by Lauren Smith
“Look at me, Little Mac. Put your hand over my heart.” She lifted one hand and touched him. He felt the heat of her palm through his shirt.
“Feel my heart. Focus on the rhythm. You feel it? Now, breathe with me.” Royce drew in a slow breath. Kenzie did too, shuddering at first, but soon she found his rhythm and they breathed in and out slowly together.
“That’s it.”
Her dark lashes dropped down across her cheeks. She was still too pale, but her breathing was normal again.
“You okay?” He brushed the backs of his fingers over her face, and she nodded.
“Yeah, thanks. I felt like I was going to lose it.” She pulled back from him. “I think I will take that shower.”
He watched her close the door and fell back flat on the bed, staring up at the gold-painted ceiling of the train cabin.
Fuck, I wish Hans were here with the cavalry.
Kenzie stripped out of her clothes and stepped into the shower stall. The hot water eased the chill within her, but only a little. She felt numb, like her mind had turned everything off. How was she supposed to survive this?
She couldn’t get Elena’s face out of her mind, how tortured the woman had been. Vadym would kill Elena, and then Kenzie would be his next plaything. Bile rose in her throat. She gagged, doubled over, and spit in the shower, her stomach clenching. She smacked one palm on the shower wall, catching her breath.
I’m not alone. Royce is here. We are in this together. She winced as hot water hit her raw wrists. It was such a small thing to see the welts there when she’d suffered worse earlier, but… Tears welled up in her eyes, and her vision blurred.
I’m not weak—I’m not.
Yet she couldn’t seem to stop crying. She turned the water off and got out of the shower, her legs starting to shake. She found a thick, expensive bathrobe on the counter and slipped it on. Then she leaned forward and wiped the condensation from the mirror. Haunted eyes stared back at her, and a slight bruise marred her cheek from where she’d been hit by one of Vadym’s men.
Tears fell down her face, leaving streaks that shimmered white beneath the florescent lights.
I’ll get through this. I will. I’m smart and levelheaded, and I can keep calm in a crisis, right? That’s what Royce needs. Me levelheaded and calm.
She tightened the bathrobe belt around her waist and stepped back into the main cabin. She found Royce lying flat on his back on the bed. One of his hands rested on his stomach, his fingers tapping a little rhythm. The sight of him looking somewhat relaxed managed to calm her. When the bathroom door clicked shut behind her, he lifted his head, then bolted upright and opened his arms when he saw the look on her face.
“Little Mac,” he said softly. She rushed into his embrace, fresh tears pouring from her eyes.
There was no stopping the sobs that followed. Royce held her throughout, absorbing every shake and tremble. Her heart stilled in her chest, and new trembling took over. This man, this beautiful man was the answer to questions she didn’t even know she wanted to ask. There was no running from the truth, not now, not when the world was collapsing around them. She raised her head, facing him, their bodies caught in a warm embrace.
“Royce, I…I love you.” The words slipped from her lips. She couldn’t take them back. It reminded her of something her mother used to say about dreams: Once you give them a voice, they are out in the world, alive.
She never meant to dream about love, not like this. An all-consuming, overpowering love that was so scary she could barely breathe. But somehow it was there, alive. She could feel that love inside her, like an arrow shooting through her heart.
“You don’t have to say anything. I just needed you to know,” she said, ducking her head. Royce gave a cocky grin, one that made her momentarily forget the horrors that awaited them outside the cabin. For a moment, it was like he was flirting with her back at the university.
“I know you do. I’m irresistible,” he announced with such authority she couldn’t help but giggle.
“You’re an ass, you know that?”
“But clearly a lovable one.”
She shoved him and he fell back on the bed, pulling her down next to him. He curled one arm around her waist, kissing her forehead.
“Did I ever tell you about how I learned to pick locks? Hans and I broke into Wes’s house…”
Kenzie settled more deeply into his arms, worries and fears for the moment banished. So she wasn’t Robin to his Batman or Watson to his Holmes. She was just Kenzie, but she was finally seeing what she should have seen from the beginning. Royce had never needed a sidekick to follow him about. He needed a partner. There were a thousand reasons she loved this man, but right now this was the most important one. They would face trouble together, side by side.
