Chapter 34: The Poison in the Veins

Vespera

The red emergency siren echoed through the library like a dying heartbeat. Red lights flashed across the walls, matching the panic rising inside me.

“…registered under Vespera’s father’s name…”

Jonas’s broken voice still echoed from the speaker. Kasimir and I had barely begun to understand what he had said when the main control panel on Kasimir’s desk suddenly let out a loud, piercing alarm.

The red lights flickered wildly before changing to flashing amber warnings.

Kasimir immediately removed his hand from my waist. His entire body stiffened as he turned toward the main screen.

Just moments ago, we had been caught up in the heat of our kiss. Now, everything had changed. The danger outside had pulled us straight back into reality.

“What is it?” I asked, my voice rough and weak.

I slid off the edge of the heavy wooden desk, but my knees were shaking so badly that I had to hold on to it to keep myself standing.

Kasimir didn’t answer immediately. His different-colored eyes were fixed on the satellite tracking screen. His jaw tightened, and his broad shoulders stiffened beneath his dark coat.

“The Swiss medical transport,” he said in a low growl. His voice was cold and dangerous. “The armored convoy carrying Liesea’s experimental medicine from the laboratory in Basel.”

My chest tightened, and I struggled to breathe.

“What happened, Kasimir?” I asked, my face going pale. “What happened to her medicine?”

“Someone attacked the convoy ten minutes ago on the mountain road near Sankt Gallen,” Jonas shouted through the open communication line. His voice was mixed with static and the loud sounds of gunfire in the background.

“Soren’s men did it. That rogue mercenary group from the Baltic fleet rammed the first escort vehicle. They didn’t steal the armored truck itself, Herr Adler. They took the special refrigerated container holding the medicine. They have the experimental drugs!”

A scream rose in my throat, but the fear was so overwhelming that I couldn’t even let it out.

Liesea suffered from a rare condition that affected her nervous system. To keep it under control, she needed a special medicine made from a synthetic enzyme. The medicine had to be kept at a carefully controlled temperature, and she needed a dose every forty-eight hours.

Without those specific experimental doses, her nervous system would begin to shut down within twenty-four hours.

Soren hadn’t simply attacked a medical convoy.

He had taken away the medicine keeping my sister alive.

He was deliberately putting her life in danger from miles away, knowing she couldn’t survive for long without it.

“Kasimir…” I cried, stepping toward him and gripping his forearm so tightly my fingers hurt.

“They’re going to kill her!” My voice broke as tears filled my eyes. “If she misses her next dose, she could die. Please, Kasimir. We can’t let that happen!”

“She won’t miss it,” Kasimir said firmly. His voice was so calm and certain that it left no room for doubt.

He turned toward me and held my face between his large, rough hands, making sure I looked directly into his eyes.

“Listen to me, Vespera. Soren hasn’t destroyed the medicine. He wants us to focus on getting it back so he can force us into a deal. He wants the ledger from your father’s vault.”

“Then give it to him!” I cried, tears running down my cheeks as I grabbed his dark coat. “Give him the ledger! Give him the shipping codes! I don’t care about the company, Kasimir. I don’t care about my father’s legacy or the Adler empire. I just want my sister back!”

“If I give him the ledger before we secure the medicine, he’ll kill Liesea as soon as he confirms the information is correct,” Kasimir replied, his voice rough.

His eyes burned with such fierce determination that it almost hurt to look at him.

“We will not negotiate with him while we’re at a disadvantage. We will destroy his plans instead.”

He stepped away from me and activated the main communication channel on his desk.

“Jonas, send Team Alpha to the Sankt Gallen mountain pass immediately. I’m taking the second team, and we’ll travel by helicopter.”

“Herr Adler, what about your shoulder—” Jonas began.

“Send the team!” Kasimir shouted.

He opened the locked bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a handgun. He inserted the magazine, and a loud metallic click filled the room.

With practiced movements, he checked the weapon before putting on a dark bulletproof vest. The straps pressed against his fresh gunshot wound, and I saw him wince in pain. But he ignored it and continued getting ready.

“I’m coming with you,” I said.

My voice was steadier now. Fear and desperation had given me a kind of courage I never knew I had.

Kasimir stopped and frowned at me.

“No. We’re heading into an active battle zone in the middle of a blizzard, Vespera. You’re staying here under maximum security.”

