Stefan swore between his clenched teeth.
I’m working my way around toward you. Don’t shoot me. And don’t move. The more you move, the worse it will get.
I’ve got that part,
Lev said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
Several porch lights went on along the street. Stefan needed to keep Ivanov focused on him and away from his brother and any innocents. It didn’t help that any minute some civilian would unknowingly enter into the killer’s path. He counted to three, pushed himself up and sprinted for the count of fifteen and dropped, rolled and scooted forward on his belly, using elbows and toes to propel his body behind a screen of rocks and fern.
Bullets spat dirt into his face and ricocheted off the rocks closest to him. He was grateful Ivanov had always been a close range killer and rarely used a gun for the actual kill. He preferred blades, in close, where he could see his victim suffer. That said, an automatic machine gun definitely was up to the job if Stefan allowed himself to grow careless.
What the hell are you doing, Stefan?
Keeping him away from you. What the hell do you think I’m doing?
Stefan snapped.
He was running out of garden cover on his side of the street. Few cars were parked and his only choices were to go up, onto the rooftops, or risk crossing the street. Neither was a great idea, but he had to keep Ivanov focused on him. Reluctantly he pulled his gun from the harness, the butt familiar in his palm. He didn’t want to risk stray bullets going into a house, but damn it all, he had to get the upper hand here soon with Ivanov.
I don’t hear return fire,
Lev said.
I don’t fire unless I can hit what I’m aiming at and I don’t have the bastard in my sights. I’ll get him,
Stefan said, pouring confidence into his voice.
Right now, I want to work into a position where he’ll keep his focus on me, and yet not have a clear shot while I get that trap off your ankle.
Calf,
Lev corrected
. It’s locked on my calf. The son of a bitch probably knew we’d be wearing boots. We interrupted his kill. Someone’s bound to call the sheriff. This time of night, Jonas and Aleksandr will answer the call. Aleksandr is going to recognize a killing ground. And my wife is on the warpath. She won’t stay put, Stefan. She’s going to come running.
Stefan didn’t like the note of pain creeping into Lev’s voice. Men like his brother never showed pain unless it was bad. He was hurt. Really hurt. If Stefan could feel his brother’s pain, no doubt his wife could as well. He didn’t know her yet, but any woman who was a match for his brother had to be strong. She was a sea urchin diver, captaining a boat out on the sea. She had to be fearless.
I’ll get to you. Hold still and give me a couple of minutes.
Lev sighed.
Easier said than done.
Stefan listened intently. Ivanov wasn’t making a sound, careful not to reveal his location, but the shots had been angled from his left. Lev was in that direction as well, somewhere behind Ivanov. Stefan didn’t want to give Ivanov the chance to circle back toward Lev and catch him while he was trapped. He had no doubt Lev could put up a fight, but the more he moved, the more the trap would saw at his leg.
Describe the trap in detail.
Stefan couldn’t be wrong. It was possible he could open the device from a distance, but he’d need some breathing room. The thought of Lev’s wife rushing to Sea Haven was disconcerting with Ivanov on the loose and in a killing mood.
It looks like an old bear trap only taller with giant claws. It’s around my calf and I can’t open it. I’m a strong man, but he’s done something to it and it’s sawing at my leg every time I move or try to open it. There are chains buried along the ground radiating in several different directions. At least five of them.
Lev’s description confirmed to Stefan that he’d studied this particular type of trap in detail.
Clever bastard. I’ve seen those traps. He killed a boy with one before. You watch for him, Lev. I’ll need a minute. Once I free you, be very careful. Those chains means he’ll have at least five more hidden close so that if you step out of one, you can get caught by the next. He called it his little minefield of hell.
And Sorbacov encouraged and protected this sadist?
As long as Lev was talking to him, Stefan knew he was alive. He leapt up, deliberately giving Ivanov a target, determined the killer wouldn’t have time to slip away and go after Lev. Stefan needed time to remember every detail of Ivanov’s steel trap. He’d modified the device long ago, and, of course, Stefan studied its workings carefully once he’d run across it. He’d studied everything about Ivanov, knowing as a teenager that Petr Ivanov was his most dangerous enemy.
