I shrugged. “Jakhua only had you that I knew of. But I didn’t know you even existed until months after I was freed. It makes sense that there’s more of us still out there in the world.”

“And he has Zoya? A trained killer like you and me has my sister!”

Walking forward, I took Zaal by his arms. He stopped, and I said, “We have a lead. We have a description. We have a link to Jakhua. That’s something. We take this information. We take my men and your men, and we get our ears to the ground.”

Zaal’s face contorted, and he said, “She is my little sister. All the blood I have left. Blood I thought I had lost forever.”

“I know,” I said, and stepped away. “So use that fuel to find this bitch that’s taken her from you. Use that anger and fury to tear these newcomers apart.”

A cold, dark look spread across Zaal’s face, and he held out his hand. “We take them down,” he said. “When we find them, it is you and I against them, killing them in the only way we know how.”

My blood spiked with fire, and slapping my palm against Zaal’s I nodded my head. “We’ll slaughter, we’ll maim—”

“And we’ll fucking kill,” Zaal added with a cold smile.

We shook our hands, cementing the deal.

Then we got to work.

16

VALENTIN

I blinked, and blinked again, as Mistress’s face snapped away from glaring at Zoya and focused back on mine. Her look at my kotyonok sent a wave of possessiveness flooding through my body. I moved directly in her path, blocking Zoya from sight.

Mistress’s dark eyes blazed with anger, and her gaze dropped to my neck. Her lips twitched and she lifted her hand to the Wraiths standing behind. “Take him and his whore to the van.”

Fear for Zoya took hold as a Wraith reached forward for her and gripped her by the arm. Raising my hand, I balled it into a fist and hit the Wraith’s arm. He bit out in pain and withdrew his arm just as Mistress stepped forward with a Taser and slammed it into my neck.

I heard Zoya crying out as I dropped to the ground, my body writhing wildly from the electrical current coursing through it. Fighting to stand, I saw a Wraith take hold of Zoya and easily wrap his arms around her slight waist.

Her fearful face was looking down at me. “Valentin,” she cried, only for Mistress to turn in Zoya’s direction. Mistress lifted her hand and sliced it across Zoya’s cheek. Pride filled my chest as Zoya didn’t cry out; instead she stared Mistress straight in the eyes.

Mistress closed in, and gripping Zoya’s face in her gloved hands she hissed, “His name is 194.” Mistress’s head tipped to the side as she studied Zoya’s face.

“So, the Kostava mystery princess has landed in my Ubiytsa’s chamber?” Mistress smiled and, dropping Zoya’s face, said, “My dead lover would be thrilled if he had seen you for himself. He spent years searching for where your father’s men had hidden you.”

Inhaling a deep breath, I pushed off the cold ground and staggered to my feet. Mistress turned just as I was about to strike. She held the Taser next to Zoya’s throat and said, “You move and I’ll hurt your little kotyonok.”

Blood drained from my face.

“What?” Mistress said, and shook her head. “You think I don’t have a live feed on you at all times? You don’t think I can hear everything you say to your hits in the chambers? I watch you, 194. I watch you closely.”

“You fucking bitch!” I snarled. Mistress never even flinched. Turning to the Wraiths, she withdrew the Taser from Zoya’s neck and ordered, “Take her to the van!” Mistress glanced back to me. “If this one attacks me, shoot his Kostava whore in the head.”

Everything inside of me fought to snap Mistress’s neck, but when my eyes tracked the Wraiths carrying a struggling Zoya away, I brushed past the Mistress and followed. Her hand landed on my arm, stopping me dead. She looked at Zoya and at the Wraith carrying her away, then said, “This scene seems familiar, doesn’t it, 194? Another female you love being carried away by my men, and you, being forced to watch and let it happen?”

Turning my head to face her haggard face, I bit, “One day, I’ll kill you, and stare into your fucking dead eyes as your rancid face welcomes death.”

The Mistress swallowed hard. My body warmed when I realized that I’d scared the bitch. Snapping herself round, she stepped closer and said, “Follow your little Georgian, 194. Follow her before the Wraiths hurt her pretty Kostava face.”

Rushing forward, I ran up the stairs that led to the van that stood in the middle of a fallow field. Mistress’s chambers were always built under farmlands. Out of sight where no one would ever find them.

The back of the van door was open and I jumped inside; a Wraith stood in front of a single cage. Zoya was already huddled in the corner. Without hesitation I jumped in and pulled Zoya into my arms. Her body was shaking. When I pulled her head around to face me, blood was trickling from a cut on her lip.

“I hate that bitch,” I growled, but Zoya shook her head.

“Look at me,” she whispered. “Don’t give her the satisfaction. Just”—Zoya’s eyes dropped, and I could see she was fighting back her obvious fear—“just hold me. Hold me close.”

The back door of the van slammed closed, plunging us into darkness. I wrapped my arms tighter around Zoya and pulled her into my chest. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, and felt Zoya’s head tilt up.

“This is not your fault,” she replied, making me feel even worse.

“I took you. If I hadn’t done that, Mistress wouldn’t have even known you were alive. She knew you, kotyonok. I could see it in her eyes; she knew who you were as soon as she saw you.”

Zoya laid her head in the crook between my shoulder and neck, but nothing else was said. Mistress had gotten me back in her clutches. Only this time, she not only had Inessa to make me do her will, but now she also had the female I had fallen in love with.

Because I had. I had fallen in love with the little Georgian, when I didn’t think I’d ever even understand what this kind of love was.

She saw beyond the tattoos and scars. She found the real me underneath. I closed my eyes as the van began to move. I closed my eyes and held on tight, knowing it would probably be the last time I ever got to hold my kotyonok like this.