Left For Dead (The Guarded Secrets Series Book 3) by Sara Schoen Read Free Book Online

have known or at least assumed that it was possible beforehand. I just hoped that was the case, or she’d probably reveal us as we walked through the throng of people.
    Demon took the lead, and when there was some distance between us, I pushed Katya out to follow him. She pulled the coat around her, trying to hide her face as she walked in Demon’s footprints. I waited for a moment, but before I could move to follow after her, someone called out the name I had given around town. I glanced around for who had called to me, but I noticed they weren’t after me. Nikolai was heading straight for Katya because she was wearing my coat. If he stopped her then we would be found out.
    I grit my teeth, hoping Demon would still figure out a way to get her out of here without me. I stepped out of the shadows and headed straight for Nikolai. I cut between his path to Katya and stopped right in front of him, shocking him when he realized he had been calling out to the wrong person.
    “You called?” I asked, offering him the same flirty smile I had given him before.
    A confused gleam in his eyes shone bright as he glanced between me and Katya’s retreating figure. Luckily, he must have given up on the thought because his attention turned back to me. “I don’t remember you leaving. How did you manage to sneak away?”
    I smiled again, seductively. “We had a wonderful time. I’m sure your friends could fill you in. We’ll meet again. Don’t worry.” I added a wink, and prayed that my words had come off as flirting instead of the threat it sounded like in my head. I did promise to see him again, but if I did I hoped it was to kill him.
    He accepted my answer and walked off to check on Volodya, who I noticed a few feet away. I’m sure he didn’t appreciate one of his guards walking off to talk to a woman, but then again who in this small town would be after him? I turned and walked away, keeping my pace steady as I walked toward the other side of town. I needed to run if I was going to catch up to Demon and Katya, but if someone saw me it would only cause me to lose more time in falsifying an explanation to explain my haste. I knew there were eyes on me because I’d been seen talking to Nikolai, I just had to be sure I didn’t make them think twice about me.
    Once I was out of sight, I raced toward the extraction point. I knew Demon and I had been running out of time, and his warning about mission code 18.12 only made me fear the worst. I had fallen behind, and code states that if someone falls behind, they get left behind. The only real thing I ever got from that code was don’t fall behind .
    The snow made it difficult to run though, but I made it to the airstrip in time to hear the plane rev up for take-off. The airstrip was the most dangerous place to be, planes were constantly coming and going and it would be nearly impossible for them to see me or stop if I got in their way. Besides possibly getting crushed, the blow back from them could send me flying into a building, but it was also the only snow-free path. Following the path of least resistance sometimes took on a few extra risks.
    I caught sight of Maverick’s plane, with Spit Fire slowly making her way up the stairs. It was clear, even to me at a distance, she was trying to give me time. She was the last one to board, and once she was on the plane was going to take off. It didn’t take long to close the distance, but CIRA had a time schedule to keep and they couldn’t be late.
    The steps leading up to the plane were detached as I came within a hundred feet of the plane. My lungs were burning from the cold air around me, and the closer I got to the plane the more it seemed I would collapse before I made it. Clearly, I needed to run more during training, and if I got out of here in time I’d start once we got back to CIRA.
    Renegade peeked out, motioning for me to hurry as the plane started to move. With a short moment to curse myself for falling behind, I put out