Sorbacov will always protect him. That’s how I knew his order to terminate was a ploy to keep him here and draw you out. He believes Ivanov can take us both.
It mattered little if a team of adults hunted him with automatic weapons in the coldest place on earth, or that he was dropped into a desert with nothing but a knife, while the adults hunting him had every convenience—it was Ivanov that Stefan had feared as a child. Even as a teen, Ivanov had been insatiable, needing the pain and suffering of others the way others needed air to breathe.
I think this thing is sawing my leg in half.
Stop fucking moving. Just stay still. I’ll get it off you. And for God’s sake, when I do, don’t take a step without testing for more traps.
I’m shoving as many things as I can down inside it, hoping it eats through the sticks and my knife before it does my leg.
Stefan wasn’t about to allow Lev fall into Ivanov’s hands. The exterminator was royally pissed that Stefan had managed to spot him, chase him and actually wound him. The blow to his ego would be enormous. Stefan raced across the bare street and dove over a fence into the middle of a trumpet tree split trunk. He scrambled through the thick limbs into heavier foliage. A bullet hit the heel of his boot, knocking it off, and another plucked at his sleeve, far too close for comfort. But Ivanov was still focused on him, hating him with a cold fury, determined to kill him.
Ivanov had no idea he had trapped Lev or the exterminator would have abandoned Stefan to kill his brother. Stefan used his elbows and toes to make his way through the yard, crushing flowers as he went, all the while turning his mind to the trap on his brother’s ankle. It would be difficult to open the jaws from a distance and for the first time he wished he had Judith’s power to tap into.
You drugged her, you idiot,
Lev pointed out helpfully.
Shut up, that’s not helping,
Stefan growled.
Dividing his mind, keeping part of it on survival and the other tuning his energy to opening the serrated teeth digging into his brother’s calf was actually painful and he didn’t need his brother’s pointing out he’d be facing a firing squad when he confessed.
The wind rushed inland from the ocean, bringing in a heavy veil of mist fast. Overhead clouds built fast and furious, a tower of angry, dark cauldrons, heralding an ugly storm.
That’s my woman, majorly pissed and coming for her man,
Lev announced.
That’s the last thing we need, bringing a woman into this mess. He’s a wily old wolverine, Lev, more dangerous than anyone you’ve ever faced. You don’t want him to have a way to get to you and he’ll use a woman without compunction.
She’s going to come, Stefan, and she won’t be alone.
Stefan cursed under his breath. He had to flush out Ivanov fast, before Lev’s wife came, thinking she was going to rescue him. As if Lev needed rescuing. Even with his leg caught in a trap, his brother was a dangerous man.
Stefan began to work his way slowly through the garden to try to get a better angle on Ivanov. The man had to reveal his location soon and all Stefan needed was a single moment to take him out, because unlike Ivanov, Stefan didn’t waste bullets—and he didn’t miss.
THROUGH
layers of sleep, Judith heard frantic voices and footsteps pounding through her house to her bedroom. It had to be a dream—or a nightmare. She’d just gone to sleep.
“Stupid security system is a total waste,” she muttered and put the pillow over her head. She couldn’t clear her brain enough to think properly let alone sort out the feminine voices calling to her.
“Judith! Get up! Wake up!”
Okay, that was definitely Rikki and she sounded scared and imperious at the same time. Because it was Rikki, Judith forced her leaden body to move. Nothing worked. Her arms and legs felt numb right along with her brain and she landed with a thud on the floor. Struggling into a sitting position, the sheet falling in a puddle around her, she gasped, realizing she was completely naked. There were marks of possession on her body she couldn’t possibly hide, so she yanked up the sheet as Rikki raced into her room. Judith could hear the others rushing down the hall. Swearing under her breath, she managed to yank the sheet up to wrap herself in. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her hazy vision. There was no sign of Stefan anywhere.
“Get up!” Rikki demanded. “Hurry.”
Judith started to frown, took one look at Rikki’s enormous eyes, black as midnight and very frightened and swallowed her protest. She nodded. The haze was beginning to clear, and she could recognize that something was really wrong.
