Page 28 of Viper’s Reign

A man in a captain’s uniform steps out behind him, giving me a polite nod before heading past us into the helm station. Seconds later, the yacht shifts, then begins moving.

Sure enough, we’re heading toward Liberty Island.

“Are you crazy?” I grab Dimitri’s arm urgently. “We can’t do that. It’s a crime.” My heart jumps to my throat as I imagine getting thrown in jail. Police involvement is the last thing I need right now. It would almost certainly end the mission… and Millie.

“Is it?” He raises a brow.

“Yes! Now, stop the yacht. Dimitri, I’m serious⁠—”

“It’s fine, Plamyashka. We’ll only be there for thirty minutes. In and out.” He winks, and my pulse stutters. He’s determined to do this. Why the hell did I have to tell him I wanted to go to Liberty Island? He’s not a confidant, goddammit, he’s a target!

I shake my head slowly as I let go of his arm. “I’m not going to jail with you. I’ll tell the police you kidnapped me.”

Surprisingly, he laughs. “So little faith in me. I have thirty minutes of approved clearance to dock on the island.”

Clearance? My eyes widen as I stare at him. His smile remains firmly in place. He doesn’t look worried about his freedom at all.

That calms me down a bit.

“I didn’t know people could get clearance,” I say cautiously.

“People? No. But I can.”

The moment the yacht pulls up to the small dock on Liberty Island feels so surreal.

It’s completely empty. How is this real? How is this my life? The sun is already low, reflecting shades of orange and pink across the water, the city skyline glowing behind us.

I grip the railing as the engines slow and cut out, my chest tight with disbelief.

Ahead of us, the Statue of Liberty towers over the island, finally close enough that I can make out the seams in the copper. She’s not some postcard landmark anymore. She’s right here. My stomach flips as I tilt my head back, trying to take all of her in at once.

Dimitri stands beside me with his hands tucked into his pockets, calm and unreadable, like this is another normal day, nothing special. Maybe it is for him, but for me, it’s a little daydream come true.

I can’t stop staring, too excited to look away for even a second.

“We’re actually docking here,” I whisper, half breathless, like saying it out loud might somehow break the spell.

Dimitri glances at me, a faint smile tugging at his lips, and the urge to kiss him hits me out of nowhere. But I hold myself back, too aware of the crew moving around us, securing the lines and lowering the ramp.

When the ramp is down, he steps forward, and I follow him off the yacht on legs that don’t feel entirely steady. The air here is sharp and clean, carrying salt and the faint trace of fuel. And it’s quiet—no ferries, no people, no sound beyond the gentle lap of waves and the distant hum of the city across the bay. I didn’t know this city was capable of this kind of silence.

We only have thirty minutes, and the instant my foot lands on the island, the countdown starts ticking in the back of my mind. Every second matters. Part of me wants to run in five directions at once, while another part wants to stand still and soak it in slowly. In the end, I settle for matching Dimitri’s pace, even if it feels too controlled for what’s rushing through me.

The path to the statue is narrow, but my attention keeps pulling ahead of us, drawn to her towering above the trees, growing larger with every step. When we reach the base, I stop and tilt my head all the way back. She’s massive. From a distance, the folds of her robe looked soft, almost flowing, but up close they’re solid, heavy, worn by years of exposure.

“Do you want to go up?” Dimitri asks.

I nod, barely able to speak.

Inside, the air smells like metal and old stone. Our footsteps echo as we climb the winding stairs, the sound bouncing off the walls. Halfway up, my legs start to burn, but I don’t slow down. There’s no way I’m missing this.

At the top, the view steals whatever breath I have left. The sunset is almost gone now, the last light spilling long and golden over Manhattan, the water dark and glittering below. Everything looks smaller from here, like the city is a distant reality. I place my hands on the railing, breathing fast, trying to hold onto the moment before it slips away.

Dimitri steps up behind me and wraps his arm around my waist, drawing my body into his solid chest.

I let my head fall against his shoulder, and for a while, neither of us says anything. We just take in the view together.

Up here, like this, the real world and what I’ll eventually have to do feels so distant and unreal. Right now, it’s just the two of us, our heartbeats, and the last rays of sunlight setting softly beneath the horizon.