Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“I know. I promised I’d listen.” She leans against me. “I’m so terrified right now, Mass. What if they’re hurting her?”
“They wouldn’t dare. She likes Satya, even if the old bitch is a traitor.”
“I know. You’re right. But still.” She takes a breath, clearly fighting off more tears. “I just want this to be over.”
“Soon, my love, I swear it.” We stay huddled like that against the wind for a little while longer until Lucy comes to fetch me. I kiss Allie one last time. “I love you. I’ll bring her home.”
“I know you will.” She touches my cheek. “I love you too.”
One of the guards leads my wife down below deck. I watch until she disappears behind a heavily reinforced steel door.
“If anything goes wrong, get Allie back to the Fortress. Name her as my heir.”
“It’s going to be fine, Mass.”
“I mean it. Give her what she needs to survive. And you should take control of the rest of my organization.”
Lucy’s eyebrows raise. “Are you naming me Dragon in Waiting?”
“Not on your ass.”
“A sweet ass though, you have to admit.”
I grunt and smile as I follow her across deck. The ship is slowing. Several of the crew are preparing an outrigger, barely more than a black rubber inflatable with a powerful motor. I look over the edge and find Elias is already perched with a blanket over his legs and his lightweight portable wheelchair beside him.
“How’d you climb down there?” I call out to the old man.
He grins up at me. His face is pale and it’s clear the strain of being out of bed is already catching up to him. “I’ve still got some tricks left in me, don’t you worry.”
“You wouldn’t be a Dragon otherwise!” I turn back to Lucy and give her a look. “Take care of them.”
“You’re coming back. Don’t get all fucking sentimental on me now.”
“See you soon then.” I accept a gun from her, tuck it into a holster at my hip, and climb over the edge of the ship. The ladder is bobbing and moving, but I make it down and settle myself beside the motor.
The crew cuts us loose and we start to drift. Several people watch over the edge, including Lucy.
“All set, Dragon?” Elias smiles at me weakly.
“This won’t take long, I promise.” I turn on the engine and aim the boat in the proper direction. There’s a GPS navigation kit programmed for Medved’s location.
Twenty minutes of near silence broken only by the swell of the waves and the drone of the motor. Elias stares out at the sea and I decide it’s better to let the old man have this time to himself. We both know what’s coming next for him. Assuming the handoff goes as planned, Medved will take him, kill him, and throw his body overboard. That’ll be the end of the Dragon, and a new Dragon will rise.
It’s admirable. I’m truly moved by his courage. Every man who enters this world knows there’s a good chance he’ll die an ugly and violent death. I’ve faced it down a dozen times and come out the other side. I have the scars and wounds to prove it.
But Elias knows there’s no chance.
He won’t survive. Even if he did, I think the trip would kill him anyway. He’s already not doing well despite the layers of clothing. He keeps rubbing his arms and shivering.
Medved’s ship comes into view. It starts as a speck in the distance and slowly grows larger. I push the boat as fast as it will move. Elias is looking bad and I’m beginning to worry about how I’m going to get him up on deck. One problem at a time though. Slowly, the ship grows bigger and bigger.
It’s a sleek machine, a lot like my own. The sides are painted gray and perfectly match the water around them. The sun is sinking on the horizon, but there’s still plenty of light left for this meeting. I’ll likely be heading back in the dark though.
“I never got a chance to say goodbye to Allesandra.” Elias seems pensive as the warship looms nearer. But there’s no fear in him. “Did you tell her what we’re doing?”
“I told her I was trading something important for our daughter. She didn’t ask for details. I don’t think she wanted to know.”
“That’s good. Don’t worry her.”
A man on the side of Medved’s ship hails us. He waves and gestures for me to pull the boat up alongside him. A large crane arm is hanging off the side with a complicated series of netting attached at the end.
I maneuver into position, which isn’t easy, but the ship is stationary. The moving ocean makes it difficult, though. When I’m in place, there are spots for me to tie the lines off. Once that’s finished, the crane begins to lower the net, and the crew walks me through getting Elias inside and secured. That takes another fifteen minutes, but eventually I climb the ladder and find the old Dragon already on the deck, his blanket cast aside, leaning his weight on his skinny arms.