Morgan
“Where are you taking me?” I ask as I try to process everything that has happened. One minute we’re in the car and the next minute, I’m being pulled out and thrown over Dmitry’s shoulder. This was not part of the plan.
“Where I’m ordered to.”
My body aches all over, but otherwise I’m fine. “Which is?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
He’s so vague that warning bells blare in my head. I struggle against the ties that bind my hands together, but they don’t loosen. “I didn’t survive a car wreck just for you to kill me.”
He sighs heavily. “I’m not going to kill you.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“Take you to my boss.”
Narrowing my eyes at him, I ask, “I thought your grandfather is your boss?”
“He is.”
“You can’t work for two different people with opposite goals,” I chastise.
Dmitry hauls me up another flight of stairs. “Stop talking so much.”
He opens a door. The wind practically sucks me out into the center of the roof. My hair whips around my face. From up here, I can see everything—the Thames, Big Ben, Parliament… everything.
It’s terrifying.
The door bursts open again and Ben comes out, fists up as he barrels into Dmitry.
“Ben!” I scream but he doesn’t pay me any attention. He’s too busy trying to beat the ever-loving crap out of his cousin.
He misses another punch.
And doing a really poor job of it.
“I can’t believe you betrayed him,” I say, trying to distract Dmitry to Ben can good a solid hit.
“Stop talking.” He takes a swing at Ben and misses. Finally, Ben rams him in the stomach with his knee and Dmitry falls to the ground.
“Fuck. You hit hard.” He spits out some blood and smiles. “Next time, make it count.”
“Next time, I’m going to rip your tongue from your throat and shove it up your arse,” Ben taunts, only I believe he will do just that.
I feel a mosquito sting me and I smack my neck. Wait. There aren’t any mosquitos this time of year.
A man comes to stand in front of me. He has white blonde hair and a scar at the temple. His eyes are as blue as Ben’s and his smile… his smile is like his, too.
“Who are you?” I ask stupidly. Of course, he’s the head guy of Wraith. Too bad he’s not wearing a nametag.
His chin tips up proudly. “The man who will change the course of history.”
“Now you sound like a real bad guy,” I say an instant before a wave of dizziness washes over me.
I stumble sideways, trying to remain on my feet. The movement must have caught Ben’s attention because I distantly hear him screaming my name.
My skin breaks out into a cold sweat and my tongue feels numb. “What did you do to me?” I try to ask, but my words are jumbled together.
“There always has to be a patient zero.” I feel another sting. “Tag, darling. You’re it.”
I grab his shirt, clenching the material tight in one of my hands. The other feels as useless as a screen door on a submarine.
“Let go,” he commands. “I have more to do tonight.”
The feeling comes back in my arm and I shove my hand into his shirt pocket, ripping it slightly. He shoves me away, but I smile with the knowledge that I managed to get my wedding band inside of the pocket before he did.
Blackness invades my vision and the roof rushes up to meet me.
I’m being lifted. Ben’s voice is in my ear.
“Stay with me. Stay with me, baby.”
It’s a struggle to make my voice work. “My ring.”
“Don’t worry about your ring, mllaya moyna. I’ll buy another.”
“No. He’s got it.”
“He does… how?”
My eyes flutter closed.
Someone jostles me awake. “I put it in his shirt,” I say, not sure if I actually formed the words or if they were only floating through my mind.
Tansy fills my vision, her pretty face a comfort. “Don’t worry, Morgan. You’re in the window for the vaccine.”
“You look like an angel,” I whisper, unable to process her words.
A shot rings out. Tansy slumps over me, her body heavy.
“Fuck,” I hear Ben roar as he pulls Tansy off me. “Stay with us. Please… God, I need the vaccine.”
Tansy whispers something to Ben.
“Farooq? Where is he?” He shakes Tansy. Her head flopping like a doll’s. “Where is he?”
Letting go of her, he returns to me, cradling my head in his lap. His hands are slick. “My stupid plan. I’m sorry, Morgan. So damned sorry.”
Clarity returns. “Go get him.”
“It’s a him?”
I nod, but I have to stop because my head feels like it’s about to explode. “He favors you, but wrong hair color. Scar up here.” I almost stab myself in the eye with my finger.
There was a long pause. Or I passed out again. “Are you sure you can find him?” Ben asks.
“Yes.” Maxim comes into focus. “I will find him, but in the meantime, you have to go.”
“I will come back for you,” Ben says. He presses a kiss to my forehead. “Wait for me.”
“Love you.”
“Oh God.” Are those tears in his eyes? “I love you. You won’t remember telling me so or me telling you, but I do. I never meant for you to get hurt. I’m sorry.”
“Forgive you.”
My eyes finally close.