Page 81

CASSIAN

Leaving Mario at the door, I rush into the stairwell and take the steps two at a time while pressing my fingers to my ear.

"We've got a problem. Mario spotted me, and we had a not-so-great discussion. If he's going to do what I think he's going to do, then the alert will be raised in minutes."

"We prepared for this," comes Bradley's reply. "Just find Sabina."

Whatever Bradley plans to do, it’d better be good, because there's no version of this where I'll keep quiet. My thighs burn and my heart pounds as I race up the next flight of stairs, only to come to an abrupt halt at the unconscious guard spread unceremoniously across the top three steps.

A trap?

I take another step and a bud of relief blooms in my mind. One of Valentina's knives protrudes from the side of the man's neck, blocking any blood spillage while killing him quietly. Her search while I was caught by Mario must have brought her here from the hallway. I step over the dead man and continue up the stairs, sidestepping around two more deceased men until I reach the third floor.

Shouldering the door open, I stumble into the hallway. The dark plum of Valentina's dress catches my eye immediately. She's on the ground, trapped under a man twice the size of her who grunts and snarls like a feral pig. Both her hands wrap around the blade embedded in his shoulder, but the wound barely seems to slow the man down.

My shoes slip on the decorated carpet as I sprint forward, then I leap upward and swing my leg hard in an arc. The man grunts in pain as my knee slams into the side of his head, sending him toppling off Valentina and into the wall. She's just as fast, leaping back on top of him and ripping her knife free only to embed it in the side of his neck. He reaches for her throat and she leans away, twisting the knife with a snarl.

The brute dies with a single gurgle.

"You good?" I offer my hand to her and she takes it, letting me pull her to her feet.

"He broke my heel," she says mournfully, pointing to one of her discarded silver heels. "I liked those."

"I'll buy you a new pair." As she steps away, I tighten my grip and force her to face me. "Seriously, though, are you okay?"

With flushed cheeks and eyes bright with adrenaline, Valentina smiles and licks at the small cut on her lower lip. "I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."

The scar leading into her hairline tells a different story, but after her reassurance, I let her hand go.

"I got two flights up," she explains quickly, "and the doors were blocked by scaffolding, so I crossed over here and made my way up. This place might have been in better shape if they weren't in such a rush to make these fucking deals."

"You think it's safe?"

Valentina removes the last blade from her thigh and twirls it between her fingers. "Maybe. Or we're walking right into a trap. Come on." With a jerk of her head, we start down the corridor while Raven guides us via earpiece to where Sabina's signal crackles through the jammer every so often.

We're on the right floor but it takes kicking down two doors and shouldering open a third before we finally find her.

I stumble into the dark room washed in soft blue light and nearly trip over myself in desperation.

There she is.

Sabina.

She lies in bed with her eyes closed and her skin pale. Countless machines surround her bed. I barely spare them a glance as I stare hard at her chest, frozen in place as a hundred overwhelming, panicked thoughts blast through my mind like a siren.

I'm too late.

I wasn't fast enough.

She's already dead.

They've killed her.

All those thoughts screech to a halt when Sabina's chest finally rises with a breath and I puff out all the air trapped beneath the tension in my chest.

"Sabina?" She doesn't stir when I approach her bed and take her hand, though my heart skips a beat at the alarming chill to her limp fingers. "Sabina?"

"Look…" Valentina pulls the bedsheets down enough to show the gown Sabina's wearing. "They did the surgery."