Chapter 75

I counted the shots, one by one, with my face hidden in the crook of my elbow and trying not to scream. We were alone. ALONE. What if Ivan or Rex heard the shots and came to our aid? That hope calmed me down a little, but each detonation that reached my ears made me more tense, and after the fourth, there was no way for me to stop shaking. Mirko’s arms wanted to encompass me completely, and the poor thing couldn’t achieve it.

His defensive grunts, in any other circumstance, would have made me smile.

But not in that moment.

After the fifth shot, I heard a howl that was too inhuman to be Nika’s, making me raise my head. Would she have given it to Álvaro? Another shot. One more, seven. Then, I heard a muffled noise and, as I desperately searched in the darkness, leaning on my elbow to peer over the edge of our shelter, the eighth shot was heard.

The ninth never happened, because Álvaro had already captured Nika and had her face down against the snow, with her ri