เข้าสู่ระบบClara’s POV“Get up on your feet right now before I split your skull open!” Victor roared, his voice cracking with absolute rage as the deafening blare of the shipyard foghorns continued to rattle the warehouse walls.The calm, calculated composure he always carried was completely gone. He reached down and grabbed a fistful of my heavy jacket, violently yanking me up from the wet concrete gravel. I squeezed my eyes shut as the blaring horns pierced through my ears, making my head spin. Before I could find my footing, Victor dragged me roughly across the wooden gangway and onto the pristine, open teak deck of his luxury yacht, the *Novarion*. The massive vessel was docked right against the primary warehouse wall, swaying slightly against the black water.“Let me go!” I screamed, hitting his arm with my fists, but his grip was like an iron vice. “You can't get away with this, Victor! The entire police department will be down here!”“The police belong to me, you stupid girl!” Victor sho
Nikolai’s POV“Move your feet, you useless piece of meat!” a gruff voice barked from around the corner of the rusted containers.I didn't answer him with words. As I sprinted through the labyrinth of massive metal crates, my old leg injury flared up like a hot poker digging straight into my thigh, but the surging adrenaline completely numbed the agonizing pain. I rounded the rusted corner of the container and slammed into Victor’s perimeter guard before he could even raise his rifle.*Pfft. Pfft.*Two muffled, heavy cracks echoed out from the custom silencer Marcus gave me last month. The guard stiffened instantly, his eyes rolling back as the two bullets caught him right in the center of his chest. I caught his dead weight before his boots could scrape against the wet gravel, sliding his limp body silently into the dark gap between two massive iron crates. That was the third perimeter guard down in less than two minutes.“Report in, Level Two,” a voice crackled over the dead man's ra
Clara’s POV“If you move out into that light, they will clip you before your feet even touch the lower steps,” Nikolai whispered, his breath hot and frantic against my ear as he violently slammed me back against the rusted iron leg of Crane 4.Before I could tear myself away or scream out in pure agony, his large, rough palm clamped over my mouth, entirely sealing my lips. I thrashed against his chest, but he used his heavy frame to pin me completely flat against the cold metal structure. The freezing shipyard air swirled around us, heavily carrying the disgusting stench of orange rust, rotting dead fish from the river, and leaked gasoline. Down on the illuminated loading dock below, my mother was shivering uncontrollably in her wooden chair under the harsh glare of the floodlights. One of Silas’s heavily armed guards stood right over her, casually resting the cold barrel of a black handgun directly against her temple.“Mmph!” I thrashed harder, my voice entirely trapped behind Nikola
Nikolai’s POV“Get down behind the steel base and do not make a single sound,” I whispered fiercely, grabbing Clara by her waist and pushing her flat against the cold metal support of Crane 4.She winced but obeyed instantly, dragging a weak, heavily panting Henry down into the tight shadow right beside her. Henry’s breath was coming out in short, rattling gasps now, his face completely drained of color as he clutched the wet jacket over his ruined shoulder. We were tucked high up on the elevated loading platform, looking straight down at the sprawling concrete yard of the main shipping warehouse below us. The coastal fog was rolling in heavy from the dark river, wrapping around the massive rusted machinery like a thick gray shroud.“Is he down there?” Clara breathed out, her voice trembling as she wiped a fresh smear of white drywall dust and grease from her forehead. “Nikolai, tell me you see them.”“Stay put,” I commanded under my breath.I raised my heavy field glasses to my eyes,
Clara’s POV“Hold his shoulder or he will bleed out before we even hit the main road!” Nikolai yelled over the roaring hum of the engine.He slammed his foot onto the gas pedal, and the stolen ambulance violently lurched forward, its tires screeching as we tore away from the hospital basement exit. The vehicle bounced aggressively over the concrete curb, throwing me hard against the metal interior wall of the medical bay.“I am trying!” I cried out. My palms were completely coated in warm, sticky crimson as I desperately pressed my hands down on the messy wound in Henry’s shoulder. The fabric of his shirt was totally soaked through. Every time Nikolai swung the vehicle around a sharp corner, more blood squirted past my tightly squeezed fingers.Henry groaned weakly beneath me, his eyes rolling back toward the ceiling of the bouncing ambulance. “Clara... stop. Just let me breathe.”“Stay awake, Henry!” I yelled, leaning my entire weight onto his chest to keep him steady. “Do not dare c
Clara’s POV“Get your head down!” Nikolai roared, his voice cutting through the deafening explosion of gunfire.Before I could even blink, his heavy hand clamped onto my shoulder and threw me to the hard tile floor. Bullets ripped through the drywall right where my head had been a second ago, showering us in white dust and sharp pieces of plaster. The air grew thick and gray with gun smoke, stinging my eyes and making my throat burn instantly.“Nikolai!” I choked out, coughing against the smoke.He didn’t answer me. He just grabbed the collar of my shirt and dragged me behind a massive, stainless-steel medicine cart parked against the wall. The metal structure groaned as a hail of bullets slammed into the other side of it, denting the steel but holding up against the attack.Nikolai leaned out around the edge of the cart, his face dark with pure rage. He raised his gun and fired three rapid shots down the hallway. A loud groan echoed from the far end, followed by the heavy thud of a b
Clara's POVThe black SUV pulled up the circular driveway, and my stomach performed a slow, agonizing flip. My parents stepped out, looking so small against the backdrop of the Draven estate.My mother looked even more slender than the last time I had seen her, her kind face was etched with that pe
POV: CLARAVictor stood in the driveway, his hands moving over every inch of the new vintage car he had bought that morning. “This thing is perfect,” he said. “Nikolai, you and Clara take it for a full test drive to the valley and back. I have a conference call starting in five minutes and I need t
POV: Nikolai The beach at six in the morning was grey and flat, the tide pulling back from the sand in long, slow sheets.Victor walked ahead, hands behind his back, talking. Quinn kept pace beside him, nodding at the right intervals. I walked a half step behind them both, which was where Victor p
POV: ClaraThe greenhouse smelled of damp earth and rot, a heavy scent that stuck to the back of my throat. It was supposed to be a sanctuary, a glass-walled escape from the marble and steel of the mansion, but even here the air felt thin.I found my mother sitting on a stone bench, her hands folde







