Chapter Forty-Four
Sophia woke in a hotel room, by the looks of it some sort of presidential suite. She blinked to sharpen the edges of her vision. She was sitting in a cream chair, her wrists strapped to its polished wooden arms. Her ankles were strapped to the legs. Sitting in front of the ornate fireplace was Czarina. She was tied in a similar fashion.
Rain drummed the windows, obscuring what on any other night was likely an incredible view of New York City. Two Blue Berets sat on the crimson-and-gold-striped chairs at the other end of the suite. They watched in silence, masks on. Their presence unnerved her.
The Commander wasn’t taking any chances with her captivity.
‘If we survive this,’ Czarina said, now awake, ‘I think I’d like to go dancing somewhere. On a beach. And drink out
