I half jumped, half fell off the stage and into the orchestra pit. It was still dark in the auditorium, but yellow gashes of light appeared at the exits as people streamed out, panicked and desperate. I prayed that Laney was with them, but I instinctively knew that she wasn’t.
The night before Thanksgiving, I’d seen Sergei’s face. I’d thought it was part of my waking nightmares, but it had been real. I knew that now. Just before I’d fought those men, I’d seen him, watching me, watching us. He knew about Laney. And he hadn’t been taken out by Volkov, he wasn’t in Mexico—he was real and he was here, hunting me, hunting Laney.
I felt hot and feverish at the thought of him getting his sick hands on her.
The sound system cut out suddenly and all that was left were terrified screams. Another shot rang out, and this time I was closer to the source.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are, Alja?!” Sergei sang. “I’ve got your little wifey! Daddy’s waiting, and you’ve been a bad, bad boy!”
I saw the dark, bulky shape two rows in front of me, and my stomach lurched. He had Laney.
And a gun to her head.
Laney
I saw Ash fall from the stage and I cried out. A desperate, intense fear filled me. Ash! My love, my husband, my life. My world had ended just as it was beginning. Hope and joy and every pure, human pleasure had been killed.
My knees gave way and the creep struggled to hold me up. The powerful smell of his aftershave combined with body odor made me want to puke.
I guessed who he was as soon as he’d slid into the empty seat next to me just as Ash’s tango started. And I also guessed that the cold metal pressing into my stomach was the barrel of a gun.
“I’ve been watching you,” he whispered, his rancid breath making me gag. “Mrs. Novak. Ha! The boy is cleverer than I thought, marrying a scared little mouse for a green card. Well, he owes me, and I always collect.”
Then he lowered the tinted glasses that he was wearing and peered at me with one empty eye socket.
“An eye for an eye, that’s fair, isn’t it? A wolf took mine, so I think I’ll take his. It’s almost a shame—he has pretty eyes, doesn’t he? Such a lovely color—almost amber when he’s pissing himself with fear.”
“My father is a police officer,” I gasped out.
“I know,” he whispered, stroking my cheek with a leather glove.
Then he slapped it across my face. It stung, but that was all.
“You’re Sergei.”
He smiled, his empty eye winking at me.
“Oh, so he has talked about me?”
“Yeah, he said you’re a sick fuck!”
Incredibly, the man’s ego inflated, obviously pleased.
“Hmm, that about sums it up,” he laughed. “Although I seem to remember that he rather liked my sick fucking. Oh yes, my dear, I’ve had those sweet lips around my dick. He was very good at sucking me off. I enjoyed it very much.”
His good eye glinted maliciously.
“You’re lying!”
He actually laughed at me, then called out loudly in a sing-song voice.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are, Alja?! I’ve got your little wifey! Daddy’s waiting, and you’ve been a bad, bad boy!”
Then he turned back to me and spoke conversationally.
“Why would I lie? I’m going to kill you anyway, so what does it matter? I want you to die knowing that . . . but I think I’ve changed my mind. Maybe I’ll let you watch while I fuck him up his pretty little ass—and then I’ll kill you.”
I couldn’t help it. I puked on his shoe.
Revulsion rolled across his face and he raised the gun and crashed the barrel down. I threw my hands up over my face protectively and heard my wrist snap as pain sliced through me. I cried out and fell to the floor, slipping in my own vomit.
I rolled under the row of chairs and started crawling in the darkness, listening to his infuriated screams when he realized that he’d lost me.
I flinched as two gun shots whined overhead. I hoped Ash had enough sense to stay hidden, away from the bright lights of the stage where he’d be an easy target. If we could just hold on, the police would be here. I was certain that every single person who’d been in the audience would have dialed 911. We just had to hold on . . .
And then the house lights came up.
Sergei twisted around, searching for me, grinning from ear to ear as the gun barrel followed my crawling body. I would have screamed with frustration if there’d been any breath in my lungs.
I saw Ash lunge up, sprinting forward and throwing himself at Sergei. There was another gunshot and Sergei staggered into my row, but didn’t fall. He watched my shock as Ash collapsed to his knees, holding a bleeding hand over his chest, and slowly sinking to the ground. Sergei grinned, aiming his gun at my head.
Ash! Oh God, no!
My world ended.
Ash
They say time slows down as you face your own death.
Sergei smiled when he pulled the trigger.