Chapter 26 Chapter 26
I just sat there, the plastic ties biting into my skin, feeling the weight of the dagger tucked into my right boot. They hadn't checked. They were so confident in their ties that they hadn't even patted me down properly.
I started to work my feet. Slow. Careful.
"Last chance," the lead guy said, standing up. He looked bored. "Tell us something useful, or we’re going to have to start getting creative."
He turned his back to me to grab something from a table. That was his first mistake. His only mistake.
I sucked in a breath, tucked my chin, and threw my weight to the side. The chair was heavy, but I was pure adrenaline. I tipped the whole thing over, the metal legs clattering against the floor. As I hit the ground, I used the edge of a jagged floor bolt to catch the zip tie on my wrist. I pulled with everything I had, skin tearing, blood slicking the plastic until it snapped.
"Hey!" one of the guys yelled, reaching for his belt.
I didn't give them a second. My hands were free. I reached for my boot, the cold hilt of my dagger meeting my palm like an old friend. I slashed the ties on my ankles in one fluid motion and scrambled up.
The first guy, the one with the buzz cut, lunged for me. I didn't think. All those hours on the tarmac paid off. I ducked under his arm, spun, and drove the blade into his thigh. He let out a roar of pain, stumbling back.
The other two came at me together. One had a pipe, the other a gun.
I dived behind a stack of pallets just as a shot rang out, the sound deafening in the empty space. My heart was a drum, my hands were shaking, but the fear was gone. It was just me and the steel now.
I came out low, sliding across the dusty floor. I caught the guy with the pipe across the shins, sending him face-first into the concrete. Before he could get up, I was on him, the dagger finding the gap in his jacket.
Then it was just the guy with the gun. He was panicking, waving the weapon around. "Stay back! I'll kill you, you crazy bitch!" He yelled.
"You should've killed me when I was tied down," I hissed.
I threw a piece of loose scrap metal to his left. He flinched, firing at the noise, and that was all the opening I needed. I closed the gap in three steps. I grabbed his wrist, twisting it until I heard the bone pop, and the gun clattered away. I didn't stop. I drove my elbow into his jaw, then my blade into his chest.
I let him fall.
Silence crashed back into the room. I stood there, gasping for air, the dagger dripping red onto my boots. My wrists were shredded, my hair was a mess, and I could feel the bruises starting to form where I’d hit the floor.
I looked at the bodies. I’d done it and I was still alive. Suddenly, the heavy rolling door at the end of the warehouse started to groan. It slid upward, letting in a flood of moonlight and the cool night air.
A silhouette stood there. Tall. Broad-should.
"Nikolai I whispered.
He didn't say a word. He just walked toward me, his boots clicking on the concrete, his face a mask of cold fury. He looked at the bodies on the floor, then at the blood on my hands. He stopped right in front of me, his eyes searching mine.
He didn't ask if I was okay. He didn't ask what happened. He just reached out, his gloved hand cupping the side of my face. His touch was so steady, so grounded, that the wall I’d built up finally crumbled.
"I've got you," he said, his voice sounding thicker than usual.
I didn't drop the dagger. I kept my fingers white-knuckled around the hilt, the weight of the steel the only thing keeping me grounded as the adrenaline started its slow, shaky retreat. I stood my ground, my boots planted firmly between the bodies of the men who’d tried to break me.
I looked him straight in the eye, my face splattered with red and my hair a tangled mess of sweat and grit.
"They wouldn't stop asking," I said, my voice coming out steady. I wasn't pleading; I was stating a fact. "They wanted the codes, the schedules... everything. They didn't get anything"
He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in tight. I let myself lean into the heat of his chest for a second, feeling the fast, heavy thrum of his heart against my ear. For a heartbeat, he wasn't "Hades," the terrifying king of the underworld. He was just the man who’d shown up when the world went dark.
"I know," he murmured into my hair, his grip tightening as if he were making sure I was actually there. "I know you didn't. Let's go home, Natalie."
I finally let the dagger slip from my hand, the metal hitting the concrete with a dull, final clink. I was exhausted, every muscle in my body screaming from the strain, but I kept my chin up as he reached down and swept me off my feet.
He carried me out of that blood-stained hellhole like I was something precious, heading straight for the black SUV idling in the pouring rain. I didn't close my eyes and I didn't look back at the mess I’d made. I just watched the way the moonlight hit the sharp line of his jaw, knowing that this was why he sent me away; this was the reason he was so cold. So i could defend myself and not wait for him. But who the hell did those men work for? He would find out sooner or later.
When we got back to the house, a doctor was already there. After a shower, he took care of my wound and prescribed medication. That was when i saw the blood on his shirt. “You’re bleeding again."
“Mr. Ferro, you’re not fully healed, follow me” the doctor said leading him out of my room. After they were gone, I sat there for a while. When they got me, Where was Wesley. I opened my door and headed to the room at the end where I knew Nikolai would be. As I got closer, I heard them talking; the door was slightly opened. I stopped when I heard my name.
“Wesley, get rid of the bodies and have Brax scrub all video footage. She shouldn't find out it was a test” Nikolai said and i turned around and walked back to my room.
It was him, he did that to me, it was all a fucking test all to see if i would stay loyal or i would betray him. I sat down on my bed in a daze; he went through such great lengths to test me. The test didn't bother me, but it was the way he did it, and that was what hurt.