Page 73 of Assassin: Part 1

“They’re not far. They’re not going to just sit back and wait.” Damn it, where are they?

“They’re probably waiting with the damn assassins,” Zakhar bites out, and more gunfire comes through the comms. Far too close. “Fuckers are getting sloppy and firing randomly. Oleg, get Ilya inside. This shit going down, we don’t want him in the direct line of fire.”

“I’m not⁠—”

“Shut the fuck up and do as you’re told, Pakhan,” Zakhar interrupts. My jaw clenches. I’m going to punch him for that disrespect on an open line. “You’re our priority. They’re here to kill you. We are not going to give them that chance, so you’re not playing hero. Get your ass inside. Oleg, something happens to him, and I’ll sic Freya on your ass first chance I get.”

I want to yell at them that I’m not going to hide away like a little bitch, but I’m shoved back by two of my men as more of Timur’s men come screaming at us from behind, already firing. “Get him inside!” Nikita, Oleg’s second-in-command, screams, firing more rounds into the men rushing toward us.

I can barely hear him, but my men continue to press me back to the house, edging us along until we reach one of the side doors. “I’ll go in first. Keep behind me, Pakhan,” David, an older soldier who started under my father, orders. He doesn’t wait for me to agree, opening the door and rushing inside while firing.

We wait, tense, ready, until he pokes his head back out and announces, “All clear. Let’s go.”

I move inside and down the halls. “Pakhan is inside, south wing, near the kitchens. Targets down, halls clear.” Nikita’s words are terse, clear, and his eyes never stop moving. I appreciate his dedication to the job, but the words from Rori echo in my head.

It’s also fully possible that he’s infiltrated your soldiers already and has been getting the lay of the land.

Trust no one.

Not even my own men. Is Nikita leading me to wherever Timur and the Butcher are waiting? Is this some kind of setup to get me away from my brother and head of security?

If it is, they’re in for a very big surprise. I don’t halt, I don’t change pace or yell out, I simply watch, ready to strike if they so much as look at me sideways.

“Pakhan, we’re going to get you farther into the house and closer to the exits that lead toward the lake,” Nikita explains over his shoulder. “We can get you there and hide out until⁠—”

“No.” There’s no room for argument.

He tries anyway. “Pakhan…”

“Enough, Nikita. I am not going to run away with my tail between my legs like a coward. They will be expecting me to do exactly that and probably have a whole other wave of men heading that way to intercept us.”

His mouth twists into a dark scowl, but he doesn’t argue. “Fine. Then we get you to the second floor. Everyone is coming in from this level.” He looks at the other three men with us. “Move it and keep your eyes open. And if any of you let our Pakhan get shot, I’ll kill you myself.”

He turns down the back hallway leading up to the second floor. Screaming and shouting come from deeper in the corridors.

The other men curse, but I listen carefully. The sounds are coming from down the halls of the wing where I put Rori and her man, Alonzo Cattaneo. Grunts, screams, cries of pain. It’s sounds I should expect, but everything in me is screaming to pay attention.

The timing of them is off. It’s not constant firing of bullets, and the screams are sharp and shocked. Then I hear the voice that has the fury building sharp and fast. “What the fuck, Pasha? You said that you were going to take her down.”

Timur Belov is here and so is Pasha Antonov. Looks like Rori was right, they found a way to get in.

Nikita is looking in the same direction, eyes narrowed and lips thin. He glances at the others before motioning for them to go the opposite way. They nod and rush off, leaving me with him. I study him.

Is he getting them out of the way?

“I know what you’re thinking,” Nikita mutters. “I’m not one of them, but I’m not going to let you go in there half-cocked.”

I don’t deny it. Instead, I mutter, “And you have a plan?”

“We need to get down there without them hearing us. They’re focused on that Rori one, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be suspecting people to come up from behind.” He holsters his guns, pulling a knife from his boot. “We do it quiet and fast.” He looks at me, and I nod.

If he’s going to kill me, then I’m going to give him a hell of a fight. I holster my gun and unsheathe the knife I stashed at my back. It’s not as intricate or balanced as my stalker’s, but it will do the job.

We move swiftly and silently down the hall, stepping over bodies in all-black bodysuits, much like Rori’s. Looks like she’s been doing her job. I don’t know how many there are, but most of them don’t look to be older than twenty. These must be the new students the Butcher was willing to sacrifice for this mission.

We finally make our way to the bend of the hallway, pausing as we listen. The only voices I hear are Rori’s, Timur’s, and a deeper male voice I have to assume is the Butcher’s. I listen carefully to the sneering words, the grunts of pain, and finally a bullet being fired.

Nikita and I stay silent and still, waiting.