17
The city of Ulaanbaatar was nothing like what Kenzie had expected. When Hans and Royce had spoken of mountains, lonely deserts, and yurts, they had been speaking of the countryside of Mongolia. But as the Trans-Siberian train pulled into the city, it left the valley hills with snowy pine trees far behind them. The horsemen who had darted alongside the train tracks like the Mongolian herdsmen of history vanished as the cityscape of Ulaanbaatar took over.
It was a curious mix of ancient temples, crumbling Soviet-era apartment blocks, and newer glass towers, along with derelict suburbs of yurts and brick houses. A mesh of wire, concrete, and metal piping all crashed together. But Kenzie was stunned by the energy and warmth of the people, which was so at odds with the city itself.
“Welcome to UB,” Royce said. “The city’s name means Red Hero.” He coughed. “But honestly, they should call it Black Hero in the winter.” He pointed at the hazy dark clouds that hovered above the city like an omen of doom.
“What is that?” Kenzie asked.
“Noxious smoke. It’s only here in the winter because the families who live in the yurts in the ger district burn coal to fend off the extreme cold. It will hover over the city until March.”
Now that he mentioned it, Kenzie could almost taste the coal in air, the acrid taste lingering on her tongue and in her nose. “Jesus.”
One of Vadym’s men opened their door abruptly. “Out. This way!”
“We’re coming,” Royce snapped, and he took Kenzie’s hand as they followed the men from the train. Outside, several cars were already waiting for them.
“How the hell does Vadym have cars everywhere waiting for us?” Kenzie muttered.
“His Uber bill must be through the roof.”
Kenzie almost laughed, but the knot of nerves in her stomach had returned. The cars drove through the city until they stopped in the parking lot of a massive gray-and-red building with gold designs. Over the front of the building, obscuring the words “Lenin Museum,” its former name, hung a sign that read “Central Museum of Mongolian Dinosaurs,” in English. A huge tyrannosaurus head jutted out of the exposed bricks, as though a dinosaur had come to life and was escaping the museum.
“I would love to have seen that as a kid,” Royce said with a chuckle as they walked beneath the dinosaur and into the museum.
“This way, Dr. Devereaux.” Vadym seemed almost cheerful as he led the way to a set of back doors that took them away from the visitor center.
He’s happy because he’s getting his way, Kenzie thought. He thinks he’s won. Good.
A man rushed to meet them as they entered the lab beyond the offices. “Mr. Andreikiv!” His accent was clearly Mongolian, but his excitement at seeing Vadym meant this had to be his inside man, the one who would help him rob this beautiful country of its birthright.
“Dr. Devereaux, this is Mr. Atlan Dorjsuren.” Atlan held out his hand.
Royce shook Atlan’s hand, though with little enthusiasm.
“Follow me,” Atlan said. “On behalf of the museum, I’d like to offer our sincere regrets regarding the accidental acquisition of that which rightfully belongs to your country. It seems the dig site was on the Russian border, and
the specimen was wrongfully extracted and transported here due to an error in the GPS devices. We have the specimen ready for shipment. We need only a few of the documents filled out and authorized.”
Kenzie kept pace with Royce as they followed Atlan into a large warehouse. A large six-foot-by-five-foot box was carefully packed with bones tucked in straw. Each bone had a small tag with a diagram to show its location on the reconstructed skeleton.
“It’s a velociraptor!” Kenzie exclaimed as she approached the box.
“Yes,” Vadym said from behind her, making her jump. “The most complete one ever seen. It will bring in millions, once museums begin a bidding war.” Vadym put a hand on her waist. Kenzie tensed and slid slowly out of Vadym’s reach, moving closer to Royce. Her skin felt like ice where that man had touched her.
“Dr. Devereaux?” Atlan spoke up. “The papers are in my office. This way.”
Royce reached for Kenzie’s hand, but Vadym grabbed her and pulled her away.
“Sign the papers, Dr. Devereaux. When you come back, you can have her.”
