Page 145 of Monstrous Urges
I can’t see them, because they’re in all black. But Zoran and three of my guys are right by the front and back doors to the farmhouse, ready to go in guns blazing.
“Just remember,” I growl. “I want him alive, Zoran.”
“Understood.”
I nod, peering into the darkness. It’s almost four in the morning, but the lights are still on inside the farmhouse. Our intel said Vadik was hiding out with only three of his men. They’re all dead in a ditch behind me from when we first snuck up on them.
“Okay,” I grunt into the mic. “Go.”
There’s a bang and a flood of light as Zoran and the guy by the front door kick it open and surge inside. I hear a crash, then the unexpected shriek of a woman’s scream.
There’s another crashing sound, and I start to run toward the house.
“Boss,” Zoran sighs in my earpiece. “I got good news and bad.”
Shit.
“Yes?”
“The good news is, he’s here. The bad news is, he’s fucking dead.”
My teeth grit as I close the distance to the house. “Goddammit, Zoran?—”
“It wasn’t us, boss.”
I frown. “What?”
“You can come on in. She’s unarmed.”
“He’s in the cellar,” Zoran grunts as I walk through the door to the farmhouse.
I nod, glancing around at the frankly breathtaking amount of blood everywhere. My gaze swivels to the blonde girl sitting on the couch in the living room, a blanket around her shoulders and one of my guys standing watch.
Polina. The girl who was there at the house the night Vadik drugged Taylor and me, and tortured me. I scowl at her, before remembering Taylor telling me how this poor young woman tried to help when everything was going down. How she tried to free Taylor before Vadik came back and dragged her away.
How she had clearly been abused by that fuck. The bruises Taylor saw when Polina’s foundation smudged.
Vadik’s body is downstairs in the basement. According to Zoran, it doesn’t look like he died recently. Maybe a day ago.
It also doesn’t look like he died…quickly.
But Polina doesn’t look horrified, like she’s witnessed a gruesome murder. She sits calmly and without emotion on the couch, staring straight ahead.
“Did she say anything?”
Zoran shakes his head. “Only ‘Don’t shoot. I already killed him’,” he says with a wry smile.
I turn back to Polina and walk over. I nod for my man beside her to leave us. Then I crouch down in front of her, meeting her gaze.
“Do you remember me?”
She nods. She looks tired and worn out. But otherwise, not bad.
“Of course,” she says quietly. “I’m so sorry about?—”
“You don’t have to apologize for anything,” I growl. “I know what happened. I also know you were as much a prisoner at that house as my wife and I were.” My eyes soften slightly. “She told me you tried to help her. You have my thanks for that.”
Polina smiles a little wider as she finally truly focuses on me.