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Then it’s as if there’s nothing else in the roo else invisible, silent, irrelevant The dull sheen of black metal stands out even in the darkened roohter, on Leonid’s hand as he squeezes the trigger

When the sound of the gunshot explodes in the room, I scream--in fear, and in pain, because it’s so loud ht have ruptured Then I’ of my ears I hear a heavy, wet thud on the floor just behind uy in the rooh respect, he won’t be next Paul is the only one who challenges his father "What did you do that for?"

"I don’t need idiots" Leonid slips his gun back under his jacket as casually as I’d put my phone back in ray eyes--so like Paul’s, yet so much colder--focus on someone else in the corner of the room, probably the other man who kidnapped et another chance One more Understand me?"

Even as Paul clenches his jaw, flushed with unspoken anger, he looks toward e I think I would understand even if I didn’t know him so well: Don’t react, don’t move, and this won’t happen to you I won’t let it

"Clean it up," Leonid says to his goons as he puts one hand on Paul’s shoulder, the gesture of the war dad he so obviously isn’t "Come, Paul We should talk about what happens next"

Don’t leave, I think

But he has to bargain with his father, probably for my life I force myself to remain calm as father and son walk away, and the heavy rumble in colloquial Russian I can’t quite catch as they relean a feords--trash, hurry, silent Why didn’t I study harder after I got back froood at Russian then, and I wish I spoke it fluently now At rid in the center of the room With a rush of horror, I realize this is what the drain is for

Finally I have to let the fear take e ione totally blank This hts cohway This is why they stand perfectly still as death rushes toward theht againstto burn off the adrenaline shot into ht or flee I can do neither

I zone out Time blurs I am bound to this chair forever and for only a second before the ain My stomach clenches as I brace ain Our eyes ain, he doesn’t speak to me "We need to set up a more convenient place for her to stay She’ll be with us for a few days"

Days? I bite the inside of my cheek But captive for days is still better than dead

"Why the hell are we keeping her?" one guy asks They’re still working; I can hear the crinkle of trash bags being wrapped around a body "The sooner we get done with her, the better"

"Miss Caine turns out to be valuable," Paul says

Surely he doesn’t know anything about the Firebirds They haven’t tried to take theainstinto my skin from the pressure of the tape Nobody from this dimension should notice them easily

Paul answers the question I didn’t ask aloud "Her sister’s engaged to a billionaire Wyatt Conley, the founder of ConTech Ten o, at a press conference, he offered ato her safe return"