I forced myself to watch. To remember what would happen to me if I went against these men before it was time. To remind myself that there are worse things than death. As I stood at the door, I found myself praying for the first time in a very long time. To a God I wasn't sure I believed in any longer. Protect her mind, dear Lord. Her body can heal. Protect her mind and her spirit. Keep that fire alive within her. After what felt like years, but I knew was no longer than maybe an hour, the bosses were done with her. They zipped up, rolled out as if they'd just taken a short lunch break instead of destroying a woman's body. Her sense of self. "Uberi yeye. Podumay snova dat' yey privilegii, my zastavim tebya vzyat' yeye," Barrikad said, a slight grin on his face. Clean her up. Think to give her privileges again, we will make you take her.I clenched my fist to keep from bashing him into dust. How they'd found out about the privileges in the first place, I had no idea. But her c

I stared at the door. Wondered what had spooked Arkady so badly. Did it have to do with the men who'd just been in here? Were they coming back?The breath backed up in my lungs as the bottom of my belly dropped away. My heart started to pound as every single ache and pain in my body shrieked in remembered agony. I shook my head. I couldn't go through that again. Not ever. But certainly not right now. I huddled against the wall, my gaze glued to the door. Air struggled to penetrate my lungs. My lungs pinched and shook inside my chest. They couldn't come back. They couldn't come back. Just as the edges of my vision were starting to go black, I sucked in a huge breath. Slapped myself across the face. "Get your shit together, T." Almost as if I was standing outside myself, I nodded to the invisible me. I could do this. I could get control. I could bend destiny and fate to my will. Taking another deep breath, I pulled it deep into my lungs. Held it for as long as I could. Push

After shoving one of the burner phones under a familiar park bench, I sat and stared at the dark sky. Waiting was one of the worst parts of this job. But my contact wasn't willing to be seen talking to me. I understood it. I could even appreciate it. But it pissed me off to have to be at the mercy of someone else. That Talia was effectively at the mercy of someone else. In so many more ways than one. I just prayed that she was holding out. Holding on. I'm coming for you, Talia. Just hold on for me, hellcat. Give me time to find you. Part of me scoffed at the idea of being someone's-anyone's-hero. But that Talia Amatucci was the one who literally depended on me, grinded my guts. I'd given up the cloak and dagger of life or death when I left the Agency. While I still worked in counterintelligence for the corporate world, the stakes weren't nearly as high. Nor as deadly. I still took my work seriously, but no one died if I got the information wrong. Or didn't react fast eno

With Arkady out of commission, I darted for the door. No telling how long he was going to be out of commission. Phone. The word streaked across my brain like it was lit up with neon. Leaping up to the bed, I stood on tiptoe to feel around on the small inset ledge where the lights were. I grabbed up the phone, prayed the ten minutes of charging had done enough to hold me. I stuffed the phone into my waistband. Jumping off the bed, I ran over and grabbed up some of the bottles of liquid from my first aid stash. With two bottles of what I assumed was isopropyl alcohol armed and ready, I moved to the hallway. Not bothering to take the time to push the door shut behind me, I ran down the hall. Tried not to splash myself with the alcohol. My only weapon, I kinda needed to make sure I could use it on any enemies who appeared. From my previous escape attempt, I knew there was only one hallway that went anywhere. I arrowed for it immediately. Nothing short of death or capture was go

I didn't have a lot of time, and since none of my other ideas had gotten me anywhere so far, I needed another track to follow. Pulling the phone from my waistband, I thanked the stars that it was still there after the mad dashing up and down that stupid hallway. Wishing I had some water to wash off the alcohol, I pushed the thought from my mind. I had no idea how much longer I was going to be here alone. Using the phone was now a necessity. Even if I didn't know what would happen. I had to try. Powering up the device, I waited. One ear attuned to the door and anything beyond it, I was counting the seconds until the home screen showed up. It felt like forever. As soon as the little bar graph showed I had some signal, I sent out a call. Prayed it went to the right number. Memorizing phone numbers had become obsolete since I carried my phone around with me everywhere. Please let this be right. Please let this be right. "This is Willow.""Willow. Oh, my goddess." Tears ru