Chapter 156 Anya
The hospital room was quiet except for the steady beep of Nikolai's heart monitor.
I sat in the chair beside his bed, my knees pulled up to my chest, my eyes fixed on his face. He looked peaceful when he slept. Younger. Less like the man who had strapped a bomb to his chest and walked into enemy territory, and more like the man I had fallen in love with.
His hand rested on the white sheet, close enough for me to touch. I reached out and traced my fingers along his knuckles. They were bruised and swollen, split open from punching guards and breaking bones. But they were alive. He was alive.
"Wake up," I whispered. "Please wake up."
The doctor said he would. The bullet missed the bone. The surgery went well. He just needed rest. But rest felt like an eternity when every shadow looked like Alexander coming back for revenge.
Nadia had left an hour ago to process the paperwork from Alexander's arrest. Viktor had gone with her, promising to return with food and clean clothes. I had not eaten in two days. I had not slept in longer. But none of that mattered.
Only Nikolai mattered.
I thought about everything that had happened. The warehouse explosion. The fake body. The bombs and the signatures and the blood. Alexander's cold smile when he pressed the button. The flames on the screen, consuming the building where I thought Nikolai had died.
And then he appeared at the estate. Broken and bleeding but alive. Fighting through a army of guards just to reach me.
"What kind of man does that?" I whispered to the empty room.
The heart monitor beeped. Nikolai's chest rose and fell. He did not answer.
I stood up and walked to the window. The city stretched below me, gray and cold under the morning light. Somewhere out there, Alexander was sitting in a cell. Waiting. Planning. His words echoed in my head. "This is not over. I will get out. I will kill all of you."
Nadia said his empire was crumbling. His accounts were frozen. His allies were turning themselves in. But men like Alexander always had backups. Always had contingency plans. Always had a way to slip through the cracks.
I pressed my forehead against the cold glass and closed my eyes.
"Nikolai wants to run," I said to myself. "He wants to disappear. Start over somewhere no one knows our names."
Part of me wanted that too. To leave Moscow behind. To forget the blood and the violence and the constant fear. To wake up in a quiet village somewhere, far from the city, far from the mafia, far from anyone who wanted us dead.
But another part of me, a darker part, wanted to stay. Wanted to make sure Alexander never hurt anyone again. Wanted to watch him rot in prison or burn in hell.
"Is that who I am now?" I asked the window. "Someone who wants revenge?"
The glass did not answer.
The door opened behind me. I turned, expecting Nadia or Viktor. But it was a nurse, young and tired, a clipboard in her hands.
"Mrs. Markov? There is someone here to see you."
"Who?"
"Detective Nadia. She said it is urgent."
My heart dropped. Urgent never meant good news. "Send her in."
The nurse stepped aside and Nadia walked in. Her face was pale, her coat stained with something dark. Blood, maybe. Or coffee. I could not tell.
"What happened?" I asked.
Nadia closed the door behind her. "We have a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"Alexander's men attacked the transport vehicle. They killed two officers and escaped with him before we reached the station."
The world stopped spinning. My blood turned to ice. "What?"
"Half an hour ago. On the highway. They rammed the convoy with armored cars, threw smoke grenades, and opened fire. By the time backup arrived, Alexander was gone."
I stumbled backward and grabbed the window sill to keep from falling. My legs felt like water. My head felt like it was splitting open.
"He is free?"
"He is free. And we have no idea where he went. His estate is empty. His safe houses are abandoned. His men have scattered like roaches." Nadia stepped closer, her voice softening. "Anya, I am sorry. I thought we had him. I thought..."
"You thought wrong." My voice came out cold and sharp. "You said it was over. You said he was finished. And now he is out there, somewhere, planning God knows what."
"I know. And I am going to find him. But I need you and Nikolai to go somewhere safe. Somewhere he cannot find you."
"We have nowhere safe. Every place we go, he finds us. Every person we trust, he corrupts." I looked at Nikolai's sleeping face. "He almost died. Twice. For me. And now we are right back where we started."
Nadia opened her mouth to respond, but a sound stopped her.
Footsteps in the hallway. Heavy. Fast. Many of them.
The door burst open. Viktor stood there, his face red, his chest heaving. "We have to go. Now."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Alexander's men are here. At the hospital. They are coming up the stairs."
My heart stopped. "How did they find us?"
"I do not know. But they are armed and they are not here to negotiate." He grabbed Nikolai's bed and started pushing it toward the door. "Help me. We need to get him out."
I ran to the other side and pushed. The bed rolled on squeaky wheels. Nikolai groaned but did not wake up.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Loading dock. Service elevator. I have a car waiting."
We reached the hallway. Nurses and patients were running in every direction, screaming, crying. Gunshots rang out from somewhere below. Closer than before.
"Faster," Viktor said.
We pushed the bed toward the service elevator. Nadia ran ahead, clearing the path, her gun drawn. Viktor kept one hand on the bed and one hand on his weapon.
We reached the elevator. Viktor pressed the button. The doors did not open.
"Come on," he muttered, pressing again.
More gunshots were getting closer now. I heard shouting. Men's voices. Angry.
The elevator doors opened. We pushed Nikolai inside and piled in after him. Viktor pressed the button for the basement. The doors closed just as three of Alexander's men rounded the corner.
Their faces were the last thing I saw before the metal doors slid shut.
The elevator descended. I held Nikolai's hand and prayed.
But when the doors opened again, we were not alone.