Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 121 - Chapitre 130

[Natasha's POV] I scrambled back up the stairs, pushing the hatch open. The blizzard was still raging, but the village was no longer completely dark. A single, weak light shone from a window in one of the larger buildings. A tavern, or an inn. And next to it, a small boat harbor, where the boat I was hiding in was moored. I hadn't even seen it in the storm.Then I saw the car. Not my car. A black SUV, its engine idling, exhaust pluming into the white air. It was parked at the entrance to the pier, blocking it.They were here.I slammed the hatch shut, plunging myself back into darkness. My heart was a wild drum against my ribs. I had to think. I had to move. The book. The SD card. They thought the book was the prize. But the real prize was the evidence on that card.I grabbed the laptop, ripping the satellite phone from its dock. I shoved the SD card into my pocket, along with the burner phone. The laptop was too heavy, too cumbersome. But the phone… the satellite phone could be my w

[Natasha's POV]I saw my path. Not through the barrel of a gun, but through the one thing she still wanted."I'll open it," I said, lowering the rifle slightly. A gesture of surrender. "But Ivan comes with me. Now."She laughed, a short, sharp bark. "You are not in a position to negotiate. You will do exactly as I say. You will go to Prague. You will retrieve the contents of box 732. You will contact me with the key. And if you deviate, if you even think about going to the authorities, I will kill your son. And I will make it last."The door to the kitchen burst open. The man she had sent to the pier stood there, his rifle raised, his face black with soot and rage."Kill her," the woman commanded.But I was already moving. I threw myself sideways, not away from them, but toward the large, heavy wooden table in the center of the room. I kicked a leg out, sending the table skidding across the floor, directly into the path of the man's line of fire.He fired, the bullets thudding into th

[Natasha's POV]He leaped back, instinctively, to avoid being crushed.It was the opening I needed.I didn't run for the street. I ran for the fire escape. I holstered my pistol and jumped, my fingers catching the bottom rung of the ladder. The metal was cold, slimy. I hauled myself up, my muscles screaming, my injured arm screaming louder.A shot pinged off the brick wall beside my head.I scrambled up the ladder, onto the landing, and then up the next flight of stairs. I was on the roof. The Prague skyline spread out before me, a sea of red-tiled roofs and ancient spires under a pale winter sun.I ran, leaping from one rooftop to the next, my feet finding purchase on slick tiles and ancient stone. I was a cat, a phantom, a blur of motion. The old Natasha was waking up. The one who could move like this, who could see the city as a map of possibilities, of escape routes and killing fields.I didn't look back. I didn't have to. I could feel him behind me. He was good. He was fast.I re

[Natasha's POV]This was not an ordinary research facility. This was a fortress. I pulled the Audi several hundreds of meters back on the road, turning off the engine. It was very quiet there, and the cold air roared in my lungs as I stepped out of the car. I stood there for a moment, taking in the scenery. Letting the anger cool down to a numb feeling at the pit of my stomach. This was it. The end of the road. I took a photo from my pocket, running my thumb over the edges of the paper. Warm from the body heat. Come now.The night was good to me. I waited until the moon was covered by the clouds, creating long shadows that danced on the road ahead. I moved like a phantom through the woods, my boots crunching on the snow. The cold seeped under my skin, filling empty spaces, numbing the senses. I welcomed the pain since there was no room for anything else. Not weakness and certainly not doubts.The fence was a problem. Everything had its solution, even this. I walked the length of the f

[ Natasha's POV ]The world unfolded before me in a riot of color and sound. The first things I became aware of were the sounds of the tires slidding along the pavement. The next sensation that came to me was the familiar feeling of my bow in my hands, the fletching of an arrow that was nocked just millimeters from my cheek. We were in motion. In a van. Bucky was driving, his knuckles whtie against the steering wheel and a grim set to his jaw. Sam was in the front passenger's seat, his eyes locked on the tablet in his lap. On the glowing surface was a satellite's view of the city, a blinking red light marking our location." Hawkeye, you with us? " Sam asked. His tone was clipped, professional. No time for banter." I'm here. " I replied, forcing myself upright. " Status? "" Nat's tracking signal went dark five minutes ago after she triggered a complete base alarm. " He said, without looking up. " We have her last known location. Medical wing. We're two minutes out. "" And the welco