by Amy Deason
“You bitch,” Cadence seethed. “What the hell did you do to him?”
“Him?” Charlie echoed.
“You know who I’m talking about. Nikolas. How could you do that to him? He was abused enough and then you go and turn him into some sort of sexual servant.”
Charlie’s eyes narrowed, becoming nothing more than thin, blue slits. “Nikolas is usually more tactful. What exactly went on between you two anyway?”
Cadence felt her face grow hot and although she wanted to look away in embarrassment, she would have died before letting this woman know she was getting to her.
“None of your fucking business.” She would be damned if she told Charlie anything about her and Nikolas. It didn’t matter if it was real or fake, what happened between them was between them, not this miserable excuse of a woman.
For a moment, Cadence thought Charlie would push the issue and she took a deep breath, prepared to do battle even though chances were she would go down in flames.
Instead of continuing the conversation, Charlie offered her a mirthless smile instead. “Come on, I have to get you out of here.” Without another word, she turned, slinking down the hallway.
What the hell just happened?
There was no answer. But she couldn’t just stand here considering it. Whether she liked Charlie or not, and she definitely didn’t, she was attempting to help her.
Shaking her head against the confusion, Cadence followed Charlie down the hall, even more determined to run as soon as she got the chance.
At a bend in the wall, Charlie stopped abruptly, causing Cadence to nearly run over her.
Opening her mouth to say something, she closed it quickly at the muffled cough echoing from around the corner.
So much for getting out of here. If whoever is over there saw them, it’s over.
“Wait here,” Charlie whispered, glancing back over her shoulder.
Yeah right, like I’m going to do anything you say, you sick freak. The minute you turn your back, I’m gone.
It’s what Cadence wanted to say but didn’t. Like it or not, this crazy woman had gotten her out of the room back there and for whatever reason, she was determined to save her life. Although, it was probably for a more self-serving purpose than simply rescuing an innocent woman from Dmitry’s evil clutches. Charlie wanted something.
The question was what? It couldn’t be the formula. She’d already handed it over to Nikolas. It had to be something else.
Oh, I’ll give her something all right. Just as soon as we get out of this infernal labyrinth. But it sure as hell isn’t going to be what she wants.
As Cadence watched, Charlie’s whole persona changed. One minute she was Charlie, the French-speaking Perfect Order leader and the next she was Dr. Eksrom, the Swiss interrogator for the evil minded.
An amazing transformation. And quite creepy to tell the truth. She’d never seen anyone change so completely, so dramatically, right before her eyes. Not even Nikolas. Even when he’d changed, she’d caught glimpses of the struggle to do so. But not with Charlie. She became a whole new person as quickly as if she were donning a new outfit.
That is just not normal . . .
Charlie relaxed her shoulders and disappeared around the corner.
Pressing herself against the wall, Cadence trying to decide whether to bolt or to trust Mrs. Soulless-Ice-Queen. Both options could prove disastrous. She just wasn’t sure which one would give her a better chance at survival. On one hand, she didn’t exactly know where she was or how to get out of here. Charlie did. But on the other, the idea of trusting someone that could, and would, further destroy a poor, abused child for her own use, turned her stomach.
“Excuse me.”
If Cadence hadn’t known better, she would have believed the Swiss accent in Charlie’s voice. But she did know better. Much better.
“Dr. Ekstrom, is there something I can help you with?”
As much as Cadence wanted to take off, leaving Charlie to fend for herself, her gut told her to stay put. At least until they were outside where she might be able to make a run for it. Inside here, she was nothing more than a rat in a maze chasing its own tail. One wrong turn and she would run right into a trap.
So for the moment, she was stuck, hugging the wall, trying not to breathe, and listening intently to the conversation going on just out of sight.
“As a matter of fact, there is,” Charlie said. “You see, I’m dealing with a rather troublesome individual. I’m afraid the girl has simply snapped. She will have to be restrained.”
“I’m sorry,” the young man apologized, “I would like to help but I have my orders to stay here.”
“I completely understand. However I have my orders to make the girl talk and I can’t do that with her screaming and hissing like an alley cat in heat.”
“I could call someone to help you.”
“No. I need someone now. It should only take a minute or two to subdue her.”
“I can’t leave my post. Mr. Lishin would have my head.”
“I imagine he will have more than that if I have to tell him you refused to help me with the only person that can give him what he wants.”
The threat was dark and ominous and obviously the repercussions were not lost on the guard.
“Shit, okay,” he said, resignation heavy in his voice. “But this better be over quick. I don’t want to lose my job.”
“Oh trust me, it will be over before you know it.”
Two sets of footsteps grew louder as Charlie and the guard drew closer. Panic erupted in Cadence’s veins as panic began to take over.
What was Charlie doing? She was leading him right to her!
Scared shitless, Cadence couldn’t get her feet to move. They might as well have been super glued to the floor.
Moments later, the guard stepped around the corner.
