Semua Bab The Scandalous Step Siblings: First Enemies, Then Lovers : Bab 161 - Bab 170

The tires screamed as Kai pushed the SUV up the steep, icy hill. He didn't simply drive this time again, he fought the mountain. Every time the back of the car slid toward the edge of the cliff, I felt my stomach drop into my shoes. One tiny slip on a patch of ice and we would be gone. We wouldn't be a news story anymore. We would just be a pile of broken metal at the bottom of a dark canyon."They’re getting closer," I said, my voice shaking. I looked in the side mirror. The headlights behind us were bright and steady. They didn't care about the snow or the freezing wind. They were coming for the man sitting next to me, and they were coming for the truth I had hidden in my pocket."The road gets narrow up ahead," Kai said. He slammed the gear shift and the car jumped forward. He looked calm, but his jaw was tight and his knuckles were white on the steering wheel. "If I can get us past that ridge, they won't be able to drive beside us. It’s too tight for two cars. They'll have to stay

AnyaThe backseat of the whistleblower’s beat-up sedan smelled like wet upholstery, old cigarettes, and a faint hint of peppermint that made my stomach turn. It was a real step down from the leather-scented luxury of a kidnapping vehicle, but I wasn't in a position to leave a bad review. My ankle was throbbing in three different time signatures, and my shoulder felt like it had been chewed on by a mountain lion. Every time we hit a bump, the pain flared up, bright and hot, reminding me that I was very much made of breakable parts."Can you drive any faster?" I hissed, clutching the thumb drive so hard the metal was starting to leave a permanent dent in my palm. "Or is this the scenic route where we wait for the helicopter to turn us into a roadside attraction? Because I’m not really in the mood for a tour."The man—I think his name was Miller, which was a very boring name for someone involved in a conspiracy—didn't look at me. He kept his eyes fixed on the narrow strip of road that wa

AnyaI looked up from the snow. The sky was still a bruised purple, but the rhythmic thrum-thrum-thrum of a helicopter was returning. Ethan Vance was circling back. Of course he was. He was the director who couldn't leave the set until he was sure the leading lady was dead. He wanted to see the wreckage. He wanted to look down from his mechanical throne and make sure the "final note" was silent.But as I lay there, shivering and broken, I saw something else.A pair of headlights appeared at the bottom of the quarry road, tiny twin stars cutting through the dark. Then another pair. Then six more. They weren't the sleek, black SUVs of Ethan’s private security. They were white and blue, flashing with a frantic, rhythmic intensity. Local police. State troopers. The actual cavalry.And right in the middle of the convoy was a van with a massive satellite dish bolted to the top. A news crew. My people. Sort of.I let out a wet, painful laugh that turned into a cough. The broadcast had worked

The doors of the van were flung open, and the world became a strobe-light assault of flashbulbs and screaming questions. "Anya! Over here!" "Is it true, Kai?" "Did Ethan Vance kill his father?"Officers with grim faces and heavy hands grabbed my arms, pulling me out into the frigid night air. I saw Marcus Stone being led into a separate side entrance, his face buried behind the lapels of his ruined jacket, the ultimate fixer finally broken. Further down, near a line of black sedans, I saw Ethan Vance. He was surrounded by a wall of men in tailored suits, his lawyers acting like a human shield. He looked at me across the chaos, and for the first time since I’d known him, the arrogance was gone. There was a raw, naked fear in his eyes. He knew."Anya Miller!" a reporter shrieked, shoving a microphone toward my face. "Was it worth the prison time? Is the Archive real?"I didn't give them a quote. I didn't give them the satisfaction of a soundbite. I just looked at Kai as they led him towa

Anya’s POVThe world didn't just explode; it tore itself apart. I felt the ground vanish beneath my boots, replaced by a sliding, treacherous slurry of shale and ice. I wasn't running anymore; I was falling into the throat of the mountain.The red flare Ethan had dropped vanished under a ton of falling debris, but the fire had already done its work. The primer cord had snapped like a whip, triggering the secondary charges Ethan’s crew had rigged to the entrance. The timber frame of the mining shaft disintegrated, sending a cloud of splinters and dust into the air that tasted like sulfur and old death."Anya!" Kai’s voice was a distant, desperate shred of sound in the chaos.I couldn't answer. I hit a flat shelf of rock and rolled, my shoulder screaming as it took the brunt of the impact. I didn't stop until I slammed into a wall of cold, damp stone. For a long, terrifying minute, the only thing I could hear was the heavy thud-thud-thud of boulders settling above me and the frantic ha