Madeline

 

I was sitting curled up on the floor between the two rows of seats. I was trembling all over, thinking of the things Nikolai had just told me. They were supposed to bring me comfort, knowing I was safe. I had the keys to his car and a stash of money. I hadn’t checked it, but I knew without asking that it wasn’t just a little bit of money. I could be out of here without even glancing back. I could be whoever I wanted. Wherever.

 

But the only place I wanted to be was with him.

 

The idea that he might not come back was eating me up inside. I had already been so close to losing him; I wasn’t sure I could take it again. First, I’d tried to push him away, terrified of this idea of him being a hit man, but things had changed dramatically since then. I’d broken my own heart before, but I’d found the pieces of it and put it back together again. I decided I loved Nikolai, only to be told he was dead.

 

It had nearly killed me on its own.

 

And now? Now, he was running into that warehouse with at least two dangerous men inside, both of them more than willing to kill him. And all along, he was making sure I was safe.

 

My hands made soothing circles over my stomach, massaging and caressing the soft belly that would soon grow. All this time I’d been terrified of a becoming a single mother, and that feeling hadn’t changed. What had changed was the reason why I felt that way.

 

I hadn’t wanted to disappoint my father, but now I didn’t care. If he were going to disown me for this, he never really loved me.

 

I didn’t want to struggle, to give up my dreams, to have to raise a baby when I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. But if that were what I had to do, I would do it. I would do my best, even if I messed up from time to time. I’d love that baby with all my heart and take care of it to the best of my ability.

 

I was scared of being a single mother because I couldn’t bear the idea of spending the rest of my life without Nikolai. How would I explain that it was my baby’s uncle who killed its father?

 

Tears sprung to my eyes and I got out one quiet sob before clamping my hand down over my mouth. I wouldn’t cry. I wouldn’t be weak. And I definitely wouldn’t draw unnecessary attention to myself.

 

Sucking in a shuddering breath, I pulled myself together.

 

I was going to lose someone I loved tonight, I realized. Either it would be the man I loved or it would be the brother I’d known all my life. I closed my eyes against the flood of memories of the two of us growing up together. I remembered climbing trees and swimming in the pond. I remembered ice skating and hay rides. I remember sneaking out and drinking with friends.

 

Where had it all gone wrong?

 

But then, I already knew the answer to that, didn’t I? It had started to go wrong when our mom died. Logan shut down, lost himself to despair. When he tried to crawl back out of it, he wasn’t the same boy I’d always known. He was meaner, crueler. It was like there was a ball of darkness lodged in his chest and the only way he knew how to deal with it was to take it out on others. I had always told myself he didn’t mean it, but now I wasn’t even sure that was true.

 

He just needs help, I had thought, trying to convince myself that the brother I loved was still in there somewhere. He needs therapy, rehabilitation. He doesn’t deserve to die, does he?

 

The fact that I wasn’t sure anymore spoke volumes about the state I was in and just how much had gone horribly wrong. I shifted uncomfortably on the floor of the car. The night was so dark and so quiet that it was really freaking me out. It didn’t help that now I knew there were terrible things that went bump in the night. Terrible things that my baby was going to have to deal with. Shaking my head, I tried not to think about it.

 

Maybe everything would be fine. Maybe Nikolai would take pity on Logan and let him go. Maybe Logan would go and seek help out on his own. Maybe Nikolai would love me as much as I loved him and we’d all live happily ever after.

 

A bitter laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it. I shook my head. What a ridiculous fantasy.

 

I froze when I heard a sudden shout. It was coming from the warehouse just beyond the car. Was it Nikolai’s voice I just heard? Was he in trouble?

 

“Oh God,” I said aloud. Was he going to die?

 

Before I could think better of it, I was struggling to unwedge myself from the tight space on the floor of the car. I needed to get out of there. I needed to get to the warehouse and run to help Nikolai. If he died while I hid and did nothing, I’d never be able to forgive myself.

 

When I’d managed to get myself out of the folded-up position on the floor, I scrambled over the bench seat in the back and opened the door. Just before I made a mad dash, I ripped the keys from the ignition and made a break for it.

 

If it weren’t Nikolai who was hurt, but rather someone else was and they were trying to run, I wasn’t going to make it easy for them.