“Like hell,” Royce growled, and his grip tightened on Kenzie. Vadym smirked. The men on either side of Vadym pulled aside their coats, exposing their weapons. She couldn’t let Royce get hurt trying to protect her. Without a plan, it was just pointless bravado.
“Go. I’m fine.” Kenzie leaned against him, squeezing his arm to reassure him she would be okay. She tried to ignore the feel of Vadym’s gaze on her, but it made her skin crawl.
“You could be most useful to me,” he finally said. She didn’t respond. “Aren’t you interested in hearing my offer?”
“That depends,” she finally replied. She couldn’t keep running away from him, and she needed to buy more time. “Anything you offer better include Royce’s safety and my own.”
“If you come back to Moscow willingly and help me find fossils, warm my bed, then I won’t kill Devereaux.”
Kenzie froze, every part of her body tense. “You’re planning to kill Royce? What about that talk about moving him to Moscow? I thought you needed him?”
“Useful, yes. Need? No.” Vadym laughed softly, and the sound made her skin crawl. “This was always about control.” He took his time in answering, seeming content to watch her dread increase. “Your lover defied me, robbed me of a huge auction prize. I couldn’t let that stand. I had to make him come to heel.” He let go of her arm and curled his hand into a fist, as though imagining crushing Royce in his palm. “But now that I have you, there’s no more use for him. I should remind you that you will come either way, but willingly means you can spare his life.”
“And what about Elena?”
Vadym’s brow furrowed. “Who?”
“Elena. The girl.”
Vadym acted as if her existence had completely slipped his mind. “What of her? She will not be needed.”
“Would you let her live?”
Realization dawned on his face. “Oh, I see. If she matters so much to you, I’ll let you choose who lives.”
“Both.”
Vadym laughed. “You are in no position to bargain. But you have fire. That’s good. I will give you this one thing, before I take everything else. Both. If you agree to come with me.”
A devil’s bargain. But what choice was there? Royce would find a way to rescue her. She had to believe that.
“Fine. You have my willing participation,” she said softly, looking away from him.
Vadym’s smile turned her blood to ice. He cupped her chin, his fingers digging into her skin as he turned her toward him and slammed his mouth down on hers. She shoved him away as she heard Royce’s shout.
“Get away from her, Vadym! I signed your damn papers.”
Vadym let go of her, and she retreated. He laughed as he turned to Royce. “She has just agreed to come back to Moscow and serve me—in all ways.”
Royce’s face was pale as he looked between them. “Kenzie, what’s he talking about?”
“He said he’ll spare you and Elena if I do. Please, Royce, don’t cross him,” she pleaded with him, hoping he would read her thoughts. It’s just for a short time, until you can save me from him.
“You son of a bitch!” Royce moved fast, slamming his fist into Vadym’s face before his bodyguards could move in. The attack stunned everyone.
“Kenzie, run!” Royce shouted as he tackled Vadym to the ground. Kenzie turned and smacked hard into Jov Tomenko’s body. She hadn’t even known he was in the room. His heavy hand clamped around her arm, squeezing until she cried out. Vadym’s other guards grabbed Royce and dragged him off.
“Take them to the cars.”
“May I kill them?” Jov wrenched his hand down harder on Kenzie’s arm. Her muscles seemed to tear beneath his hands, and she gasped in agony.
“Not here, you fool. Later you can do whatever you like.”
Jov smiled darkly down at Kenzie. “He broke Elena before I had the chance to take over, but you? You still have fire in you. I will have such pleasure breaking you.”
Vadym spat blood as he climbed off the floor. He waved Atlan away when the man tried to help him up. “See that the fossils are shipped tonight.”
“Of course.” Atlan rushed back to his office.
Royce was being held by two of Vadym’s men. His mouth was bleeding from where one of the men had punched him. Jov dragged Kenzie toward the exit, along with Royce. Once they were back in the car, Elena was there waiting for them.
“You okay?” Elena whispered after they were shoved into their seats.
Kenzie nodded.
“Silence!” Jov snarled as he started the SUVs engine. Kenzie grasped Royce’s hands in hers, squeezing it. Whatever happened next, at least they would be together now.
