Ignoring my glare, Zaal inched closer and said, “I do not know what happened between you and my sister. You say you love her; I am doubtful and questioning how that could possible when you stole her in the night. I will follow you to retrieve your sister and mine, as I see the pain for your sibling in your eyes. But if I discover you have lied, or you hurt my Zoya in any way at all, regardless of our shared past I will kill you.” Zaal leaned closer still, my body fighting the urge to attack. “You knew me as a boy. But I was a trained killer. Am still a trained killer. Remember that.”

Zaal stepped away, and I said, “Georgian.” Zaal stilled but did not look back. Teeth grinding, I said, “I too am a killer. I may not be crime ring royalty like every other fucker around here. Killing is what I do; it is the only thing I do.” I paused, then added, “It is the only skill I possess. You remember that.”

With tense shoulders, Zaal walked out of the room. When I turned to look behind me I saw two females in the doorway, staring at me, the blonde from before with cold eyes. When I lifted my chin at the Mafia suki, they left me alone in the room. A guard entered the doorway and pointed his gun in the direction Zaal and Luka went.

As I moved after the two men who had been incarcerated and tortured like me, I calculated I was down to my final hours in this life. Despite loving Zoya with such a fierceness I had no idea I possessed, the very moment her brother found out what I’d done to her he would slit my throat.

And that was okay.

As long as he rescued my sister and Zoya first, as long as he kept them safe.

Then this man-made ugly beast—194—could at last be put down.

19

VALENTIN

I sat in the back of the van the Night Wraith had brought me to Brooklyn in, flanked by Zaal and Luka. Their male guards followed behind in another van. The collar was back around my neck, but the needles were removed. We had to maintain the pretense that I continued to be under Mistress’s control. I hated having this contraption around my neck. The heavy metal scraped against my new wounds. But with one thought of Zoya pinned on that bed, the pain faded to vapor.

We had sat and planned out our attack for hours. The Pakhan and another Bratva king joining us at the table. I had stared at Kirill Volkov as he listened to his knyaz plan this attack. I could see the pride in Kirill’s eyes. The entire time my stomach had clenched. No one but Zoya had ever loved me like that. As a twelve-year-old child even I had heard of the Volkovs of Russia. Sitting at a table watching the legendary male let his knyaz handle business convinced me that the knyaz would probably not be the knyaz for very much longer.

Dawn was about to break, but the sky was still dark enough to approach the mansion undetected. The three of us sat silently in the van. The three of us were impatient for the van to arrive at our destination. Luka and Zaal had dressed all in black, Zaal refusing to wear a top, so Mistress would see his identity number straightaway. Luka dressed in dark clothes, the hood from his sweatshirt pulled over his head and bladed knuckle-dusters sitting ready on his hands.

Suddenly the van came to a stop. The van door opened and the three of us jumped out. Luka’s head guard stood, gun already in hand. Luka’s and Zaal’s guards pulled up behind us. We were in the middle of the forest, just outside the mansion’s grounds. Zaal stood before me and said, “Make it look believable.”

Without hesitation I slammed my fist into Zaal’s face, the huge man taking hit after hit. I struck him ten times until he was bloodied, his skin cracking open on his cheeks and forehead. The bruises and swellings would emerge soon. Mistress would be pleased that I had brought him pain.

Zaal wiped his bottom lip, glaring at me like he wanted to crack my skull. I strongly suspected that he knew I’d done something to his sister. I could see it in his suspicious eyes. He spat the blood from his mouth to the ground before turning and putting his wrists together. I bound them in rope. Zaal turned and silently waited for us to move. I nodded at Luka to let him know I was ready. He handed me a small white bottle.

“Put a few drops in your eyes; they’ll dilate your pupils. We need that female in there to believe that the shit ton of serum she put in your collar still has you under its control. You fuck this up, everyone in there dies.”

I ripped the bottle from his hands and put some of the liquid in my eyes. I did not need the prince of the Russians to tell me what would happen to the only two people I loved on this Earth. The drops’ sting was immediate, but the fade was quick. I threw the bottle at Luka and without reacting, he said, “You have an hour to get to the mansion before we come in.” He inched closer. “We’ll kill everyone in there. Everyone but the two females you want to protect.” He paused and, leaning in, said quietly, “Including anyone who betrays us.”

I got his warning, but I stepped back and confirmed, “Understood.”

We set off deeper into the forest. Walking ahead of Zaal, Luka followed close behind me, never letting me out of his sight. We never spoke as we trudged through the trees. When we crossed the boundaries of the estate, I took hold of Zaal by the wrists and began dragging him until we reached the lawn.

The Wraiths immediately flooded outside but hung back, guns raised, as I passed them without a word. They knew to expect me. I never failed. This was like any other retrieval.

I dragged Zaal forward as I entered the back door of the mansion. I felt Zaal tense as the door closed behind us. I knew it was because he was about to see his sister, Zoya. I could only imagine what I’d be like if I saw my sister again after all of these years.

My heart started pumping in relief, because I would see her again today. If this plan worked, I would see her again within the hour.

We walked down the hallway toward the room Mistress always stayed in—the one where she had drugged Zoya and me. As we reached the door, I kicked it open and threw Zaal inside. Zaal stumbled into the room. When I heard an immediate roar pull from his throat, I reached out and took him again in my grip.

Zaal’s body shook. I kept my eyes forward, fighting the urge to look at what he was seeing. I couldn’t, though. I, under the influence of the serum, would never look. My heart beat fast, knowing Zoya must still be on the table where Mistress had strapped her down. Fear mixed with rage when I wondered if the evil bitch had killed my kotyonok. If Mistress had beat her or tortured her in some way.

Mistress suddenly appeared from the back room and her heels clapped on the hard floor. I fought back a wince at that sound. I hated that sound. My blood rushed through my veins at the thought that her life would soon be mine. That I would soon see her blood. That I could soon torture her.