 

That was the only really intelligent thought I had as I ran towards the sound. Nikolai had gone in through a broken window, dropping down to the floor on the other side, but I was nervous about putting that kind of weight on my stomach. What if it hurt the baby? Besides, I wasn’t sure what I’d be dropping down into and what if the landing wasn’t so soft?

 

Instead of the window, I went around to the front of the building and jerked on the double doors that led into the warehouse. It was a risk, but I decided it was the only one I could really afford to take. They opened easily, without even a lingering chain to suggest they’d ever been locked in the first place.

 

When I first came inside, I thought I must have gotten the wrong place. There was nothing inside the huge room used for storage other than a few stacked miscellaneous crates. I noticed that they were mostly pushed up along the walls and that the floors were dusty. The only thing that suggested to me that maybe someone had been here recently were the footprints. The floor was so dusty that even in the dim lighting I could make out the brief trail of cleared floor in the dark. They began at the window and led to something I hadn’t noticed before.

 

A set of stairs.

 

Hurrying forward, I rushed up the stairs. Now I heard the noises again. There was a crashing sound and some grunting. It sounded like a struggle. Fear settling in my gut, I moved as quickly as I could up the stairs towards the sound.

 

When I reached the second floor, I saw it was Nikolai. He was fighting with another man who was dressed in dark colors, blues and blacks as far as I could tell. The other man was about the same size as Nikolai, but he didn’t look as strong. At least, I didn’t think so. But they were fighting angrily, urgently. The man seemed to sense that the only way to stop Nikolai was to put him down for good.

 

The thought made me pale, nauseating me. I thought for a moment about running forward to try to help him, but thought better of it before reacting. If I inserted myself into the fight, what good would I really do him? Probably, I would just present myself as a weakness for Nikolai and a means of leverage over him for the other guy.

 

I was still debating the wisdom of trying to help when I spotted them. I saw Logan’s golden blonde hair first, just a shade darker than mine. His back was turned to me and running beside him was a second man. They were sprinting from the room, talking in low voices that I couldn’t really make out.

 

Nikolai was still fighting with the other man as my gaze darted between the two fighting men and the two that were desperately running away. Every fiber of my being wanted to help Nikolai, but I already knew what a terrible idea that was. I wouldn’t do him any good by trying to join in the fight. If anything, I’d just end up getting myself badly hurt, and that was something neither of us would be interested in.

 

Plus, the baby…

 

Turning towards my brother who I could just barely see running around a corner, I considered my second option. If I didn’t stop them and they got away, Nikolai would have to track them to the next location. And the next. It could go on forever. I didn’t want my brother to die, but Nikolai would never stop. But maybe if I got to him first, if I reasoned with him about everything that had happened, if I got him to give back the money, he wouldn’t have to die. I didn’t care what Nikolai had told me in the car. There had to be another way.

 

Deciding that was my only course of action, I ran towards the two fleeing men. I spared Nikolai one last glance, heartened to see that he seemed to have the upper hand with the other man. I told myself he was strong, that no matter what, he would survive this.

 

For me and for our baby.

 

I ran down the hallway, trying to follow the two men. I had seen them turn at the very end of the hall, heading somewhere that I couldn’t yet see. I had no idea how the warehouse was set up and was surprised that there seemed to be rooms and a hallway all on the second floor. I thought these places were just meant for storage, but it seemed like this one was actually set up like some sort of house.

 

Had my brother maybe been living here? Or, at least, hiding out?

 

That seemed pretty likely, which was kind of unfortunate. It meant he and his friend—Joshua, he’d said, though I didn’t know of any friends of Logan’s who were named Joshua—had to know this place a lot better than I did. Was there another staircase at the end of this hall? Did it lead up another flight or back down to the main floor? Was there a secret passage or a window they were going to jump out of?

 

I couldn’t know, so I just ran and hoped I could head them off before they escaped. I had to get to them first, to reason with them before it all went horribly wrong. My heart told me Nikolai would win his fight and maybe that was just because I was so desperate to believe it, for him to be alive when this was all over, but I was confident of the outcome all the same.

 

Which meant I didn’t have a lot of time to try to get through to Logan and this crazy Joshua guy. I hoped and prayed they would listen. The weight of the gun tucked into the waistband of my jeans, the one Nikolai had given me, reminded me I had some leverage. Maybe it would be enough to make them listen.

 

I turned the corner into another hall and saw Joshua and Logan standing at the end of it, breathing heavily, talking to one another about something urgently. I hurried forward, confident now that I could finally talk some sense into them.