Dressed in a white button-down shirt and ebony slacks, he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of her, his brown eyes growing as large as bowling balls. Reaching for the gun on his hip, he opened his mouth to yell. But the only sound coming from him was a surprised grunt.
As if trapped in a slow-motion movie, he slid to the floor, his knees coming to rest on the tile. Pitching forward, he dropped with a quiet thump, his face turned away from her. From the center of his shoulder blades, a hypodermic needle protruded, buried to the hilt.
Her jaw came unhinged and she stood, staring at the man on the floor. He was not moving at all and there was no indication he was still breathing.
Oh my God, is he dead?
Lifting her eyes from the fallen man, Cadence gaped at the woman standing over him, her mouth drawn into a thin, red line.
“Move!” she hissed.
The deadly strength in Charlie’s voice went through her like a bolt of lightning, shocking the muscles in her legs back to life. She had been right.
This was not the person to fuck around with.
All half-formed thoughts of confronting Charlie flew right out of Cadence’s head as she jerked into motion. Sidestepping the limp hand as if it might suddenly come to life and grab her, Cadence tore her eyes away from the prone man on the floor and fell into step behind Charlie. No way she was turning her back on this woman. Which would make escaping a lot more difficult.
What else was new?
Chapter 32
Stepping out of the boiler room, Nikolas closed the door behind him with a soft snap, studying the deserted hallway. He wasn’t positive where Cadence was held captive but his first guess would be The Chamber. The sick bastard would most likely have her tied up down there where he could do whatever he wanted to her and no one would be able to hear her screams.
A hate so fierce lashed through him, it felt like his blood had turned to molten lava in
his veins. He was going to kill Dmitry. Not because it was the main purpose of the mission but because he dared to hurt Cadence. And Henry too. By the time he got done with them, they would be unrecognizable. But he had to find Cadence first and get her out of harm’s way.
This would be so much easier if Dmitry’s torture room was located on the same floor as the boilers. But unfortunately, it wasn’t. To get to the secret bunker, Nikolas knew he first had to ascend two flights of stairs which should be at the end of this hallway. From there, he would have to maneuver through the halls until he reached the elevator that would take him down again.
Holding his gun in front of him, he crept along the walls, prepared to shoot anyone coming between him and the stairwell. He glanced up at the surveillance camera mounted on the furthermost wall, hoping the guards were enjoying the sight of a blank hallway. As long as the altered video continued to play and no one noticed, then he was good to go. But the minute someone caught on, there was going to be trouble. Hopefully he could get Cadence out of here before that happened.
Immeasurable seconds ticked by until the metal staircase stood before him, its ivory-painted handrail marred by streaks of black grease.
He breathed a sigh of relief. At least one part of this mission was going according to plan.
About fucking time . . .
Taking the steps two at a time, he reached the landing connecting the stairs quickly. With his hand on the rail, he’d just put his foot on the step when the door above him swung open, spilling light into the dimly lit stairwell.
Time froze and in those crystalline seconds, he took in the scene and stopped before pulling the trigger.
A petite blonde with clear blue eyes stepped through the door.
“Charlie!” he gasped in surprise. The blond hair and change in eye color were new but it was Charlie. No doubt about it.
Lowering the gun to his side, it occurred to him that for the second time in less than twelve hours, he’d nearly blown his boss’s head off. But more shocking was that this time, Charlie was not alone.
Familiar blue eyes stared down at him in surprise. And for a split second, happiness. But then the lighthearted emotions were gone, snuffed out by a black hatred.
But Cadence wasn’t the only one staring down at him in anger. Charlie was doing a damn good job of burning a hole right through him.
Closing the door behind them, the women descended the stairs, twin pairs of blue eyes drilling into him. As they reached the landing, he could practically see the waves of anger rolling off of them but he didn’t recoil from it. He was too busy being thankful that Cadence was alive and unhurt. The relief washed over him, extinguishing any flames the two women were shooting from their eyes.
“Nikolas!” Charlie seethed. “What in the hell are you doing here? I told you to stay out of this.” Her eyes, emerald green temporarily covered with blue contact lenses, bored into him.
Oh yeah, she was pissed all right. If they made it out of here alive, he was going to pay for his insubordination. But right now, he didn’t care. Seeing Cadence again was worth anything Charlie could do to him and the rush of emotion flooding though his system was more powerful than even Charlie’s deadly ire.
“Cadence.” It was obvious she was mad at him, possibly even hated him, but he had never been so glad to see anyone as he was to see her.
Ignoring Charlie for the moment, he stepped past her and pulled Cadence close. God, how he missed her. The smell of her skin, the feel of her body next to his. And for a moment, she relaxed against him, allowing him to hold her.
It was all right, she forgave him . . .
But abruptly she went rigid, pushing him away, her eyes harder than glaciers.
“What are you doing here?” she echoed Charlie. “Get tired of your little playmate?” The venom in her voice was strong enough to scald him but it was the pain underneath it which tore at his heart.
