Sin of Silence (Sinner's Empire #1) - Nikita Slater Page 0,5

was shot. That seemed pretty likely, given the brief glimpse she already had into their lives.

Shaun fell silent as the men drove. There wasn’t much she could say. She knew enough to recognize that these men were likely organized crime. They didn’t look like regular thugs. At least, not the guy who grabbed her from the hospital. He had a regal air about him. He held his head up and his shoulders back. The way he walked and the hardness in his face spoke of pride and arrogance. He was dressed meticulously, and he was quick, in his actions and thoughts. He wasn’t stupid.

The van took so many twists and turns that she couldn’t keep track of where they were going. It sped along at a fast clip despite the debris that littered the city streets from a series of rockets that had been launched into the city months ago, making it close to uninhabitable. When the bumpy road grew smoother, she started to wonder if they were leaving the city.

She tried to crawl up onto her knees to look through the windshield. The man sitting across from her moved so swiftly, she didn’t have a chance to do more than flinch when he reached for her. He gripped her shoulder, his long, gloved fingers digging into her delicate bones. Pain radiated through her and she gasped, trying to lurch away from him.

He continued to hold her, staring down at her with those eerie lake-blue eyes. It was like he was speaking to her without speaking to her, telling her to sit down and shut up. To not move. When he lifted his arm and pointed at the back of the van, she followed his wordless order without question. She crawled away from him, badly wanting to escape his presence.

She sat on the floor near a piece of rug and some boxes, dragged her knees up and rested her arms on top of them. She refused to look at him again, though she could see him settle back down out of her periphery. She wanted to scream and demand to know where she was going but she was too scared. These men were responsible for one death and a kidnapping that she knew of, and she didn’t want to provoke them.

They drove for about twenty more minutes before coming to a bumpy stop. Shaun tensed and watched the men as they opened doors and slid from the van. The boss thug gestured at her to come forward. She shook her head and slid as far back as she could. Oh god, were they going to kill her here? Were they making some kind of political statement by snatching a foreign doctor and killing her?

“No, please,” she begged, cringing against the door.

He growled something incomprehensible and lunged toward her, catching her wrist and dragging her toward the door. He didn’t give Shaun a chance to find her footing, so she stumbled and landed hard on her knees in the van. He yanked her viciously out the door and let go of her wrist, allowing her to fall to the ground. She stared up at her tormentor, but he reached down, grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet, then yanked her toward an old house.

She frantically looked around, searching for help, trying to figure out where she was. There were only a couple of buildings visible in her field of vision, otherwise just a bunch of hills and empty fields. She opened her mouth to scream out, to call for help, but quickly found herself facing the barrel of a gun. She slammed her lips together and tried to breathe through the terror as her vision narrowed to that one point.

She tried to reassure herself as she was pulled into the dank, windowless stone house. He didn’t need to bring her all this way just to kill her. He could’ve killed her at the hospital, like he’d killed Danilo. They obviously needed a doctor. She just needed to play along until she found a chance to get away from them.

She was rushed through a corridor, then down a flight of old wooden stairs to the basement. The air became noticeably cooler, and she shivered and blinked after stepping into a large, empty room, attempting to see in the gloom. She turned to her captor, her heart pounding. Was this place going to become her prison? Her grave? Why would they bring her here?

He snapped his fingers and pointed impatiently past