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1525 Words
"Viktor, wait!" Aria called, her voice catching as she ran toward the car.
He turned, one foot already inside the vehicle. "What is it?"
Aria's phone felt heavy in her hand, the threatening message burning into her mind. She opened her mouth to tell him about her mother then saw the determination in his eyes, the weight of responsibility for his people.
"I I need to go to the hospital. Call came in about my mother."
Viktor frowned. "Now? I've arranged for her transfer to a secure facility."
"It's urgent." Aria held his gaze, hating the deception. "Please."
Something in her expression must have convinced him. He nodded to Mikhail. "Take Ms. Santos to the hospital. Rejoin me at the coordinates after."
"Sir " Mikhail began to protest.
"Do it," Viktor ordered, then softened as he turned back to Aria. "Be careful. I'll send guards to meet you there."
Before she could respond, Viktor cupped her face and kissed her swift but tender, a silent promise. Then he was gone, the car speeding away toward what Aria knew was a trap.
Mikhail's disapproving stare burned into her. "The hospital?"
Aria showed him the message on her phone. "They have my mother."
His eyes widened slightly. "Does Viktor know?"
"No. And he can't." Aria's voice hardened. "He'd try to save us both, and they're counting on that. It's what they want to divide his forces."
"So you're sacrificing him to save your mother?"
The accusation hit like a physical blow. "I'm not sacrificing anyone. But I need your help."
Mikhail studied her for a long moment. "What's your plan?"
---
The abandoned psychiatric hospital loomed against the night sky, its broken windows like hollow eyes. Aria clutched the steering wheel of the borrowed car, heart hammering.
"This doesn't feel right," she whispered to herself.
The text had directed her here alone no Viktor, no security. She'd convinced Mikhail to let her go while he warned Viktor about the trap, promising to wait for backup before entering.
But her mother didn't have time.
Aria stepped out of the car, medical bag in hand. The kidnappers had specified she bring medical supplies. Whatever they wanted from her, it involved her nursing skills.
The front entrance hung open, rust-flaked hinges groaning in the wind. Aria's phone buzzed with another text:
Third floor, east wing. Come alone or she dies.
Steeling herself, Aria entered the decaying building. The smell hit her first mildew and rot and something chemical. Her footsteps echoed on the cracked tile floor, flashlight beam cutting through the darkness.
Stairwell access signs pointed her forward. As she climbed, a terrible thought struck her: What if her mother wasn't here at all? What if this was just to lure her away from Viktor?
The third-floor corridor stretched before her, flickering emergency lights casting eerie shadows. A figure appeared at the far end a man in an expensive suit, face obscured by darkness.
"Ms. Santos," he called. "Right on time."
"Where's my mother?"
"Safe. For now." He gestured for her to follow. "Your medical skills are required."
He led her to what once had been a patient room. Inside, a man lay on a makeshift bed, pale and sweating, a bloodied bandage wrapped around his torso.
"Fix him," her guide ordered.
Aria approached cautiously. "What happened?"
"Gunshot. Your boyfriend did this."
"Viktor shot him? Who is he?"
"Questions don't help him live. Saving his life helps your mother live."
Message received. Aria opened her medical bag, professionalism taking over as she examined the wound. The bullet had entered just below the ribs, lodging deep. The man needed a hospital, not her field medicine.
"I need more supplies," she said, buying time. "Antibiotics, blood, surgical equipment."
"Make do."
As Aria worked to stabilize the patient, she studied her surroundings. Two armed guards at the door. Her mysterious guide by the window, speaking quietly into a phone. No sign of her mother.
"Where is she?" Aria demanded again, pressing gauze against the bleeding wound.
The guide ended his call. "Finish your work first."
"Tell me she's alive or I stop right now."
He nodded to one of the guards, who showed her his phone screen. A video feed showed Elena Santos in a hospital bed, different from her regular room. A guard stood beside her, gun visible at his hip.
"See? Alive. Now save him."
Aria worked methodically, cleaning and packing the wound as best she could with limited supplies. The injured man drifted in and out of consciousness, muttering in what sounded like Russian.
"He still needs surgery," she said finally, wiping blood from her hands. "This is temporary at best."