“You don’t understand.” He wasn’t sure how to begin to explain things to her. Or even if he could.
“And I don’t want to understand.” Her voice bounced off of the walls, echoing in the narrow stairwell. “I just want to get the hell out of here and away from both of you.”
Shoving past both him and Charlie, Cadence stomped down the remaining steps, leaving them staring after her.
“You’ve got a little firecracker on your hands, it seems,” Charlie murmured beside him.
Shaking his head, Nikolas smiled in spite of himself. “You have no idea.”
“No, I don’t. I want to know what exactly happened between you two.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean, Nikolas. She knows who I am, who you are, and way more about this operation than she should. What in the hell have you been doing? You were supposed to rescue her, interrogate her, and then dispose of her. Not fall in love with her.”
Nikolas turned toward his boss, prepared to lie his ass off. He wanted to tell her she was wrong. But he couldn’t. It was true. He was in love with Cadence. That hot tempered, nosy, hardheaded Texas girl. There was no sense trying to deny it. Especially not to Charlie. She would see through any prevarication he could tell her.
The door above them opened suddenly, drying up any words he had been about to say.
Nikolas raised his gun, hitting the guard square in the chest.
Dropping instantly, the man’s body fell into the entryway, preventing the door from closing.
Altered surveillance camera video or not, there was no way the gunfire or the body was going to go unnoticed for long.
“Come on, we’ve got to get out of here.” Nikolas turned to run down the remaining steps but then noticed Charlie was not behind him. “Charlie,” he said, swinging back, “what . . .? Oh my God . . .”
Blood stained the side of her suit, a crimson flower blossoming on a field of blue.
“Go on. Get out of here,” Charlie whispered harshly. Her perfect face was ashen and etched with pain.
“The hell I am. Come on,” Nikolas barked. “Can you walk?”
“Yes. But we have to leave. Now.”
Leaning down, he hauled her to her feet, letting her lean on him for support.
Cadence met them at the foot of the steps, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.
“What happened?” she asked, her eyes darting between him and Charlie.
“She got shot, that’s what happened,” Nikolas said, his words coming out harder than he’d intended. But right now he didn’t have time for niceties. Any chance of remaining unnoticed was blown to hell and they were still inside the building. If they didn’t move, then they were dead. “Now stop standing around and run.”
Cadence, defying him at every turn, didn’t run. Moving to the other side of Charlie, she looped her arm around her waist, steadying her. Sparing him a withering glance, she tried to fry him with her laser-blue eyes. “Don’t tell me what to do.”
His respect for her shot up another notch. As if she wasn’t high enough on a pedestal as it was.
Damn, he was in trouble.
“Let’s go,” he said, hiding the smile forming on his lips.
~ ~ ~
“How do we get out of here?” Cadence asked. Blood was soaking through her shirt but she paid little mind to it at they crossed the boiler room floor.
Enormous pipes choked the ceiling and everywhere she looked were tables piled high with unrecognizable parts.
“This way, “Nikolas said, motioning toward a parts cage. “Around this corner, there’s a door. We go through it and we’re out.”
“What’s through the door?”
“God, Cadence, does it really matter?”
“Don’t yell at me!” God, he made her so mad. Just because she asked questions was no reason for him to scre
am at her.
“Do you think you two could stop this lover’s quarrel long enough for us to get out of here?”
Forgetting her anger, Cadence glanced down at the woman propped between them. Her face had been pale to begin with but now it was more the color of ashes. It looked like it was a struggle for her to even speak.
Guilt made her shut her mouth and keep walking. While she definitely didn’t like this woman for what she’d done to Nikolas, there was no denying that Charlie had risked her own life for hers regardless of the reason. There was also no denying that Charlie was in serious need of medical attention and the sooner they got here out of here, the better. She would just have to do her best to ignore Nikolas. Easier said than done.
When he’d wrapped his arms around her in the stairwell, she’d instantly felt better. Like that was where she was supposed to be. But then in a blink of an eye, she remembered she hadn’t been the only one to be held in his arms during the last twelve hours. The image of the slinky woman from the monastery filled her head, blocking out any warm thoughts of Nikolas. Shoving him away, she severed herself from him. Or so she told herself.
Even now, with a wounded woman between them and the possibility of being captured before they could escape, she was more aware of Nikolas than she should be.
God, why did he have to affect her like this? Why couldn’t she ignore him? Forget about him like . . .
Jefferson, her mind supplied.
It’s because Nikolas is not Jefferson. He’s dangerous, protective. Charming, infuriating. Sexy as hell. And my first. He will always be my first no matter who I’m with in the future.
The answer was not what she wanted to hear, even from herself.
And the thought of being with someone else pained her. She didn’t want to be with anyone else but the truth was, she was never going to be with Nikolas. So as much as the idea slayed her, she might as well start facing reality now.