They were driving down a street called Peace Avenue when Jov paused, staring at the lights. He had to take a left turn, when the red light wouldn’t let them go straight. Kenzie stared at the digital billboards above the car, unseeing as she tried not to think about what would happen to them. Then the billboard videos began to cut out, the picture disappearing and reappearing over and over again, like some kind of rapid power outage. That was odd. Royce leaned forward to look, and then his lips began to move and she could hear his faint whisper. “Ready—accident—Cody—ready—accident…”
“Accident?” she whispered back.
The car surged into the intersection, and half a second later, Royce pushed her and Elena back against their seats in case the seat belts failed their jobs. A truck suddenly plowed into them from the left side, sending the car flying. The breath was knocked out of Kenzie’s lungs. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t scream, couldn’t—
The vehicle rolled, and she, Royce, and Elena were bounced around like rag dolls. Metal screamed, glass shattered, and the blare of horns drilled into her skull. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think past the sweeping numbness inside her.
“Kenzie,” Royce groaned as he struggled to sit up. Elena whimpered and twisted her legs as she tried to sit upright.
“Royce… What happened?” She felt like she was shouting. The ringing in her ears made her feel dizzy and nauseous.
“Morse code. Cody must’ve hacked the billboards somehow.” Royce looked to the front of the car. The driver, Jov, wasn’t moving. The other man in the passenger seat was awake, but blood dripped down his forehead. He was still trying to get his bearings.
“We have to move. Now.” Royce opened the door beside him, half falling into the street. Kenzie followed, taking Elena’s hand as she helped the other woman out of the car.
They found themselves in a world of chaos. Cars were jammed everywhere in the intersection. Smoke billowed up from the truck that had hit them.
“Oh God,” Elena gasped. “Where’s Vadym?”
Kenzie and Royce searched the crowd and saw his car ahead of them, pinned between two smaller cars. The red brake lights were on, and the car was jerking slowly out of its trapped position. Kenzie tugged on Royce’s hand.
&n
bsp; “We have to go. Jov will be coming for us.”
“Not yet!” He was staring at the digital billboards, watching the way the images flashed as if pointing in a certain direction. “Embassy! Embassy!” Royce cried in triumph. “Come on! This way!” he shouted, jerking Kenzie along. The three of them sprinted through the wreckage and ran toward the American embassy in the distance.
Gunfire erupted behind them. Royce skidded to a stop behind a car and pulled Kenzie and Elena down as they covered their heads. In the distance, she could see the friendly wave of the American flag and the Marines standing at the gates as they tried to assess the cause of the gunfire.
“We can’t make it!” Elena gasped. “The embassy is too far!”
“We can make it. Kenzie, you still have the knife I gave you?” Royce held out his palm. Kenzie handed him the knife, and he glanced around the taillights of the car.
“It’s Jov. I’m going to lure him to me. You two crawl that way, toward the embassy. Use the cars as cover for long as you can, then run like hell when you’re exposed. Shout that you’re American. The Marines should let you in.” He turned away.
Kenzie gripped his shoulder, dragging him back to face her. “What about you?”
“Trust me. I’ve got nine lives, kid. I’ll be fine.” He leaned in and cupped her cheek. “I fucking love you, Little Mac. Okay? This ain’t no suicide run. I want to live every damn minute of our complicated lives together. So I’ll survive, I promise.”
He kissed her, hard, fast, and all too soon it ended.
“Now go!” he hissed, then crawled behind the taillights of the car. Then he stood up. “Jov, you fucking bastard. I’m over here!” Royce took off, running perpendicular to the route that led to the embassy. Jov raised his AK assault rifle and fired another volley, but he hit only cars.
Elena grabbed her arm. “Kenzie, we have to go!” They started crawling fast behind the cars toward the end of the street that led to the embassy.
Royce drew Jov’s fire away from them, but it didn’t lessen the spike of fear that had a stranglehold on her throat. When the two of them broke the clearing of the cars, they ran and didn’t look back. Everything seemed to slow down around her, the wind whipping her loose hair against her face, her harsh, labored breaths, the almost jellylike feeling to her legs, and the soldiers manning the gates, watching her and Elena with worry.