"It will suffice." The guide approached, studying her work. "Viktor Sokolov has made a grave error, getting you involved in his world."
"Who are you?"
"Someone who knows him better than you ever will." He circled her slowly. "Did he tell you about the women before you? How they all ended?"
Aria refused to take the bait. "Take me to my mother."
"Of course. A deal is a deal." He nodded to the guards. "But first "
A deafening explosion rocked the building, sending dust and debris raining from the ceiling. Gunfire erupted from somewhere below.
The guide cursed, drawing his weapon. "It seems your boyfriend found us after all."
"He's not my boyfriend," Aria said automatically, backing toward the patient. If shooting started, she would use the bed as cover.
"No? Then perhaps he won't mind if I do this "
He grabbed her arm, yanking her against him, gun pressed to her temple. The cold metal against her skin made everything terrifyingly real.
More gunfire, closer now. Shouting in Russian. The guide dragged Aria toward the door, using her as a shield.
"Call out to him," he ordered. "Tell him to stand down."
"Go to hell."
The gun pressed harder. "Call. Out."
"Viktor!" Aria shouted, her voice echoing down the corridor. "It's a trap!"
The guide backhanded her, splitting her lip. "Stupid girl."
The hallway erupted with gunfire. Aria dropped to the floor, rolling away from her captor as bullets sprayed overhead. She crawled behind an overturned gurney, heart pounding in her ears.
Through the chaos, she heard Viktor's voice. "Aria!"
"Here!" she called back.
More gunfire. A man's scream. Then silence.
Footsteps approached her hiding place. Aria held her breath, preparing to fight if necessary.
Viktor appeared around the corner, gun drawn, blood spattered across his face. When he saw her, raw emotion broke through his usually controlled expression.
"Are you hurt?" He knelt beside her, one hand gently touching her bloodied lip.
"My mother "
"Is safe." Viktor helped her to her feet. "Mikhail got to her first. She's with my personal security team."
Relief made Aria's knees buckle. Viktor caught her, arms wrapping protectively around her waist.
"I'm sorry," she whispered against his chest. "I should have told you."
"Yes, you should have." His voice was hard, but his embrace tightened. "Never lie to me again, Aria. Never."
She nodded, looking up at him. The anger in his eyes warred with something else fear. Not for himself, but for her.
"I thought I'd lost you," he admitted, voice barely audible.
Before she could respond, more gunfire erupted from the floor below. Viktor pushed her behind him instinctively.
"We need to move. Now."
They made their way through the dilapidated corridors, Viktor leading with his gun ready, Aria close behind. At the stairwell, he paused, listening.
"Who were they?" Aria asked. "What did they want?"
"Questions later." Viktor checked around the corner. "Clear. Let's go."
As they descended the stairs, a figure appeared below, weapon raised. Viktor fired first, the shot echoing in the enclosed space. The figure crumpled.
Outside, three black SUVs waited, Viktor's men securing the perimeter. He guided Aria to the middle vehicle, hand protective at the small of her back.
Inside the car, tension crackled between them. Viktor's knuckles were white on the steering wheel, his jaw clenched.
"Say it," Aria whispered. "Whatever you're thinking, say it."
His eyes met hers, intense and conflicted. "You could have died tonight."
"So could you."
"My life is always at risk. Yours shouldn't be."
"Because of you? Or because of this?" She gestured between them.
Viktor's hand moved to her face, thumb brushing her split lip with surprising gentleness. "Both."
The car felt suddenly too small, the air charged between them. Aria leaned into his touch, despite everything that had happened or perhaps because of it.
"We should stop this," Viktor said, even as he leaned closer.
"Probably," she agreed, her hands already reaching for him.
His lips found hers, careful of her injury but still demanding. Aria responded with equal fervor, the night's fear and adrenaline transforming into desperate need.
Viktor pulled back first, breathing hard. "We need to get you to your mother."
Reality crashed back. "Yes, of course."
As they drove toward the safe house, Aria's phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number:
This isn't over. He can't protect you both forever.
She deleted it before Viktor could see, another secret between them.
Some dangers she would face alone.
- Writer
