Page 73 of The Stalking King

I spit at him.

He chuckles, taking a gun from his waistband and casually aiming it at me. “The boss wants you alive. But he didn’t say anything about your hands or your feet or your kneecaps.” He moves the gun from spot to spot as he talks. “You get it?”

I shudder, then finally nod.

What choice do I have?

CHAPTER 26

MAKSIM

Anton drives way past the speed limit down the quiet road. We see few cars. I’ve called and texted Lia twenty times, but nothing. She’s not answering or responding.

“Are we almost there?” I growl.

The task I gave Anton, reluctantly, never believing we’d need to use it…

Put a tracker on my little brother’s car.

He stops at the side of the road. Nikolai is sitting on the concrete, his car on its side, no smoke, no fire, nothing as dramatic as that. It sits there as a metal husk, and my brother is the same. A husk with blood and glass all over his face and arm.

He looks up at me, clearly concussed. The disoriented look makes him look childlike, and suddenly, I feel sorry for him. I want to bark at Anton to get him medical help. I want to wrap my arms around him and gently lift him, whisper that everything’s going to be okay. His big brother is here.

Instead, I kneel. Take him by the chin and force him to look at me. He’s got tears in his eyes. “Rachael,” he moans. “Mikey.”

I shake my head. “How long has Vale had them? Is that what this is?”

“I love her, man,” he says, sounding broken.

“I love Lia,” I growl. “And you fucking took her.”

I take out my gun and press it against his forehead. He closes his eyes, waiting for death. A car drives past, but it doesn’t stop. People never interfere in our business. Our very presence makes them understand we’re part of a different world to them.

“Talk,” I snap.

“Just do it, big brother,” he says.

“Where the fuck did they take her?” I roar. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

“I—I had to,” he says, peeling his eyes open. “They need the second half of the key.”

“He tried to tell me,” I say, gesturing at Anton with my gun. “But I wouldn’t listen. Still, it niggled at me. Lying there with a bullet hole in my side. Who knew how much I cared, really knew? Who did I share it with? Who had access to all the information?”

He smirks, looking like the man I knew, the boy I knew. “You put a tracker on my car.”

“And I hated myself for it,” I snap. “Where are they taking her, Nikolai?”

“If I tell you, they’ll kill Rachael. They’ll kill the boy.”

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll kill you right here.”

“You’ll pull the trigger yourself?”

I drop the gun and grab him by the front of the shirt, panic tearing through me. Shoving him against the crashed car, I bring my face inches from his, speaking through gritted teeth. “I won’t need a gun. I’ll beat you to death, Nicky. I’ll beat you to fucking death.”

Tears appear in his eyes. I haven’t called him Nicky in years. Maybe since we were kids.

“I don’t know,” he croaks.