“I’m not staying in this prison, waiting for someone to call and tell me my sister is dead!” I snapped.

I walked toward him until I was standing directly in front of him, my chest almost touching his bulletproof vest.

“You told me we would finish this together, Kasimir. You promised me. If you leave me behind now, I will never forgive you.”

He looked down at me, studying the determination in my eyes. I wasn’t going to change my mind, no matter what he said.

He let out a tired, rough sigh. I could see the frustration on his face, but there was also a hint of pride in his eyes.

“If you get on that helicopter, you will follow every order I give you without arguing. Do you understand?” he growled.

His fingers slipped into the hair at the back of my neck, gently but firmly lifting my face toward his.

“Yes,” I whispered.

He kissed me quickly and firmly. His lips tasted faintly of blood and the cold winter air.

Then he released me.

“Get a heavy coat. We have six minutes before the helicopter takes off.”

Twenty minutes later, we were flying through the freezing darkness inside the Adler Eurocopter.

Outside, a powerful snowstorm covered the mountains, making it almost impossible to see anything ahead. We were heading toward the steep, dangerous peaks along the Swiss border.

The helicopter’s blades beat loudly against the air, shaking the entire cabin. Every vibration travelled through the metal floor and into my bones.

I sat inside the freezing aircraft, knowing that somewhere ahead, my sister’s life depended on us reaching the medicine before it was too late.

Kasimir sat opposite me, his face lit by the faint green light coming from the tracking screen. He was following the signal from the stolen refrigerated container carrying Liesea’s medicine. According to the screen, it was now sitting near an abandoned railway station high in the Sankt Gallen mountains.

“Team Alpha has reached the outer area,” Jonas shouted through the headset. His voice struggled to rise above the loud helicopter engines. “The Baltic mercenaries have taken control of the station. Our heat scanners show six armed men inside the main warehouse. The medicine container is still intact, but its backup battery is running out.”

“How much time do we have before the medicine gets too warm and becomes useless?” Kasimir asked calmly.

“Twelve minutes, Herr Adler. After that, the medicine will be completely ruined.”

My heart pounded wildly against my chest.

We had only twelve minutes to break into an armed warehouse, defeat six mercenaries, and recover the medicine before the only thing keeping my sister alive was destroyed.

The helicopter suddenly tilted sharply as we dropped through the thick clouds. Through the small window, I could see the snowy valley below us. The wreckage of the escort vehicle that had been attacked was still burning, lighting up the surrounding snow.

About a hundred yards away stood the dark outline of the abandoned railway station, surrounded by tall pine trees.

“Thirty seconds until landing!” the pilot announced over the communication system.

Kasimir unfastened his seat belt and opened the heavy side door slightly. A blast of freezing air and snow rushed into the helicopter, stinging my face.

He turned to me, his different-colored eyes fixed on mine.

“Stay behind Jonas the moment we land,” he ordered, pulling his tactical mask over his mouth and chin.

The helicopter touched down on an icy clearing, its landing skids sinking into the deep snow.

As soon as the door opened fully, a blinding white light suddenly flashed from the upper windows of the railway station.

Before Kasimir could step out, a sharp electronic sound came through our headsets. Then Soren Lindner’s smooth, mocking voice filled the communication channel.

“Welcome to the Sankt Gallen pass, Kasimir. I knew your sweet little wife would convince you to walk straight into my trap. Look at the heat scanner on your handheld screen.”

Kasimir immediately looked down at the small tactical screen in his hand.

But the image on the screen was nothing like what we had expected.

The scanners didn’t show six mercenaries inside the warehouse.

Instead, several heat signals were moving around in a familiar pattern. They belonged to three armed tactical teams wearing official Adler Global identification tags.

And all three teams had their weapons pointed directly at the container holding Liesea’s medicine.

My stomach dropped.

Those were supposed to be our own people.

Before I could understand what was happening, Jonas’s voice burst through the headset. He sounded terrified, his words breaking as he spoke.

“Herr Adler… turn around! The attack isn’t happening inside the warehouse. Team Alpha has just locked the helicopter doors from the outside!”

A loud mechanical thud shook the cabin.

The helicopter’s side doors slammed shut and locked from the outside, trapping us inside.

Before either of us could react, the engines roared louder, and the helicopter began lifting off the ground, carrying us back into the raging snowstorm.

We had flown into a trap and whoever was controlling it had just locked us inside.