him seem real.
What had he been through?
Last night when I’d realized he’d come for me, I’d nearly fallen apart with relief. Now that I’d slept a bit, I didn’t feel any different. I’d left Viktor because I’d been terrified of who he might be, what his past held.
After Maksim had told me what Viktor had been, I felt very differently about him. I didn’t believe that Viktor was a bad man, even though I did believe that Viktor had done things in his past that he wasn’t proud of. I just couldn’t find it in myself to hold those things against him when he was so clearly set on making a change.
Wasn’t that what counted? He had chosen a different life, and he was serious about making it a reality.
His past was catching up with him. He was worried that it would scare me off. But I didn’t feel that way about it. I didn’t know why I trusted him, but I’d never trusted anyone more.
Viktor blinked his eyes open.
“Did I wake you?” I asked.
He shook his head. “We should get up soon.”
I nodded. We were caught in a time warp of sorts. As soon as the sun rose, all hell was going to break loose. But until then, we were okay. We were in a bubble where time stood still and just the two of us existed.
“Did you sleep okay?” he asked. He cupped my cheek and ran his thumb over my lower lip.
“I did,” I said in a breathy voice.
He offered me a cocky smile, and I shivered. I wanted him. Sex with him now would be a hell of a release after everything that had happened. But we would have all the time in the world after this was over.
“What are the plans?” I asked.
“I’m leaving in a short while, to take care of things.”
“You’re leaving without me?” My stomach twisted and fear grabbed me.
“I won’t be long.”
“I’m not staying behind,” I insisted. “Where you go, I go.”
Viktor sat up. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. “No Malen kiy.” His voice was firm. And it pissed me off.
“You can’t tell me what to do.”
“It’s dangerous,” he said. “I’m not going to let you go out there again. I just got you back.”
I knew it was absurd that I wanted to go with him but staying behind seemed terrifying to me. When I was with Viktor, I felt safe. I opened my mouth to say something, to argue with him, but Axel opened the door without knocking.
“They’re here,” he said.
Viktor jumped to his feet. “What?”
A fresh wave of fear washed over me. “How did they find us?” I asked in a voice that sounded as scared as I felt.
Viktor didn’t answer me. He stormed out of the room. Through the open door I saw him grab a gun, check the ammunition, look around. Axel was doing the same thing, whipping out a gun I hadn’t known was within reach.
The two of them were a fierce pair, both comfortable with weapons. When Viktor turned to glance back at me, the look on his face scared me. His eyes were so dark they were almost black. His lips were pressed in a thin line, and he looked like a hunter. A predator.
I hadn’t seen this side of him. Maybe this was what Maksim had talked about.
“Stay here,” he commanded.
He nodded at Axel, and they burst through the front door. The moment they set foot outside, gunfire started.
“No!” I screamed and ran across the living area to one of the windows. I peeked around the sill, looking out.
Maksim’s men were everywhere, crawling through the trees like ants, firing at Viktor and Axel. The two men had run into the trees and disappeared behind the trunks. My throat closed as I watched, frantically searching for any evidence that they were still there. Something… anything.
Except a dead body. Please, God, let nothing happen to them.
Viktor appeared from between the trees again, grabbing one of the men that had been shooting in the direction of the cabin. He twisted his head around so fast, I’d barely been able to track his movements. The shooter sank to the ground. Viktor looked at me, our eyes locking for a moment through the window where I hid most of my body behind the wooden wall of the cabin.
He’d known exactly where I was. His eyes were cold as death. And for some reason, I’d never loved him more, knowing what he would do to protect me.
I watched as the two men worked together, moving through the trees like ghosts. At first, Maksim’s men were confident, shooting, serious. But as time ticked on and they couldn’t find a mark, the shooting slowed, and they seemed more unsure of themselves. One by one, the men started disappearing, and that freaked them out, too.