Page 20 of The Harbinger
“Your comfort isn’t my concern.” He rapped his thumb against the door, where he rested his arm. “You’ll do as you’re told and nothing else. I thought I’d made myself clear?”
I clenched my jaw, my heart speeding into the uncharted territories as I looked out the window. I’d misread the room with him, thinking since he’d protected me once against him, he’d do it again. How could I have been so stupid?
“I see.” The scar buckled under my touch, my thumbnail digging into my skin with a sharp bite. The air rushed from my lungs at the revolting thought of leaving with Ivan and Vlad.
My eyes pooled with tears, making the world a wavering, uncertain mess. The towering buildings tottered as our vehicle slowed to a stop. And beside us stood a tall gray building situated on a rounded corner lot.
Dmitri stepped out of the vehicle and rounded the front, opening the door for Sacha and escorting him to my side of the vehicle. I cranked my neck up and tilted my head to the side to see the full height of the building before me when Dmitri opened my door, pulling me away from my concentration.
Sacha grabbed me around my upper arm. I winced as a dull ache forged ahead when his fingers lined up with Ivan’s bruise marks. “You will go with Vlad and Ivan.” He pulled me from the car and walked to the vehicle behind us.
“And what do you want me to do while I’m there?”
“A doctor will see you. You’ll wait in your room for me.”
“I don’t need…” Sacha opened the back door to the blacked-out SUV, and I peeked inside. Vlad sat in the driver’s seat while Ivan sat in the passenger. At least Ivan wouldn’t be in the back with me like before. “I don’t need a doctor.”
“Sit.” Sacha jerked me into the SUV, forcing me to take my seat, then closed the door.
“Wait.” I pressed my shaking hand in the way and pushed against it. Sacha tucked his head down with Dmitri at his back. “Can you give me a little something to take the edge off?”
“Don’t do anything stupid, Mia.”
He slammed the door closed, and the locks snicked into place.
Slithering serpents wound around my legs, burrowing under my skin like parasites, as Ivan muttered to Vlad. Vlad tittered in return.
Dmitri and three other men escorted Sacha inside the building with windows as far as the eye could see. Once he disappeared behind the glass doors, Vlad sped off down the road.
“How long does it take to get there?”
The vehicle jarred to the right as Vlad took a quick turn. I grabbed for the seatbelt. Screw what Sacha said about it. I clicked it into place. He took another turn, this time to the left, as though we were in a race to the finish line.
“Is this how people in Russia drive?”
Ivan twisted in his seat but didn’t make eye contact. “I should have cut out your tongue,devushka.”
My stomach dropped, and I fought the urge to lose what little I’d eaten all over the vehicle floor.
The tremor in my hand grew as the city lights faded and the streets turned to narrow roads surrounded by tall, leafy trees with bare trunks. They towered over us, casting darkness in every direction, their limbs swaying in the gentle breeze.
I could bolt from the car—open the door and fall to my death, avoiding whatever cruel existence awaited me. I’d never get the answers to my past, but at least no one would torture me again.
I’d have all the control over how it happened.
The narrow paved road turned to cobblestone, which wound toward a giant yellow mansion, fresh out of a fairytale.
White, paved walking paths lined the driveway, separating the green grass from the cobble. In the center of the roundabout drive was a small green patch with a singular tree—its leaves a red undertone. And above the front wooden French doors was a balcony, lined with black wrought iron fencing, should anyone get too close to the edge.
Vlad stopped at the front, and my guts twisted, making me regret not taking the opportunity to escape when it presented itself.
Chapter 5
Sacha
Westeppedoutofthe elevator onto the floor that overlooked the city of Moscow, my secretary at the ready. She passed me a manila folder as I exited, allowing me to thumb through the contents before I walked into my spacious office through the foggy glass doors.
Dmitri took his place by my door as it slid closed while Igor and Yuri waited outside.