“Give me a second, hon, I have to get dressed.”
Her mind felt unusually fuzzy. As a rule she woke up sharp, but it was hard to think and even more difficult to get her body functioning. Rikki stepped out of her room, stopping the others in the hall and Judith hurried to her bathroom. “Do I need a robe, or clothes?” she called.
“Clothes!” five voices answered.
“Who’s in trouble?” Judith fumbled around for the sink and splashed cold water on her face. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Levi’s in trouble. Hurry, Judith. He’s hurt. I can feel it,” Rikki said anxiously.
Stefan wasn’t in bed with her.
Her brain was so fried it took her this long to wonder where he’d mysteriously disappeared to. Where Levi was, Stefan was.
She hurried to her dresser, shimmied into a bra and underwear, tank and jeans and raced out of her bedroom, uncaring what she looked like. “Where are they? Is Thomas with him?”
She was proud that in her very befuddled state she’d managed to remember it was Thomas, not Stefan.
“I think so.” Tension rang in Rikki’s voice. “Hurry, Judith. I need you.”
“You have to talk to us, Rikki,” Blythe, always the voice of reason insisted. “We’ve answered your call, but we don’t know what’s wrong. Judith, help out here.”
Judith had no idea how she was going to be of any assistance. She felt like she was moving through a fog, desperately trying to force one foot in front of the other. “Rikki, did Levi call to you for help?”
“I felt an explosion of pain. Here.” She grabbed her calf. “It was horrible, like something was sawing through my leg. He cut it off abruptly, but I knew it was him. When it first happened, he was unguarded. He must have been in agony, but when I reached out for him, he said they were handling it.
Please.
I don’t want to talk anymore. Let’s just go.”
“We can discuss it in the car then,” Blythe decided. “Let’s go.”
Her sisters were already rushing down the stairs. Judith followed them, stumbling a little, trying to find her legs. “Where are they?”
“Sea Haven. I know they’re in trouble. We’ve got to help them.” There was a sob in Rikki’s voice. She twisted her fingers together tightly.
The night air hit Judith, mist so thick it was nearly impossible to see her hand in front of her face. She could hear the water running out of her hoses and she glanced around her gardens. Rikki was very agitated for water to be answering her call with such ferocity. Her fears were catching, moving from woman to woman, until all of them were agitated. Judith, always careful to stay in control, yet had a difficult time with all of her sisters surrounding her, clearly upset.
It was impossible to control her natural empathy, not when her mind was so fuzzy and she could barely figure out what everyone was saying to her. Overhead, storm clouds boiled across the sky. The wind rose, howling through the trees, blowing leaves and debris into the air. In the dark, ominous clouds, whips of lightning lit the edges of the clouds, glowing red-hot.
Judith did her best to stay in control, but already, even before they all were in the close confines of the car, she could feel the other women’s emotions rising in direct proportion to her own. And hers were swinging out of control because Rikki was so frightened for Levi.
“Would either of you like to explain what’s going on?” Blythe asked calmly as they piled into the farm’s suburban waiting. Blythe seemed the only one remaining grounded as she put the SUV in gear and raced down the driveway toward the ornate gate.
“Thomas is Levi’s brother,” Judith admitted. “He came here to warn Levi that the awful man who came here from Russia never bought the story that he was dead and came here to find Levi and kill him.”
Stefan. Where are you?
She reached for him, needing to know he was all right.
For a moment she thought she’d reached him. She actually felt his solid presence, but her brain was still hazy and the connection slipped away.
Lissa’s breath hissed out. “I remember Inez talking about that man. His name was Petr Ivanov. He asked all sorts of questions around the village, in Fort Bragg, at Noyo Harbor and Albion. He even went to Jonas and said he represented the Russian government and was looking into the death of one of their citizens.”
“He came into Judith’s shop,” Airiana added. “His aura was truly frightening. I’d never seen anything like it.”
Judith remembered the sick feeling she’d gotten when Ivanov had come into her kaleidoscope shop asking questions. She’d barely been able to stay in the same room with him. She’d had the same sick feeling when Stefan had confessed he’d come to Sea Haven to warn his brother about the killer.